SELF-CONFESSED gangster Keefe D hopes to visit notorious Suge Knight behind bars in a bid to convince him to be a witness in his murder trial over Tupac Shakur.
Keefe, currently in a Las Vegas detention center, believes he will be granted an audience with former Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight at his Californian maximum security facility even though he has refused to meet authorities.
Keefe's lawyer Carl Arnold wants the pair, who were friends during their teenage years growing up in Los Angeles, to talk through Suge being involved in the November trial of Keefe - who has pled not guilty to killing rapper Tupac.
Respected Vegas attorney Arnold feels that Knight could be a vital asset in having his client walk free.
Suge has publicly refused so far to be a witness for prosecutors in Keefe's trial and during an interview with TMZ last year, Suge contradicted Keefe's claims that his nephew Orlando Anderson shot Tupac on September 7, 1996.
Fascinatingly, Keefe is the one who has claimed many times he publicly hunted down Tupac, being driven by Suge, in Las Vegas. He wrote in his memoir, police interviews, and media chats that he oversaw gang members firing into the car.
Keefe claims "he has no beef" with Suge despite confessing to being in the shooter’s car as his old friend suffered gunshot wounds during the Tupac murder.
Associates of Keefe revealed the audacious plan that has been hatched to clear his name.
Arnold confirmed to The U.S. Sun that he is planning to subpoena Knight and "get Keefe and Suge together” in person at San Diego's Ronald J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
"What I would like if possible is for Keefe to bail out and then we go down there together and go talk to Suge. Because, if I go down there by myself, I'm sure rightfully so, Suge will be somewhat hesitant," Arnold said.
"But he and Keefe have a relationship."
Arnold confirmed that Suge, famous for working on Dr. Dre's solo career, has made it clear the prosecution case would be dented.
"Suge said on TMZ that Keefe was not involved," Arnold said.
An associate of Keefe said, “Keefe has made it clear he has ‘no beef’ with Suge and that feeling is mutual.
I would not wish somebody going to prison on my worst enemy.
Suge Knight
"To some of us that reaction is shocking given that he has boasted multiple times about helping his nephew get a gun and shoot at Suge and Tupac that night in Las Vegas.
“They had actually seen one another since the Tupac shooting and there was no violence or trouble.
“Both of them know a lot about each other’s pasts and time running in and out of the criminal underworld in LA in the 1990s.
“But Keefe has told folks that he never thought Suge would snitch because of the ‘street code.'"
"They all lived by that attitude that you don’t spill to police. Suge never gave the Vegas police any information about the crime or who was involved after the killing, so there is some street level of respect," the associate continued.
“Now though, Keefe would like Suge to come to his trial as a witness.
“He has made his statements about the killing to media, so he could see fit to have a day in court."
“It is an audacious card to play, but with those guys you never know what happens.
“If Suge gets up and says he never saw Keefe that would be a real home run for the defense.
"Perhaps his testimony or even a sworn statement could be the key in Keefe walking.”
The source reflected on how Keefe was effectively a “major rival” as he worked as an enforcer and security detail for Diddy’s Bad Boy Records - who were at war with Death Row.
Keefe - real name Duane Davis - remains in Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas, even though he was granted bail earlier this year.
By The Sun's Senior Reporter Emma Parry, who has been reporting on the Tupac murder for the past 10 years.
TUPAC fans have been waiting for justice for the iconic rapper for almost 28 years.
Finally in September 2023 there appeared to be progress with the arrest of Duane "Keefe D" Davis - a former Southside Crip gangster from Compton, LA - who had been telling the world for years that he and his fellow "gang soldiers" were responsible for the hit.
I've been reporting on the case for several years and it always appeared pretty cut and dry...Keefe had spent the past decade gaining notoriety by boasting about his alleged involvement in the shooting - now he was finally getting what he deserves. But despite Keefe running his mouth for years, I now believe a guilty verdict in November's trial is far from guaranteed.
Keefe describes in great detail in his memoir Compton Street Legend what went down the night Pac was shot, extracts from which The U.S. Sun has published.
He claimed that he was offered a million dollars by rapper Diddy to "handle" Tupac and Suge Knight and when he and his Crip gangsters came across the pair driving near the Strip in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, Keefe alleged he passed the gun to his nephew Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson who took the shot. Keefe said if Pac had been on his side: "I would have blast".
