The family of Tupac Shakur has hired a high-profile attorney, known for representing Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and more, to look into a possible connection between his murder and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Shakur’s family hired Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, to investigate Combs and determine if he is linked to Shakur’s 1996 death.
Shakur was 25 years old when he was fatally shot inside a car stopped at a red light in Las Vegas. The rapper was known for hits such as “California Love” and “Changes.”
AP Photo/Frank Wiese, File and zz/Doug Peters/STAR MAX/IPx
The crime remained unsolved until Duane “Keffe D” Davis was arrested last year for murder. Davis allegedly admitted that he was involved in the shooting in a book. He claimed he was in the car where the shots originated from and he provided the weapon, but his nephew fired the fatal shots.
Davis has accused Combs of being involved in the planning of the murder. Davis allegedly told Las Vegas officials in 2009 that Combs paid for the attack.
“[Davis] has asserted publicly that he only told on himself and wasn’t trying to provide evidence against anyone else in his conversations with police. However, this statement belies this claim, as he suggested that Sean Combs paid Eric Von Martin a million dollars for the killings as well as offered to set up a surreptitious phone call with Terrence Brown, the driver, who, at the time, was still alive,” prosecutors stated in a July court filing.
Combs has denied any involvement.
Newsweek reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
Combs was indicted on multiple unrelated federal charges last month, including sex trafficking and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Suge Knight, who was driving the car Shakur was in when the shooting happened, shared a message for Combs on his podcast Collect Call with Suge Knight.
“I’ll tell you what, Puffy, your life is in danger [because] you know the secrets of who’s involved in that little secret room you guys are participating in. You know they [are going to] get you if they can…I turned myself in. Sometimes you [got to] face the music, that’s most of the time,” Knight said.
Who is Alex Spiro?
Spiro started his legal career in 2008 as a prosecutor with the New York County District Attorney’s Office. During his time there, he helped to convict Rodney Alcala, also known as the “Dating Game Killer”, for two murders committed in the 1970s.
He then became a trial attorney in 2013.
In 2016, he was brought on as one of the lawyers representing former NFL player Aaron Hernandez in a double homicide trial and the appeal of a 2015 murder conviction.
Hernandez, a former tight end for the New England Patriots, had been found guilty of murdering Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. He was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado but was later acquitted.
Spiro collaborated with Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, on several legal matters, including a lawsuit over a cologne deal where Carter was awarded $4.5 million in 2021.
Spiro was Baldwin’s lawyer for a manslaughter case related to the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of the movie Rust after Baldwin fired a prop gun. Spiro submitted a motion to dismiss the charge, which was granted by the judge.
He is currently representing Adams on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; wire fraud; solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national; and bribery.
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