March 9th 1997 that’s the day hip hop lost a legend just 24 years old The Notorious BIG was taken way too soon biggy’s death wasn’t just a loss it was a gut punch to the hip-hop world it came only months after Tupac Shakur’s tragic passing two giants of the game gone within a year it was like losing the heartbeat of a whole generation of talent and the pain cut deep even now decades later the wounds haven’t fully healed and the questions they’ve never stopped who killed Biggie why did they do it and will we ever know the truth over the years theories have piled up accusations have flown and speculation has run wild but no one has ever been held accountable one name though keeps coming up in those conversations Wardell fa better known as pooie this guy had a reputation that preceded him one of pure Menace the type of person who could freeze a room with just a glance
commanding silence without saying a word wherever he went tension followed like a shadow people didn’t have to ask who he was they already knew he was trouble he was a feared member of the mob pyu Bloods a gang rooted in California but notorious Nationwide Shu Knight who had later become a close friend was also affiliated with this Blood set born in Kentucky fa moved to Compton with his family trading one unstable environment for another his mother’s remarriage after divorcing his biological father added another layer of unpredictability to his early years but poochie’s life began spiraling Into Darkness early by the age of 14 his temper and violent tendencies were already welln after losing a fight to a neighborhood kid pooie didn’t just let it go that night Mrs Johnson was sitting in her living room when she heard an explosion a shotgun blast as she peered out the window she caught sight of a car
speeding away her home wasn’t spared the address plaque was riddled with holes and stray pellets had punched through embedding themselves inside it was poochie he’d fired the shot in retaliation in court his story shifted as fast as his mood first he denied being involved then he admitted to the crime standing there as though it were just another Tuesday the contradictions didn’t matter his reputation had already begun to take form and yet it was his stepfather who ended up taking the fall setting a pattern in poochie’s life where others often paid the price for his violent choices by the late 80s pooie had transformed into a figure to be feared his notoriety only grew after the murder of a rival gang member OG Stony in broad daylight Witnesses described how pooie casually walked up to Stony and shot him in the head unflinching before disappearing into the chaos of the street as the years went on poochie’s crimes escalated by 1991 he
and his stepbrother were suspected of being involved in a nightmarish home home invasion in San Bernardino the crime wasn’t just a robbery it was a massacre The Intruders murdered a man shot his girlfriend in the head and left her for Dead four children were in the house helpless witnesses to the Carnage the girlfriend survived but the scars physical and emotional were permanent in 1994 poochie found himself face to face with law enforcement again Reggie Wright Jr who would later Run Security for Death Row Records arrested him for possession of a pound of white stuff and an assault weapon by now poochie had become a seasoned criminal with an air of professionalism While others in sh Knight’s orbit were swept up in the fame and Chaos of death Rose’s rise pooie was different he stayed in the shadows careful and calculating photographs of him were rare and when they did surface he made sure his face wasn’t well seen it was as if he knew invisibility was
his greatest Weapon by 1995 his reputation wasn’t just that of a gang member it was that of a man that October William rat dog Ratcliffe a young rapper from Compton learned just how dangerous poochie could be Ratcliffe had been chasing a record deal with Death Row Records but his approach was anything but smooth at a video shoot he cornered shuj Knight in a bathroom pressing him aggressively for an opportunity tensions exploded shortly after when ratcliff’s crew clashed violently with shuga’s Entourage in the valet area of a Marriott near LAX the the bad blood was clear and The Whispers started almost immediately Shu Knight wanted Ratcliffe gone for Shu disrespect was intolerable according to the rumors he didn’t hesitate he called on poochie his go-to enforcer and gave a direct order handle it the next day Ratcliffe was gunned down in broad daylight when word of the
killing reached shuj his response was chillingly simple he doesn’t mess around that’s how I want him to do it the hit only solidified poochie’s role as Knight’s trusted fixer the man who handled the messes no one else could or would his name carried weight whispered in conversations filled with fear by then pooie had allegedly been tied to multiple murders including that of another rival known as smoothie like Ratcliffe smooth’s death was rumored to be at shui’s request further cementing poochie’s place as death Row’s silent enforcer fast forward to 1997 biggie was in Los Angeles pushing his new album life after death and filming a music video Just days before the release he sat for a radio interview his tone unusually serious he admitted he was worried about his safety especially after Tupac’s murder and the tension between the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes he wasn’t Taking Chances he’d
hired extra security fully aware of how dangerous things had gotten that weekend was packed for biggie he hit the Soul Train Music Awards presenting an award to Tony Braxton the plan was to fly to London the next day but instead he ended up at a star studded Afterparty hosted by Vibe magazine it was the kind of party where the guest list read like a music industry who’s who Faith Evans Queen Latifa alah even members of rival gangs Bloods and Crips mingled under the same roof over a thousand people filled the venue at the Peterson Automotive Museum the energy was electric but for some it also felt tense early that morning March 9th 1997 around 12:30 a.m. Biggy and his crew left the party they were rolling in two SUVs with biggie sitting in the front passenger seat of one vehicle puffy and his Entourage followed in the second car behind them a security detail trailed
