Tupac murder suspect rails at prosecutors in courtroom outburst

From 1998: Is Tupac still alive?

Years after his death, rumors persisted that Tupac Shakur was still alive. In this archived 1998 report, FOX's Mike Gilliam takes a look at why.

The man accused of Tupac Shakur’s murder had an outburst in the courtroom this week as his defense attorney tried to get him freed from jail ahead of his trial.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, an ailing former Los Angeles-area gang leader, was complaining about police and prosecutors reviewing boxes of materials compiled by former Los Angeles police detective, Greg Kading. Kading used the materials for a 2011 book about the killings of Shakur in Las Vegas and rival rap icon The Notorious B.I.G. six months later.

"Them boxes should not be allowed," Davis said of those records.

"Mr. Greg Kading had those boxes at his house for 15 years in his attic doing all kind of TV interviews," Davis said. "He broke a proper agreement, and he broke the law, all kinds of stuff."

Davis also accused the prosecutors, Marc DiGiacomo and Binu Palal, of "trashing my family in this."

FILE-Side-by-side of Duane Davis (L) and Tupac Shakur (R). (Davis photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) (Shakur photo by by Ke.Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images)

"They not only ugly on the outside but they ugly on the inside too," Davis said. "These two dudes right here."

Davis said in his own 2019 memoir that he was promised immunity when he told authorities in Los Angeles what he knew about the shootings.

Kading told the Associated Press that he turned over his investigative records to Las Vegas police this year — several months after Davis was indicted and arrested at his home in suburban Henderson, Nevada. Kading said he broke no laws and none of the material was obtained or kept illegally.

"I don’t lose sleep over the fact that a confessed murderer is at odds with me for sharing information about his involvement in a murder," Kading told the AP. "None of what he said reveals new information. It’s well known. It was based on investigative resources from when I was at the LAPD."

Davis was arrested in September on first-degree murder charges and has been jailed ever since. He has pleaded not guilty.

If he’s convicted, he faces life in prison. Prosecutors say he’s the only person still alive who was in a car from which shots were fired into another car nearly 28 years ago, killing Shakur and wounding rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.

Knight, now 59, is serving 28 years in a California prison for killing a Compton businessman with a vehicle in 2015.

Tupac murder suspect still jailed

Tupac suspect arrested, fmr. detective weighs in

The man charged in Tupac Shakur's murder, had been on investigators radar for years, former LAPD lead detective Greg Kading said. Duane "Keffe D" Davis is now the only person alive who was allegedly in the car the night the legendary rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting. LiveNOW's Carel Lajara spoke with Kading about the years-long investigation that led to Davis' arrest. More LiveNOW from FOX streaming video

The outburst from Davis happened at a hearing in Las Vegas to determine whether the $112,500 bond money put up by music executive Cash "Wack 100" Jones could be used to get Davis transferred to house arrest.

Jones, who has managed artists including Johnathan "Blueface" Porter and Jayceon "The Game" Taylor, testified in June that he wanted to put up money for Davis because Davis was fighting cancer and had "always been a monumental person in our community ... especially the urban community."

Clark County District Judge Carli Kierney rejected the bond. She said she wasn’t convinced that Davis and Jones weren’t planning to profit from Jones’ charges. She also cited concerns that Jones is "acting as a front or middleman for some other entity or person."

Nevada law prohibits convicted killers from profiting from their crime. But Davis’ attorney argued that since Davis hasn’t been convicted, it didn’t matter if Davis and Jones plan to profit from selling Davis’ life story.

His attorney characterized Davis’ story as intensely interesting to the public with or without mention of the Shakur killing. He called his client "one of the most notorious gang leaders of all of Southern California" and "the godfather of Compton."

The judge said Davis will remain in jail for at least the next day or two" while she reconsiders whether to allow the bond.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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