Biggie and Tupac | 8. Dead Wrong

Summary

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Slow Burn – Biggie and Tupac | Ep. 8: "Dead Wrong"

Release Date: December 18, 2019
Host: Joel Anderson
Key Interviewee: Greg Kading (Former LAPD Detective)
Main Theme:
An in-depth look at the final official investigation into the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher "Biggie" Wallace, focusing on the LAPD’s cold case task force led by Detective Greg Kading, and the tangled web of police corruption, rivalries, and myth that continue to surround the cases.

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the last, most comprehensive attempt by law enforcement to solve the notorious killings of Tupac and Biggie. Through first-hand accounts, especially from Detective Greg Kading, listeners gain insight into the investigation’s breakthroughs, dead ends, and the enduring controversies. The show tackles the rumors of police involvement, the realities of gang dynamics in 1990s Los Angeles, and the impact of these unsolved murders on hip-hop and popular culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Relighting the Cold Case ([00:32]–[02:27])

• Greg Kading’s Reluctant Recruitment:
  Kading is brought into the LAPD task force despite being comfortable in his career. The weight of reopening the Biggie murder case looms over him due to the volume and complexity of the files.
  • Quote:
    "I just kind of remember laughing like, this is preposterous…holy smokes, this is a lot of work." – Greg Kading ([02:07])
• Scope of the Original Investigation:
  The LAPD’s initial response after Biggie's murder was intensive—they interviewed everyone from Puffy Combs to local bus drivers and checked surveillance from multiple locations, yet the trail went cold.

2. Rumors, Theories, and Mistrust ([02:27]–[04:33])

• Many in the hip-hop community and Biggie’s family believed corrupt LAPD officers were involved in the murder and possibly covering it up.
• Faith Evans’ Frustration:
  "I mean, one at all try to shame…the LAPD, but…it’s like, his murder as well as Tupac's, how could…they not…have any leads?...Maybe they're not following the right ones, you know." – Faith Evans ([03:06])
• A wrongful death suit filed by Biggie’s family forced the LAPD to revisit evidence, with a judge ordering the city to pay over $1 million in legal fees after evidence was withheld.

3. The Task Force’s Mandate ([04:33]–[04:56])

• The LAPD’s stance at the time: if there were corrupt officers involved, they would be exposed.
  • Quote:
    "We're going to go where the clues go. Whatever it is, it is. If there's dirty cops, fuck it, so be it. Let's get them out of here." – LAPD Detective to Kading ([04:33])
• The first year is spent mapping out the sprawling network of individuals potentially involved.

4. Focusing on Keefe D and Gangs ([04:56]–[05:47])

• The investigation zeroes in on Duane Keith Davis aka Keefe D, a known South Side Crip and drug kingpin.
• Kading’s team builds a federal drug case against Keefe D to pressure him into cooperating by threatening him with a 25-years-to-life sentence.

5. The Big Break & Unintended Revelations ([05:47]–[06:12])

• Keefe D finally agrees to talk to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Unexpectedly, he denies involvement in Biggie’s murder.
  • Quote:
    "It's like, man, that one wasn't us. Those were his words. That one wasn't us." – Greg Kading quoting Keefe D ([05:59])
• Kading realizes the investigation is about to pivot: instead of providing closure on Biggie, Keefe D offers information about Tupac’s murder.

6. The Investigation’s Limits and Legacy ([06:12]–[07:41])

• Despite Kading's belief that his findings are the most plausible explanation for both murders, controversy remains, and many questions are left unanswered—no one has ever been charged in either case.
• Joel Anderson sums up the problem:
  "Even if you accept Kading's version of events, there are plenty of unanswered questions about the murders…There is no satisfying resolution here. Who killed Tupac and Biggie and why? Why has no one been charged in either man's murder? And what legacy did these two hip hop icons leave behind?" ([06:29])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Greg Kading on the daunting task:
  “I just kind of remember laughing like, this is preposterous. You know, I knew it was going to take months in order to kind of catch up...So it was just daunting. It's like, holy smokes, this is a lot of work.” ([02:07])

• Faith Evans on police failure:
  “How could they not, you know, have any leads? I'm sure they have a lot, but maybe they're not following the right ones, you know.” ([03:12])

• LAPD's commitment, as per Kading:
  “If there's dirty cops, fuck it, so be it. Let's get them out of here.” ([04:33])

• Keefe D’s pivotal denial:
  “Man, that one wasn't us. Those were his words.” ([05:59])

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Key Timestamps

• [00:32] — Start of the actual content/episode
• [01:38] — Greg Kading’s recruitment and career context
• [02:07] — Kading’s first reaction to the case files
• [03:06] — Faith Evans on loss and lack of police progress
• [04:33] — The task force’s “no stone unturned” approach
• [04:56] — Focus shifts to Keefe D and gang dynamics
• [05:47] — Keefe D turns informant and the investigation’s twist
• [06:12] — The ongoing uncertainty, no closure

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Episode Tone and Language

• The tone toggles between procedural (detailing the investigation’s steps) and personal (sharing grief, frustration, and moral complexity).
• Quotations maintain the speakers' direct, sometimes blunt, manner of expression.
• Underlying throughout is a sense of both urgency and futility—the stakes are monumental, but the resolution remains elusive.

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Takeaway

This episode reveals how tangled the pursuit of truth and justice can become, especially with high-profile, culturally seismic murders like those of Tupac and Biggie. Despite massive scrutiny, legal wrangling, and the efforts of determined detectives, the full story and ultimate accountability remain just out of reach. The legacy of these cases is a haunting one: scrutiny of institutions, the power of rumor and myth, and the enduring heartbreak for those left behind.