Keefe repeated the claims multiple times over the years, on YouTube channels, documentaries, and even in taped confessions to police, when he believed he could not be prosecuted. In one confession to the LAPD, Keefe appeared completely remorseless telling detectives: “We didn’t give a f**k...The ambulance [for Tupac] was parked right here next to us. That s**t was as funny as a motherf**ker.”
The Sun has been publishing stories about Keefe's self confessed involvement in the crime since 2018.
I sent many links to his confessions to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, asking them why this man had not been arrested yet. They would thank me for the info but say that they could not comment because the case was still active. From the outside, it looked like no action was being taken at all.
We spoke to former detectives involved in the case and documentary makers who all felt utterly frustrated at the lack of progress in the case. We even published a plea from former LAPD detective Greg Kading, who had probed the murders, urging Las Vegas cops to arrest Keefe, back in 2020.
For years, the case appeared to have been forgotten and ignored, to be left forever unsolved.
But finally, in the summer of 2023, we got word from our sources that there had been a huge development in the case. A secret grand jury was due to be held on whether or not Keefe should be indicted. I was dubious at first but around the same time a house in Henderson, Nevada, linked to Keefe, was raided in July as part of the Tupac investigation.
Things were heating up.
Later that summer, behind closed doors, jurors listened to hours of testimony from former cops, detectives, and coroners involved in the Tupac case and gangsters and associates of Keefe's and Pac's from back in the day. They were shown graphic photos of Tupac's bullet-ridden body. After days of evidence, they decided there was enough evidence to prosecute Keefe.
Once the secret documents were released I poured over the transcripts. While interesting, many of the witnesses were telling stories they'd heard second-hand. None of the prosecution witnesses had a clear look at who shot Pac. One witness Devonta Lee claimed another gangster called Big Dre took the shot - not Orlando. Maybe things weren't as clear-cut as I first thought.
Keefe was then arrested on September 30, 2023 at his home. Bodycam footage we obtained from the scene showed Keefe bragging to cops even as he was handcuffed in the back of a police car - telling officers he was involved in the "biggest case in Las Vegas history".
Following Keefe's multiple appearances in court, he seems to have lost much of that bravado and now cuts a sad, lonely figure.
Suffering from various health problems as a result of cancer, he's struggling to cope with the brutalities of jail life and can't get together enough money to afford his bail. He feels some of his old Southside Crip associates - men he handed wads of cash to in his glory days, have just abandoned him.
Keefe is now desperate to get out of jail, and his defense stems is leaning on his claim that he completely made up his involvement in the Tupac murder for fame and money. He saw other people cashing in on the murder so he thought he would too. He reckons his confessions to police were all lies - he made it up because he was under a plea deal and thought it would help him beat his other charges.
And, according to his lawyer Carl Arnold, he wasn't even in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting. Arnold remains convinced he will see his client walk free and their secret weapon could be former Death Row Records boss Suge.
As the only other person still alive from either car, Suge, currently in prison for a fatal hit and run, would be a key witness. Suge is the only person still alive who knows what went down - he saw the shooter. While he's said he won't testify at the November trial, Suge has claimed in a TMZ interview from prison that Orlando was not the shooter, which again throws into doubt Keefe's version of events.
Keefe and his lawyer are hoping they might be able to change his mind and persuade him to testify for the defense. And Suge holds the power to blow the prosecution's case apart.
And if Keefe walks free, will there ever be justice for Pac?
Judge Carli Kierny granted the 60-year-old a bail with a home monitoring deal for $750,000. However, so far Keefe has been unable to raise the 10% needed to meet a bond for release.
Arnold admitted he remained “unsure” when funds would be found for that bail and it is unclear whether Arnold will be able to arrange the meeting with Knight and client Davis while he remains in CCDC.
The trial is set to begin in November.
Last year Suge spoke to TMZ live from prison, where he is currently serving a 28-year jail sentence for a fatal hit-and-run killing of a rival.
If Suge gets up and says he never saw Keefe [the moment Tupac was shot] that would be a real home run for the defense.
Associate of Keefe D
Regarding Tupac’s killing and the perpetrators, he said, "There was only two in the car. ‘Pac ain't gonna tell the story and I ain't gonna tell the story. But I tell you this. I never had nothing bad to say about Orlando because he was not the shooter."
Suge then said he is off all witness lists as he added, "I am not going to get on the stand and testify for what? I would not go. I would not testify - none of that s**t."
He added he was "surprised" at Keefe's arrest adding, "Nor did I want to see him get arrested. First and foremost me and Keefe played on the same football team.
"I would not wish somebody going to prison on my worst enemy.”
