FEDERAL agents investigating rapper Diddy are secretly liaising with prosecutors in the murder trial of Tupac Shakur.
Federal investigators have been collaborating with the Clark County District Attorney’s (DA’s) office in Las Vegas over their broad probe of the iconic rapper’s shooting in 1996, a source told The U.S. Sun.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is at the center of a federal probe into allegations of 𝓈ℯ𝓍 traffickingCredit: AFP
Tupac Shakur, pictured here in LA in August 1996, a month before he was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁edCredit: AP
Tupac suspect Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis in court in Las Vegas in FebruaryCredit: The US Sun – Commissioned by The US Sun Digital edition
Self-confessed Los Angeles gang kingpin Keefe D is currently the only person charged with the assassination of the rap icon in September 1996 – and it was not known that there was any ongoing federal investigation related to the crime.
A source has said federal officials, however, have been “collating information” by Vegas prosecutors and their teams about wider claims and connections to criminal activity, gangland activities, and individuals who wanted Pac dead.
The staggering twist is that the same teams liaising with the Vegas law enforcement are those investigating Diddy’s federal 𝓈ℯ𝓍 trafficking case.
Federal agents raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March this year as part of an ongoing 𝓈ℯ𝓍 trafficking probe.
Publicly, Diddy’s attorney insists his client is “innocent” of all wrongdoing in that probe, which is being kept under wraps.
Keefe claimed in a police interview and media chats that Diddy offered him $1 million for 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing Tupac at the height of the East-West Coast rap wars.
That astonishing allegation has never been corroborated by any other gang members or hard evidence – and Diddy has never been arrested or charged in connection with the Tupac murder.
Reps for Combs declined to comment when approached by The U.S. Sun, but the rap mogul has denied the claim in the past, telling AllHipHop in 2008: “This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. It is a complete lie…”
The U.S Sun was also made aware of allegations about links between 90s celebrity figures, including Diddy, featured in Vegas prosecutors’ trial preparation files and depositions.
Diddy was named 77 times in documents submitted by prosecutors in their recent opposition to Keefe’s bail request.
The DA’s team has not publicly discussed Diddy in Keefe’s trial hearings.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Clark County DA’s office for comment.
A Las Vegas legal source said: “Federal agents and Clark County DAs and their investigators have secretly been talking about the Keefe case for the last few months.
“The federal investigators have their work centered around the modern day activity of Diddy. But they know that Vegas has been collating information for the last couple of years on the Tupac case as well as speaking to tens of witnesses.
“Truthfully their work pulling together many agencies’ files from nearly 30 years about Keefe and his connection’s interactions with criminal elements is the most extensive probe of Tupac’s 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing and network ever.
“So federal agents smartly have not doubled up on the work, but have been made aware of what is happening. Also a collaboration makes gaining access to federal documents easy too.
“The feds know who Metro investigators have spoken to about the case and are aware of witnesses too.
“Just what this means for Diddy remains to be seen.”
The Clark County District Attorney’s team has publicly stated that their case currently only centers on Keefe D – whose real name is Duane Davis.
But the legal source said: “No one from the DA’s office is going to say at this stage that Diddy is being considered as part of this murder case.
“Just what this means for Diddy remains to be seen.”
Legal source
“The priority is to build as strong an argument to convince a jury beyond doubt that Keefe was the shot caller.
“They feel confident that they have a significant raft of evidence to win that case.”
Keefe’s murder trial was pushed back to March 2025 by Judge Carli Kierny earlier this month.
However, investigators are still “not giving up on finding more and more evidence and witnesses.”
Diddy’s mansions in LA, pictured, and Miami were raided in MarchCredit: The Mega Agency
Armed officers outside Diddy’s home in Los AngelesCredit: Getty
Federal and Homeland Security Investigations agents outside his home in MiamiCredit: AFP
Keefe’s lawyer Carl Arnold stated that his central defense is that he made up stories about his role in the shooting of Tupac to earn money and gain fame.
Keefe and Diddy have a complicated relationship dating back to the 1990s when the rapper’s record label Bad Boy hired him as extra West Coast security.
The LA-raised street thug confessed many times he protected the New Yorker and his acts at California gigs and hung with them on several occasions.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s team included bombshell audio recordings of Keefe alleging Diddy offered him one million dollars for Pac’s assassination and then failing to pay in a chilling 2 hour 25-minute secret police interview.
TAPED ‘CONFESSION’
The 2008 LAPD interview recording, entered as key evidence in the murder trial, features Keefe, without any firm evidence, claiming he oversaw the fatal shooting of the Ghetto Gospel star at the request of Diddy.
Diddy, he repeatedly told officers, wanted rival record label boss Suge Knight and his top performing artist Tupac dead as a war of words broke out during the East/West Coast rap wars.
Keefe says that Diddy, now 54, declared: “Man I want to get rid of those dudes.”
The 61-year-old Compton Crip insisted that the million-dollar reward was proposed by Diddy, who denies any involvement in the case.
Keefe openly boasted about growing close to Diddy, then-owner of Bad Boy Records and global music superstar, through mutual friend Eric “Zip” Martin.
Keefe, who has since denied being involved in Tupac’s death after murder charges were filed in Vegas, offered no corroboration of his claims.
On tape, Keefe described to LAPD officer Greg Kading how Diddy – then known as Puffy or Puff Daddy – discussed his hatred of Suge and Pac after a concert in Anaheim.
HIT ‘EM UP
Keefe said: “S*** he said he would give us anything for those dudes heads you know?”
“We wanted a million” stated Keefe, adding that “we will wipe their a** out quick you know – it is nothing.”
When asked by an officer “who brought up the amount of one million dollars,” Keefe replied “s*** he did. It wasn’t me.”
Keefe repeated that Diddy had several conversations with him to “𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 both of them.”
Keefe believed that this confessional tape would never be used as evidence against him, because he had secured immunity by corroborating with the LAPD in December 2008.
But that deal, known as a proffer, collapsed if Keefe spoke publicly about those matters or was found to have lied to police.
Keefe complained in his memoir and media interviews that Diddy never came through on his alleged hit fee.
Combs remains livid that federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March.
Aaron Dyer, an attorney for the hip-hop billionaire mogul, complained of an “excessive show” and “gross overuse of military-level force” adding his client is innocent.
Earlier this year Keefe denied, through his lawyer Arnold, that he had spoken to any federal officials in their Diddy investigation.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to HSI, Clark County DA, and reps for Diddy for comment.