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For deeper insight, listen to the full episode for firsthand interviews and investigative audio.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Slow Burn is a production of Slate plus, Slate's membership program. Slate plus members get an entire bonus episode of the show every week with all kinds of extra material, exclusive interviews, roundtables, and more of the crazy stuff we found while researching the show. Joining Slate plus is also a great way to support this show and our other podcasts. If you like Slow Burn, help us make it. Slate plus members also get their Slate podcasts with no ads. Not even this one. Okay, here's episode eight of Slow Burn. This podcast contains language that may offend some listeners. In 2006, Greg Koening was a narcotics detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. On his 43rd birthday, he got a phone call from the Robbery homicide division. The LAPD was reopening a cold case, the 1997 murder of Christopher Wallace, the Notorious B.I.G. they asked if he wanted to join the task force. Kading wasn't looking for a new assignment.

[C]

I was already in this really good place, and I thought, well, now I'm going to come down here and maybe this is a mistake.

[B]

In the end, though, he decided to take the spot.

[C]

I think what the overriding factor was that, hey, this is a really big, important, historic case, and if we do solve it, that's going to be worthwhile.

[B]

A few days later, he got to look at the case files. There were a lot of them.

[C]

I just kind of remember laughing like, this is preposterous. You know, I knew it was going to take months in order to kind of catch up on the investigative effort that had taken place for the previous nine years. So it was just daunting. It's like, holy smokes, this is a lot of work.

[B]

In the days after Biggie's murder in Los Angeles, the police interviewed anyone they could find with a plausible connection to the case. Detectives spoke to Sean Puffy Combs, the CEO of Biggie's label, Bad Boy Records. They also talked to the bus driver whose route passed the scene of the shooting and clerks at the hotels where Biggie stayed at in la, they had the department's helicopter unit fly over South Central LA to look for the black Impala used in the shooting. They reviewed surveillance tapes at the hospital where Biggie was pronounced dead. Still, the case had gone cold. Here's Biggie's widow, R and B star Faith Evans. Eight months after his murder.

[D]

I don't, I mean one at all try to shame, you know, the lapd, but it's like his murder as well as Tupac's. How could. I don't understand. How could they not, you know, have any leads? I'm sure they have a lot, but maybe they're not following the right ones, you know.

[B]

What leads should the Los Angeles Police Department have followed? One widespread rumor had it that Suge Knight of Death Row Records had put a hit on Big as revenge for Tupac Shakur's killing six months earlier. Maybe Biggie's murder was another drive by of the long running war between Bloods and Cripps. Or maybe it was something else, something more explosive. A lot of people thought that crooked LA cops had been involved in Biggie's murder and that the LAPD was protecting them. Biggie's family came to believe there was something to that theory. In 2002, Faith Evans and Biggie's mother, Valletta Wallace, filed a wrongful death suit against the Los Angeles Police Department. Three years later, a judge found that the department had withheld evidence and forced the city to pay Biggie's estate more than a million dollars in legal fees. A mistrial was declared and the case started over. In 2006, still under pressure from the wrongful death suit, the LAPD announced it was reopening its investigation into Biggie's murder. The detective who recruited Greg Kading for that investigation told him that the department had nothing to hide, that the LAPD was willing to implicate its officers if that's where the evidence led.

[C]

He goes, we're going to go where the clues go. Whatever it is, it is. If there's dirty cops, fuck it, so be it. Let's get them out of here.

[B]

It took Kading's task force months to sort through the previous investigations.

[C]

The first year was just a lot of, you know, putting our flowcharts up on the walls, figuring out who's who and where they're at at this point in time.

[B]

By late 2007, they began to focus on a South side crip named Duane Keith Davis, who went by Keefe D. Keefe D was a drug kingpin in Compton. In 1997, after a federal investigation, he was convicted on narcotics charges and served four years in prison. When he got released, he went right back into the drug business. That gave Kading and his task force an opening.

[C]

We began to do wiretaps and controlled buys and built a case against him, an airtight federal drug case against him.

[B]

Kading used that federal case and a potential prison sentence of 25 years to life is leverage against Keefe D. So.

[C]

Now he can mitigate that. He can cooperate with us, help us solve these crimes to the ability that he knows.

[B]

On December 18, 2008, Keefe D agreed to talk to the LAPD. But what he said wasn't what Kading was expecting.

[C]

Initially, our interest was, all right, tell us what you know about Biggie's murder. It's like, man, that one wasn't us. Those were his words. That one wasn't us.

[B]

Kading had been trying to find out who killed Biggie Smalls. Instead, he was about to find out who killed Tupac Shakur. What you're going to hear is the story of Kading's investigation. The last official inquiry into the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. I recently spent two hours talking to Kading at his home in Southern California. We covered his involvement in the case from start to finish. I've read a lot about these two murder cases over the past year. There are a lot of theories about who killed Tupac and Biggie. And to me, Greg Kading's seemed the most reasonable. But other people take issue with Kadings conclusions. We'll get to them later. Even if you accept Kading's version of events, there are plenty of unanswered questions about the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. there is no satisfying resolution here. Who killed Tupac and Biggie and why? Why has no one been charged in either man's murder? And what legacy did these two hip hop icons leave behind? This is Slow Burn. I'm your host, Joel Anderson. This is episode eight Dead Wrong.

[E]

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