Lifestyle

Nevada grand jury indicts witness in killing of Tupac Shakur

Published

1 year ago

September 30, 2023

Nevada grand jury indicts witness in killing of Tupac Shakur

Rapper Tupac Shakur attends a voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 1996. Las Vegas police said they have made an arrest, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, for the first time in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Frank Wiese/AP

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Frank Wiese/AP

LAS VEGAS — One of the last living witnesses to the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon Friday in the 1996 killing, a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public ever since the hip-hop icon was gunned down 27 years ago.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court Friday. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said a grand jury had been seated in the case for “several months.” DiGiacomo described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

The charges were revealed hours after Davis, 60, was arrested this morning while on a walk near his home, according to DiGiacomo.

Davis has long been known to investigators and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting. Shakur was 25 when he was killed.

Las Vegas police raided a home in mid-July in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson that is tied to Davis. Police were looking for items “concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur,” according to the search warrant. They collected multiple computers, a cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two “tubs containing photographs” and a copy of Davis’ memoir.

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese denied Davis bail.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Davis has an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Davis hasn’t responded to multiple phone and text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment or an interview in the more than two months since the house raid.

Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.

The rapper’s death came as his fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.

In his memoir, Davis said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped the gun used in the killing into the backseat, from where he said the shots were fired.

Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.

After the casino brawl, “Mr. Davis formulated a plan to exact revenge upon Mr. Knight and Mr. Shakur” in his nephew’s defense, DiGiacomo said.

Anderson died two years later. He denied any involved in Shakur’s death.

Davis revealed in his memoir that he first broke his silence in 2010 during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities. At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with them about Tupac’s killing, as well as the fatal shooting six months later of Tupac’s rap rival, Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G.,

“They offered to let me go for running a ‘criminal enterprise’ and numerous alleged murders for the truth about the Tupac and Biggie murders,” he wrote. “They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out.”

Shakur was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot in March 1997. At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said he’s not surprised by Davis’ arrest.

The former Los Angeles police detective said he believed the investigation gained new momentum in recent years following Davis’ public descriptions of his role in the killing, including his 2019 memoir.

“It’s those events that have given Las Vegas the ammunition and the leverage to move forward,” Kading said. “Prior to Keffe D’s public declarations, the cases were unprosecutable as they stood.”

Lifestyle

Neil Gaiman has responded to sexual misconduct allegations

Published

57 minutes ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Neil Gaiman has responded to sexual misconduct allegations

Neil Gaiman attends the 73rd National Book Awards in November 2022 in New York City.

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

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Neil Gaiman, one of today’s most influential and commercially successful novelists, has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. The author has denied the allegations. This is what you should know.

Gaiman’s books include the graphic novel The Sandman, the children’s novella Coraline and a novel he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens. The British author has won prestigious literary honors, including multiple Hugo, Locus and Nebula awards and the John Newbery Medal. His works have inspired movie and TV adaptations. Time magazine included him in its list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023.

The sexual misconduct accusations, stretching back decades, first became public in the summer of 2024 in a six-episode series from Tortoise Media called The Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. In the podcast, five women accused the writer of unwanted sexual behavior, some of it alleged to be violent in nature. Gaiman denied the accusations. No charges have been filed. The podcast included interviews with the women, plus what it said were WhatsApp messages and phone call recordings between Gaiman and two of his accusers. In one conversation, Gaiman allegedly says he “obviously f*** up” and offers to pay an accuser, who goes by the name “Claire,” $60,000 to cover the cost of her therapy. NPR has not been able to independently verify the recordings because “Claire’s” identity is not public.
More women have now accused Gaiman of sexual misconduct in a New York Magazine cover story published Monday. Some of the alleged behaviors include violent sexual assault and sexual misconduct that occurred while his young son was in the room. Gaiman has denied this. Gaiman’s accusers are adults, but much younger than the author, 64, including one who is nearly 40 years his junior.

Gaiman responded to the allegations on Tuesday in a lengthy post on his website. Gaiman wrote that he watched the news of the allegations “with horror and dismay”: “As I read through this latest collection of accounts, there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don’t, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen. I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.” He also denied “there was any abuse.”
Recent fallout has included the suspension of screen adaptations of Gaiman’s works. Deadline reported that Amazon will end production of Good Omens with a 90-minute final episode to be produced this year, instead of a full third season. “Gaiman contributed to the writing of the series finale but will not be working on the production and his production company the Blank Corporation is no longer involved,” Deadline said. Disney paused an adaptation of The Graveyard Book.

Trade magazine The Bookseller reported that Gaiman hired the crisis management firm Edendale Strategies and lawyer Andrew Brettler, who has represented Danny Masterson and Prince Andrew. Neither party has responded to NPR’s request for comment.

Jennifer Vanasco edited this story. Beth Novey produced the web build.

Lifestyle

Upcoming Benefit Concert For L.A. Wildfires Gets Overwhelming Response From Artists, Bands

Published

2 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Upcoming Benefit Concert For L.A. Wildfires Gets Overwhelming Response From Artists, Bands

The upcoming benefit concert for Los Angeles wildfire victims will be exciting, engaging and will raise a ton of money … and big-name artists and bands are clamoring for a chance to help out.

