I ain't mad at ya.

June 15, 2011 5:05 PM

Man confesses to Tupac Shakur robbery and shooting Dexter Isaac, now serving a life sentence for murder, told AllHipHop.com that he robbed Shakur outside the Quad Studio in Manhattan in November 1994 on the orders of hip hop management mogul James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond.

From his letter: "In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob 2Pac Shakur at the Quad Studio. He gave me $2,500, plus all the jewelry I took, except for one ring, which he wanted for himself."

posted by Uther Bentrazor (23 comments total)

Rosemond, who is currently the target of a federal manhunt on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
posted by 2bucksplus at 5:15 PM on June 15, 2011

It's funny how half of the media outlets covering this story shamelessly grab your eye with exclamations such as "Tupac Shakur's alleged shooter confesses" and "Convicted Killer Confesses to Shooting West Coast Rapper Tupac Shakur", conveniently leaving out the part about it being the non-fatal 1994 shooting and not his murder two years later.

Besides, isn't Tupac alive and living in New Zealand?
posted by item at 5:16 PM on June 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

*shamelessly grab your eye with headlines exclaiming...
posted by item at 5:17 PM on June 15, 2011

Huge news if true. The paranoia and ensuring overreactions have defined a generation of hip hop artists.
posted by 2bucksplus at 5:22 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

The hate u give little infants fucks everyone.
posted by box at 5:23 PM on June 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Everybody knows that Biggie popped Shakur.

By the way, "Biggie popped Shakur" would make a great name for a breakfast cereal.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:26 PM on June 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

He has denied any wrongdoing and released a statement saying Isaac was a government information.

Reassuring to know that the NY Daily News is still upholding its rigorous standards of quality. Finest proofreaders in the world.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:33 PM on June 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Racist? I don't think so. How is this guy not a thug? He as involved in more questionable activity than everyone I personally know put together. How about you?

1992 - Tupac was arrested after being involved in an altercation in which a stray bullet killed a child.

April 5, 1993 - Tupac spent 10 days in a Michigan prison for beating another rapper with a baseball bat.

November 18, 1993 - Shakur was arrested on the sexual abuse and sodomy charges and weapons charges in New York City. The sodomy and weapons charges were dropped.

November 10, 1994 - Tupac, slated to star in the movie Meance II, punched the director Allen Hughes. He spent 15 days in prison and was replaced in the movie by Larenz Tate.
posted by cccorlew at 6:04 PM on June 15, 2011

Isaac, 46, said he's coming forward now because he's mad at Rosemond's claim and because he believes the statute of limitations on the crime has passed.

Belief is one thing, but I'm seeing that there is no statute of limitations on murder in New York. Is that right?
posted by limeonaire at 6:06 PM on June 15, 2011

He's not confessing to a murder.
posted by GeckoDundee at 6:12 PM on June 15, 2011

Isaac should have waited until he was on his death bed to whisper the word "Rosemond".
posted by twoleftfeet at 6:16 PM on June 15, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'm seeing that there is no statute of limitations on murder in New York. Is that right?

Speaking as someone whose entire knowledge of New York criminal law comes from Law & Order, yes, I believe it is.
posted by box at 6:37 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Racist? I don't think so. How is this guy not a thug? He as involved in more questionable activity than everyone I personally know put together. How about you? "

If you want to call Tupac a thug, that's fine, if kind of simplistic to the point of idiocy (given that his struggles over being a thug were pretty much all he rapped about).

However, you didn't ask if he was a thug. You asked if you had to be a thug to care about it. Since the clear answer is no, but it is a pretty broad topic of interest to a disproportionately black community (that of hip hop fans), it seemed a pretty racist thing to assume.
posted by klangklangston at 6:49 PM on June 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

"Belief is one thing, but I'm seeing that there is no statute of limitations on murder in New York. Is that right?"

He didn't kill Tupac, he robbed him, which started the beef between Tupac and Biggie, which is thought to have resulted in both of their deaths later on through separate actions.
posted by klangklangston at 6:51 PM on June 15, 2011

He's not confessing to a murder.

Oh, right. Well, there goes my point. Heh. Although actually, I'm also seeing that for certain classes of felony armed robbery in New York, there's no statute of limitations, either. Not that it matters, since Isaac is already doing life, but it's interesting nonetheless. And if his fingering of Rosemond for the robbery turns up anything else interesting related to the later murder, well, the lack of a statute of limitations in both cases could turn out to be relevant. FWIW, there's also no statute of limitations on murder in Nevada.

Also interesting is how so many of the headlines out there about this seemingly conflate Tupac's 1994 robbery and shooting and the 1996 murder.
posted by limeonaire at 6:53 PM on June 15, 2011

He as involved in more questionable activity than everyone I personally know put together. How about you?

So is Dubya...I don't see you calling him a thug.
posted by hal_c_on at 6:58 PM on June 15, 2011

[folks, let's back up the early "I don't give a shit" about this post and either comment if you do give a shit, or go to metatalk if you think it shouldn't be here? Feel free to do-over other comments, sorry about that. Thanks.]
posted by jessamyn at 7:37 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Isaac, 46, said he's coming forward now because he's mad at Rosemond's claim and because he believes the statute of limitations on the crime has passed.

Did he check with his lawyer about that one? Allegedly, he attempted to kill Shakur in the course of committing robbery in the first degree (it's first degree because he was armed). N.Y. Penal Law § 160.15. That makes it attempted first degree murder. § 125.27(1)(a)(vii). Attempted first degree murder is a Class A felony in New York (§ 110.05(1)), which means that the charge—like actual murder—can be brought at any time. N.Y. Criminal Procedure § 30.10(2)(a). Since he's serving a life sentence anyway I doubt a prosecutor will bother, but still, that wasn't the brightest move.
posted by jedicus at 8:14 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's not racist to imply that a genre created around an image of don't-give-a-fuck nihilism, a get-rich-or-die-tryin' ethos, and might-makes-right ethics -- which we can sum up as "thuggery" -- engenders both the cynical shootings for cash the confessed shooter claims this was (the resulting drama boosting the producer's record sales) and the honor killings over turf, reputation, and revenge that, presumably, ultimately killed both Biggie and Tupac.

To some extent, you do have to be a thug, or get inside a thug's head, to understand why when you've finally broken into the entertainment industry, and are making a thousand times what your parents ever made, it's still necessary to go about armed and engage in shootouts over East Coast versus West Coast.
posted by orthogonality at 8:14 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Jimmy Henchman beat a local area radio DJ so bad he was hospitalized with internal injuries all because the DJ clowned his bluetooth earpiece on air (he got 3 years probation for it), so it's not the sort of thing to put past Jimmy Henchman.
posted by Challahtronix at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2011

"Jimmy Henchman" is a cool name. Like "Marty Minion" or "L'il Stooge."
posted by SPrintF at 9:09 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

"It's not racist to imply that a genre created around an image of don't-give-a-fuck nihilism, a get-rich-or-die-tryin' ethos, and might-makes-right ethics"

Dude, you gotta stop getting your mixtapes from Rush Limbaugh.
posted by klangklangston at 11:32 AM on June 16, 2011

Peace! Unity! Love! And having fun!
posted by box at 1:15 PM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]