New Team Assigned To Notorious B.I.G. Killing

[kingwell]

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A new team of police detectives has been assigned to the unsolved 1997 murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G., authorities said.

"They are investigating it, following up on the leads," Assistant City Attorney Don Vincent told the City Council's Public Safety Committee on Thursday.


 
The 24-year-old rapper from Brooklyn, born Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed March 9, 1997, after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

His mother, sister and widow sued the city, alleging that the police department covered up the involvement of rogue officers in the killing. They alleged that the shooting was orchestrated on behalf of Death Row Records chief Marion "Suge" Knight. Knight has denied involvement.

In January, a federal judge declared a mistrial and fined the city $1.1 million, ruling that a police detective intentionally hid statements by a jailhouse informant linking the killing to two officers.

The detective said a transcript of the informant's remarks was unintentionally mislaid.

A retrial is expected later this year.

Vincent told council members that there was no evidence police were involved in the killing.

Councilman Dennis Zine blamed sloppy detective work for the court defeat.

The fine was "a tremendous amount of money and it's not over yet," he said.

"I've got some real serious questions about how this goes down, and what the police department has done," Zine said.