DIDDY will avoid another potential court case drama over claims he ordered the murder of Tupac Shakur for $1 million, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
Prosecutors in the Las Vegas criminal case have decided to steer clear of trying to bring Diddy in as a potential witness or even mentioning his alleged involvement in Pac’s 1996 death, according to sources.
Diddy was found not guilty of racketeering and trafficking but convicted on a prostitution charge earlier this month[/caption]
Tupac was fatally shot in a drive by shooting on the Las Vegas strip in 1996[/caption]
Taped confessions, entered as evidence, show Keefe alleging Diddy paid for the hit on Tupac[/caption]
Diddy had been implicated in the murder by suspect Keefe D[/caption]
That move comes even though Clark County prosecutors entered in as evidence a damning police interview tape in which suspect Duane “Keefe D” Davis alleges Diddy offered him one million dollars to kill Shakur.
Last week Sean Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation for prostitution of his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, and another woman in a New York court – but was acquitted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
Insiders say that prosecutors considered Diddy playing a role in their murder charge against Keefe, but since the NYC case decision have dropped that strategy.
The development comes as two sources say that self confessed gangster Keefe is “super confident” of being found innocent in the Pac case – despite multiple confessions to overseeing the assassination.
We can reveal that investigators have not located a “murder weapon” or any surveillance footage which could confirm Keefe was in Sin City at the time of the drive-by murder.
They have spent over a year attempting to locate hotel billing, surveillance footage, public services records and bank transactions tying Davis to Vegas.
Keefe’s lawyer Carl Arnold insists there is “zero proof” that his client was in Vegas on September 7, 1996.
Arnold says Keefe has lied many times and claimed to be a “shot caller” for the murder to police and media to gain “fame and fortune.”
The Las Vegas source said: “Diddy will not be brought into this prosecution case given the complicated nature of this case and following what happened in his New York case.
“Certainly if he would have been found guilty on all counts in New York then Vegas would have looked at what to do with the one million dollar order.
“The problem was always trying to find corroboration from a witness that this ‘order’ was real. The subject of meeting Jennifer Lopez or even Cassie Ventura was out there, but it was deemed unlikely they would speak on this matter or even be useful in a criminal case.
“So now the strategy is to focus purely on Davis and his actions.
“There is a confidence from prosecutors that Davis’ own words, past criminal activity and actions will be his downfall.
‘DOESN’T HOLD UP’
“They feel his stance that ‘I lied about my whole life for fame and fortune’ doesn’t hold up given he confessed to being responsible for Tupac’s killing to two separate police teams for no gain.”
The legal insider added: “Investigators have worked hard to locate any proof that Keefe was in Vegas that night because it dents his case.
“They have attempted to find video footage from casinos or businesses back in the day. No-one then had cellphones with video or photo capabilities,” they said.
“But they have come up blank so far and there is no murder weapon, fingerprints or vehicle.”
Prosecutors have decided to leave Diddy out of their murder case, a source said[/caption]
Keefe has pleased not guilty and is currently in jail awaiting trial[/caption]
Court sketch of Diddy’s dramatic acquittal in New York[/caption]
A family friend of Keefe’s added: “Keefe has mixed feelings obviously. He doesn’t want to be in jail waiting for his trial and hates the fact that bail had been denied.
“But he has made it clear that the prosecutors are ‘gonna look like fools’ eventually.
“He has been getting legal insight and believes he will walk away a free man. He is certain that there is no evidence putting him in Vegas and that will mean he has to be cleared.”
Diddy was first dragged into the Tupac Las Vegas trial because of Keefe’s boasting about his connections to Bad Boy Records and the rapper.
During two separate recorded interviews with LAPD and Vegas Metro officers, Keefe alleged Combs offered him a million dollars to assassinate Tupac and Suge Knight in the mid 1990s.
Keefe broke ranks in 2008 by telling an LA Gang Task Force team on tape that he was “the shot caller” of the kill, alleging Diddy offered him a $1m payout.
Keefe alleged that Puffy – as Diddy was then called – said during a meeting at a Hollywood deli: “Man I want to get rid of those dudes” – in relation to Tupac and Suge.
The Compton gang king pin added the chart star feared Suge: “Puffy was scared and was scared of the dude period.”
“We wanted a million” stated Keefe adding that “we will wipe their ass out quick you know – it is nothing.”
When asked by an officer: “Who brought up the amount of one million dollars?” Keefe replied, “S**t he did. It wasn’t me.”
Tupac Shakur was shot as he drove in the passenger side along with Suge Knight in the Las Vegas Strip area on September 7, 1996.
He died in hospital from his injuries a few days later, aged 25.
Keefe, who has pleaded not guilty, will go to trial in February.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Clark County District Attorney, which is prosecuting the case, for comment.
Exclusive: Diddy faces cash crisis as Cassie payout and civil suits drain $400m fortune
Sean “Diddy” Combs may be heading for significant financial distress upon his release from jail, a legal expert suggests.
While the music mogul avoided a potential life sentence when he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering, his extensive legal battles, including a hefty settlement with ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, are predicted to have severely depleted his once-nearly billion-dollar fortune.
Combs, 55, was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution following a weeks-long trial in Manhattan, New York.
Despite these convictions, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years, legal observers anticipate he will likely be released in the coming months.
However, the path to rebuilding his once-thriving business empire appears fraught with financial peril and a skeptical public.
Eric Faddis, a former felony prosecutor and founding partner at Varner Faddis Elite Legal, provided insights into Combs’s post-trial future.
“One thing that’s clear is that his resources have been depleted. He still appears to have some wealth. But there’s going to be a collectability issue when it comes to these civil cases,” Faddis told The U.S. Sun.
He elaborated that if pending civil lawsuits result in judgments, Combs may lack the personal assets required to fully compensate all plaintiffs.
The $20 million settlement previously paid to Cassie Ventura is a permanent financial hit, with Faddis clarifying, “There is no legal mechanism of which I’m aware by which he could try to take back the twenty million or so dollars that he paid to Cassie in a civil judgment. That’s over and done with.”
This substantial payout represents an irrevocable reduction in his net worth.
Speculation has arisen about whether Combs might pursue counter-litigation, perhaps for defamation or malicious prosecution, against individuals involved in his trial.
While Faddis acknowledged that “anything is possible,” he strongly advised against such actions.
“I think he would be better off kind of letting sleeping dogs lie, moving on with his life, and undertaking this herculean effort of dealing with the other civil cases,” he recommended.