TMZ has learned … there’s been an outpouring of interest from musicians who want to get involved … so much so, organizers are expanding the scope of this event.

intuit dome

We’re told more than 50 artists and bands have asked to participate … and right now, there are only 24 slots … though organizers are trying to add slots to accommodate the overwhelming response.

The benefit concert, dubbed FireAid, was first announced as being held at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA … but our sources say it will also be held at The Forum … which is just down the street. That’s how big this is getting.

the kia forum

We’re told the performances will also be live streamed.

The full lineup is still being finalized and we don’t have any names right now … but we’re told all of the performers are based in Los Angeles.

Pasadena and Altadena Fire

We do know Taylor Swift and Beyoncé — two of the biggest acts in music — will not be involved … but that’s fair, considering they aren’t really rooted in L.A. despite having homes here.

There’s a huge pool to draw from and this concert is going to be HUGE … and it’s going to help lots of folks who are starting from scratch.

TMZ.com

Thousands have been displaced by the Palisades and Eaton Fires and Los Angeles is now tasked with rebuilding over 12,000 structures lost in the inferno.

People lost their homes, their businesses, their cars and basically all of their possessions in the fire … and the rebuilding effort will be massive.

So too will this benefit concert.

Stay tuned!!!

Lifestyle

A Couple Kisses That Sealed the Deal

Published

9 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

When Olivia Christine Snyder-Spak matched with Elias Jeremy Stein on Hinge in September 2021, she was a decade into online dating but had never found an ideal partner. “I had probably gone on at least a few hundred first dates, sometimes even doing two in a day,” she said.

Mr. Stein was less versed in internet matchmaking and had been on only a handful of dates over the previous year. “I wanted a serious relationship and decided to try the online route since meeting people in person during Covid was harder,” he said.

At the time, Mr. Stein, 35, was renting an apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; Ms. Snyder-Spak, 36, lived on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

The two exchanged messages for a week about their shared love for cooking classes and art projects and exchanging funny stories. Then, Mr. Stein asked Ms. Snyder-Spak on a mini-golfing date.

When they met, in mid-September, at the Putting Green mini-golf course in Brooklyn, Mr. Stein was struck by Ms. Snyder-Spak’s energy. “She was super cute and seemed bubbly,” he said.

They played golf for an hour, chatting about their backgrounds and professions as they navigated the course. “We laughed a lot because Olivia kept hitting the ball far away from the hole,” Mr. Stein said. “The conversation was so good that I asked her for drinks afterward.”

They walked to the nearby Other Half Brewing, sat outside and continued talking over beers for the next several hours. “We were easy with each other, and it was clear we had clicked,” Mr. Stein said.

Eventually, it started to rain heavily. As they waited for their Uber rides, Mr. Stein asked Ms. Snyder-Spak if he could kiss her. “I said yes, and when he smooched me, it felt like a movie kiss,” she said, describing it as “very romantic.”

They settled into a dating cadence almost immediately, seeing each other several times a week for activities like sushi-making, comedy shows and museums. On Halloween, they went to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. “The spookiness of a cemetery seemed fitting, and the fact that Eli felt the same way was a big sign that he was going to be a great teammate, down for whatever,” Ms. Snyder-Spak said.

A vacation to Turks and Caicos Islands in January 2022 solidified their commitment. “Our flight back got canceled because of bad weather and a staffing shortage, and the two we booked after that also got canceled,” Mr. Stein said. “We eventually ended up in Miami and got bumped on our flight home.”

Nevertheless, they had fun. “That’s when I knew that Olivia was the one.”

The experience made Ms. Snyder-Spak “realize that I wanted to do hard things together with Eli forever,” she said.

Mr. Stein grew up in Durham, N.C. He is a product manager on the software development team at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and the founder of Admissions Intelligence, a college admissions platform that uses artificial intelligence. He has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Vassar College.

Ms. Snyder-Spak is from Woodbridge, Conn., and works as the director of nonfiction at the entertainment production company Topic Studios, in New York. She has a bachelor’s degree in film from Dartmouth.

After their Turks and Caicos trip, the couple began spending several nights a week at one of their two apartments. In July 2022, they began renting a place, which they’ve since bought, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Their bond grew as they decorated their home and traveled to places like Brazil, Portugal and Costa Rica. “My love for Olivia was getting stronger, and it was the right time to propose,” Mr. Stein said.

[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]

On Dec. 13, 2023, during a nighttime picnic in Prospect Park, Mr. Stein asked Ms. Snyder-Spak to marry him as the Geminids meteor shower brightened the skies. As they kissed after she said yes, they caught a glimpse of a shooting star.

More than a year later, on Dec. 29, they wed on the front stoop of a Park Slope brownstone owned by Rabbi Yael Werber, a friend of the couple and the ceremony’s officiant. Rabbi Werber is affiliated with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. Afterward, they walked to Mille-Feuille Bakery Cafe in Prospect Heights and indulged in three desserts.

In September, Mr. Stein and Ms. Snyder-Spak had hosted a six-day, pre-wedding celebration in Asheville, N.C., for 140 guests; it included activities such as solving a murder mystery, visiting local breweries and tubing down the French Broad River. The festivities culminated in a symbolic wedding ceremony on Sept. 1 at Yesterday Spaces, an event venue in Leicester, N.C.

“All my online dating before Eli was worth it because I found the guy I was looking for all along,” Ms. Snyder-Spak said. “I remember the hard work, but now everything feels like magic.”