closely just in case they cruised through La the city Qui in the early hours then it happened at a red light Biggie’s SUV came to a stop a dark Chevy Impala SS pulled up beside them before anyone could react the driver of the Impala rolled down his window and opened fire bullets tore through the air shattering the calm of the night it was over in seconds in the SUV behind puffy shouted for his driver to slow down just as the gunshots rang out everyone ducked instinctively bracing for the worst as the Impala sped off Puffy’s driver Kenny story whipped the car around and raced back to where Biggie’s SUV sat Frozen at the light puffy jumped out and ran to Biggie’s door he flung it open and saw biggie slumped in his seat his face Frozen in shock like he couldn’t believe what had just gone down puffy later said I was trying to talk to him but he wasn’t saying anything like he couldn’t
hear me puffy tried pulling biggie out of the car but couldn’t he was too heavy there was no time to wait for an ambulance they needed to move the driver sped off toward the hospital biggie still silent and unresponsive in his seat in the car behind Paul offord and Reggie block had a front row seat to the chaos balock and off-duty cop instantly noticed the Impala pulling up beside Biggie’s car he saw the driver a lighter skinned man with his arm stretched out the window holding a gun the shots came quick block ducked but then looked up to catch the Impala speeding off he gave Chase but the rented Blazer he was in couldn’t keep up it was capped by a speed limiter as they raced to the Hospital Kenny story head of security was replaying everything in his head he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been off that night at the party he noticed a man in the parking garage just standing there watching the guy looked like he might have been gang affiliated but story brushed it off at
the time now he couldn’t help but wonder if that man had been part of it he knew questions were coming and he knew fingers would Point his way the ride to the hospital was Madness a woman in the back seat was screaming cursing and yelling Direct trying to guide them through the streets as they sped through the night when they finally pulled up to the hospital drock jumped out of the car running inside shouting for help the paramedics rushed out but when they saw biggie they stopped he was massive and they had to go back inside for extra help it took six men to lift him out of the SUV and onto a gurnie something about it felt Eerie for a shooting there wasn’t as much blood as you’d expect the bullets had hit in a way that sealed the wounds trapping the blood inside his body he wasn’t bleeding externally but he was losing blood rapidly internally the doctors worked on him for over 20 minutes doing everything they could but it wasn’t enough in the ER puffy dropped
to his knees praying Lil CE Stood Beside him crying uncontrollably the room was packed Faith Evans was there her face etched with disbelief everyone waited holding on to a shred of Hope then the doctor walked in he didn’t to say much the news hit like a hammer biggie was gone the time
was 1:15 a.m. the autopsy later revealed the heartbreaking details three of the bullets weren’t fatal one hit his arm another his back and a third grazed his thigh but the fourth bullet it was the killer it entered through his right hip ripping through his organs and hitting his heart and lungs it was over before anyone could do anything after biggie was killed the streets were buzzing with speculation tying his murder to Tupac’s death just 6 months early earlier the two rappers had started out as friends but everything changed after Tupac was shot in 1994 Tupac felt betrayed believing biggie knew more than he let on what followed was the infamous East Coast West Coast rivalry with Biggie and puffy on one side and Tupac and Sho Knight on the other it wasn’t just music it was personal and everyone could feel the tension in the air rumors started swirling that biggie might have had something to do with Tupac’s murder but
no real evidence ever surfaced as for who killed Tupac most theories pointed to Orlando Anderson a [ __ ] who had gotten into a fight with Tupac in Vegas that same night others whispered about shuj Knight Tupac’s boss at Death Row Records being behind both murders shuji’s name always seemed to linger whenever blood was spilled when Biggie was gunned down a few reporters speculated that a [ __ ] might have been responsible possibly over some personal beef rather than gang politics but like so many stories in La the case hit a wall no arrests no charges just more questions detective Russell P one of the lead investigators wasn’t buying the surface level theories he thought Shu Knight was pulling the strings P suspected Shu hire David Mack a dirty LAPD cop to take biggie out P pushed his findings up the chain but his bosses weren’t trying to hear it blocked at every turn P eventually left the force
frustrated and defeated years later journalist Randall Sullivan wrote a book called Labyrinth laying out P’s theory in detail according to Sullivan Shug Knight worked with Mack to orchestrate Biggie’s murder the book also suggested another potential suspect Amir Muhammad who fit the description of the shooter Sullivan’s claims added fuel to the fire making an already chaotic case even Messier David Mack the LAPD officer P pointed to was no stranger to controversy he was kneee in the Rampart police corruption scandal accused of running with gangsters and committing crimes on the side and then there was the detail that made everything stick Mac owned a black Impala the same type of car used in Biggie’s murder the name Amir Muhammad also kept popping up thanks to a jail house informant known as Psycho Mike Muhammad had been Loosely tied to the case through sketchy testimony but things never quite added up Nick broomfield’s documentary Biggy
