The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder remains unsolved 25 years later
NEW YORK - On March 9, 1997, Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., was leaving a party in Los Angeles when a drive-by shooting cut short the life of one of hip-hop's most legendary voices.
He was just 24 years old.
Now, 25 years after his death, questions still swirl over who was responsible for his death. Several people have been accused of his murder but no arrests were ever made.
Wallace's death, coming less than a year after that of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur sent shock waves through the hip-hop community and sparked an outpouring of grief. But as time goes on, questions continue to circle over who actually killed The Notorious B.I.G.
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Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading alleged that Wallace was shot and killed by Wardell "Poochie" Fouse, a gang member and associate of famed hip-hop music executive Marion "Suge" Knight. According to Kading, Knight hired Fouse to kill Wallace in order to avenge the death of Shakur, as part of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry that dominated the 1990s.
A book by Randall Sullivan, based on information from retired LAPD detective Russell Poole, also pointed the finger at Knight, alleging that he worked with a corrupt Los Angeles Police Department officer to hire a hit man to kill Wallace. However, in 2005, a story showed that the main informant for Sullivan's theory was a schizophrenic with admitted memory lapses who had confessed to hearsay, greatly undermining Sullivan and Poole's theory.
As of March 2022, the murder of Christopher Wallace remains unsolved.