Chris Blatchford Statement

May 1998, a Five-Deuce Hoover Crip that I know came to me saying he knew who killed Tupac Shakur.  He told me that Sharitha Knight and Reggie Wright were behind the murder.

CI says at first there was a get together in Balboa Park in the San Fernando Valley for diffferent gangs.  This was disguised as a Blood/Crips truce meeting.  But it was really a feeler for Wright to see how much it would take to get Tupac hit.  Wright wanted rights to all Tupac's material.

He says it was Wright who -- on the night of Tupac's murder -- told the killers where Tupac would be, along with Suge.  Those not in on the plan that night were sent to the 662 Club in Las Vegas.

There were 3 hitmen hired to do the job:  Gregory Harris Smith aka "Lil Half Dead (dob 11-28-79), Malcolm Shabbaz Patton (dob 1972), and Danny Eugene Patton aka "Whiteboy" (dob 1974).

The CI lived next door to Danny Patton in Reseda and did some construction work with him.  CI says Danny Patton told him, "I shot that Tupac motherfucker.  I was there man!"  He had a tape recording of the conversation but I couldn't understand a word of it because of the bad quality of the tape.

In early June 1998,  the CI told me that Malcom Patton was "tired of hiding it" and believed he was about to get hit.  So, he wanted to turn himself in and tell the whole story.  I talked to Malcolm on the telephone and we set up a meeting.  He said he would bring one of the murder weapons, and wanted to do an on camera interview to protect himself.

June 5, 1998 I showed up for the meeting and was given a hand-written letter (this was written by the CI's sister who transcribed what Malcom told her).  The letter claimed Lil Half Dead was upset with Tupac because Tupac stole one of his songs, "Brenda's Got  Baby."   Lil Half Dead was beaten down by some Tupac soldiers while in Las Vegas.  The letter also said, Wright had a meeting with gangsters and put a bounty on Tupac's head. Malcolm said he was the shooter that was supposed to take out Suge Knight.  Lil Half Dead was supposed to kill Tupac.  It quoted Mlacolm as saying, "i can call you on a safe number and give you details of clothing, cars, streets, and describe anything you need to know to prove that I was there, and the night 2 pac tryed to escape, like a little pee-on bitch."  The letter also said that Malcolm would drop off one of the murder weapons at KTTV studios.

Malcolm never showed for the Reseda meeting, but when I returned to the station, security told me a young black man had tried to drop off a package for me at the guard shack.  Company policy prohibited them from accepting it.  I never heard from Malcolm again.

The CI also told me that Danny was paid 100-thousand dollars for the hit in the form of a cashier's check.  Danny signed the check.  The CI said the hit team trio had rented a pearl white cadillac at the Stratosphere Hotel Las Vegas and later dumped it at a salvage yard in Baker, dissassembled.   Three guns were used: tech 9, .45, and a Glock.  Danny's gun jammed.  Malcolm shot twice and missed his target.  He also said "Neckbone" would be killed later because he knew the identity of the shooters.  Neckbone was, in fact, killed at a later date.

CI said that Danny Patton's mother, who worked as a drug counselor in the Valley, was "scared to go against him."   Malcolm, at the time, was recently released from prison.

A year or so later, CI told me Danny Patton wanted to meet with me.  Subsequently, he and the CI did come to the station and talked with me for about a half-hour.  The Tupac murder was never mentioned.  CI later told me that Danny just wanted to feel me out.

Lil Half Dead is already doing life for another murder.