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and Tupac ran with these theories but it was heavily criticized for being too speculative and not digging deep enough the motive they suggested that biggy’s murder was a cover up for Tupac’s death just didn’t hold much weight Biggie’s mother Veta Wallace wasn’t going to sit back and wait for answers she filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles claiming the LAPD had all the evidence they needed to arrest The Killers but didn’t act initially David Mack and air Muhammad were named in the lawsuit but they were later dropped as defendants the case still moved forward but just before trial a major witness Kevin hacky folded he admitted that he lied under pressure from Wallace’s lawyers and his retraction gutted the case then in a dramatic twist the plaintiff’s lawyer got a mysterious call from someone claiming to be an LAPD officer this caller said there was hidden evidence in Biggie’s case evidence That Could Break It Wide Open sure enough there was a
stash of undisclosed files that hadn’t been brought to light among them was information that could have changed the trajectory of the investigation Rolling Stone even dropped a bombshell article accusing the LAPD of botching the case possibly because puffy had interfered the Los Angeles Times hit back calling the piece sloppy journalism the author Randall Sullivan clapped back accusing the times of being part of the coverup it became a media circus with accusations flying in every direction the times didn’t help its own case either two conflicting articles came came out from different sections of the paper one piece from the Metro desk backed up pool’s claims connecting the murder to the rampart Scandal and Publishing a photo of of Amir Muhammad as the alleged shooter but another article from the business section revealed that Muhammad was alive well and working at a brokerage firm to make matters worse his ad was running in the same newspaper Muhammad wasn’t about to
let it slide he called out the times for their mistake demanding they clear his name after some resistance the paper issued a correction but the damage was already done his name was forever tied to a crime he claimed he had nothing to do with another blow to the pool Sullivan Theory came when journalist Chuck Phillips exposed flaws in the informant psycho Mike’s testimony turns out his information wasn’t as solid as everyone thought further shaking the case’s foundation in 2006 the investigation was reopened and detective Greg kading took over hoping to piece together a case that had been broken for years detective Greg kading believed shuj Knight planned the hit on biggie as retaliation for Tupac’s murder and to maintain His Image as a feared figure in the streets rumors swirled that shuj had even paid off corrupt LAPD officers to keep his name out of it but what made the story even more Twisted was the involvement of one of Sha’s baby mothers
she was initially part of the plot but had a change of heart and went to the police adding a shocking twist to an already convoluted tale leading the investigation into Biggie’s murder kading uncovered startling details that pointed straight to Shu even from behind bars shuj allegedly managed to pull the strings the testimony of Teresa Swan one of shuga’s former girlfriends became a turning point in the case she claimed shuj ordered to hit and used her as a middleman to deliver the message and the money to his Hitman pooie according to her Shu offered 25,00 000 to have Biggie killed it might not have been a fortune but in their world it was enough to get the job done Teresa’s life was as much a mystery as the crime itself from her appearance to her role in shuga’s Empire she was a chameleon changing her image to fit whatever the situation demanded sometimes she appeared as a glamorous party girl other times as a hardened Street figure her relationship with SH
went far beyond romance she was his right hand managing errands deals and even his personal affairs she knew how to navigate his dangerous world but that loyalty had limits detective kadin’s investigation revealed how Teresa acting on shuga’s orders contacted pooie to arrange the hit people close to night and pooie confirmed they shared a special secretive Bond mob James a former death row associate described pooie as the guy you called when something needed to be done he was quiet calculating and deadly Kaden’s team leaned on Teresa’s legal troubles to pressure her into cooperating faced with the threat of jail she agreed to work with investigators and even wore a wire during a meeting with Knight but shuj ever cautious quickly caught on when Teresa brought up biggie he shut the conversation down denying any involvement despite the failed wir tap her testimony corroborated key elements of Kaden’s case helping to confirm
suspicions about shuga’s role th’s cooperation earned her immunity but she disappeared from the public eye soon after Knight like knew she had worked with law enforcement but harming her would have brought unwanted attention even Knight despite his reputation knew where to draw the line detective kading believed the LAPD had little interest in officially solving Biggie’s murder he suspected they feared reopening Old Wounds especially with allegations of police corruption tied to the case frustrated by the lack of progress and internal politics Kaden left the force but not before making copies of the evidence he had painstakingly gathered he later detailed his findings in his book murder rap revealing the tangled web of Lies betrayal and violence that surrounded biggy’s death Kaden felt the responsibility to share the truth especially for biggy’s mother Veta Wallace who had spent years Seeking Justice for her son Veta believed the LAPD knew the truth but was covering it
up to protect someone powerful each anniversary of Biggie’s death was a painful reminder of the justice that remained Out Of Reach 3 years after big murder poochie himself became a victim of the violence he had once wielded so easily in 2000 he was ambushed in a car with a friend pooie survived but his friend wasn’t as lucky the case like biggie went unsolved in3 poochie’s story came to an end while riding his motorcycle through Compton he was gunned down in a driveby his death carried the same Eerie silence that surrounded so many in his world there were no Witnesses no Suspects no answers for someone who had spent years living by the gun his fate seemed almost inevitable in the streets where loyalty shifted as quickly as the wind it wasn’t surprising that someone he once trusted may have been the one to turn on him that’s how it went in their world one day you were on top the next
day you were a Target
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