The filmmaker behind the new Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls documentary has 'new evidence' into their killings.
Nick Broomfield, the acclaimed British documentarian, has revealed that people close to the two rappers and their murder cases have been more willing to speak in recent years.
Advert
And his new film, Last Man Standing, delves into alleged police involvement in Biggie's death, his and Tupac's dealings with Suge Knight, the disgraced CEO of legendary rap music label Death Row Records, and links to violent gangs.
Tupac, 25 at the time, was shot and killed when his car stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas in 1996.
In 2014, a police officer present at the scene claimed that after asking the rapper if he saw the person responsible, Tupac said: "F*** you."
Biggie, real name Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed less than a year later in March 1997 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
Broomfield has now said that he believes Robert Poole, a former LAPD officer who died of a heart attack in 2015, was onto something big when he came up with evidence that linked fellow cops to death of Biggie.
Advert
He wrote: "After finishing Biggie & Tupac in 2002 I became increasingly troubled by the treatment of Russell Poole who had come up with evidence that LAPD officers were involved in the hit on Biggie Smalls.
"Russell was vilified by the LAPD and over the years I watched as his health and wellbeing declined.
"In August 2015 Russell died of a massive heart attack during a meeting at the LA Sheriff's headquarters where he was still arguing his theory of the Biggie Smalls murder.
"It was a tragic end that Russell didn't deserve, however, a few years later people started talking more freely after Suge Knight (whom Russell accused of commissioning the hit) was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2018.
Advert
"I believed in Russell and I believed in his theory, and people who had never spoken before, who didn't know Russell Poole, came forward with new evidence never heard before that supports his allegations that LAPD officers were involved."
In footage from the new documentary, Broomfield can be heard speaking with a source.
He asks them: "Which officers are you saying were implicated in the murder of Biggie Smalls?"
Advert
To which the person on the phone replies: "There were five officers that were involved in it."
The documentary's synopsis reads: "These police officers were also members of Suge's criminal gang the Mob Piru's and with their resources helped orchestrate the hit on Biggie Smalls.
"The film produces new evidence and witnesses who actually saw these LAPD officers present on the night of Biggie's murder, and who also testify that critical information had been deliberately withheld and concealed by the LAPD from the Biggie Smalls estate who had filed a $500 million lawsuit against them."
Last Man Standing - plus a Q&A -will be in UK cinemas on 30 June for one night only. This will be followed by a general release on 2 July.
Topics: rapper, rap, US News, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tupac Shakur, california