Russell Poole

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Russell Poole
Born
Russell Wayne Poole

November 29, 1956
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Police career
Country United States
Allegiance Los Angeles
Department Los Angeles Police Department
Service years1981–1999
RankSworn in as an Officer (1981)
Police Officer II
Police Officer III (1984)
Detective I (1987)
Detective II (1996)
Other workAuthor, private investigator

Russell Wayne Poole (November 29, 1956 – August 19, 2015) was a

Frank Lyga
on March 18, 1997. After retiring in 1999, he formed a private detective agency.

Early career

The son of a 27-year

Ennis Cosby, son of comedian Bill Cosby.[1] He also was one of the officers involved in the investigation into the North Hollywood shootout, just days before the murder of the Notorious B.I.G
. Throughout his career up to his involvement in the Rampart scandal, Poole was a highly respected and decorated LAPD detective.

LAPD Rampart investigation

See also:
Rampart Scandal

Poole's involvement in the Rampart scandal began less than six months before Wallace's murder and a year before Rafael Pérez was arrested. His involvement started when Poole and his Robbery/Homicide unit partner Fred Miller were assigned to investigate the March 1997 Studio City shooting death of plainclothes LAPD Officer Kevin Gaines. Gaines was killed in a road rage dispute after he brandished a gun at another motorist, who turned out to be undercover officer, Frank Lyga.

Death of Notorious B.I.G.

See also:
Murder of Christopher Wallace

On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., Wallace,

GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after an announcement was made that the party would finish earlier than planned. Biggie traveled in the front passenger seat of the second Suburban alongside his associates, Damion "D-Rock" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease
and driver, Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the first vehicle with three bodyguards. The two vehicles were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.

By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with cars full of people leaving the event. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. While waiting for the light to change, a white Toyota Land Cruiser made a U-turn and cut in between Wallace's vehicle and the Chevrolet Blazer behind. Simultaneously, a dark Chevrolet Impala pulled up alongside Wallace's SUV. The driver of the Impala, an African-American male, rolled down his window, drew a 9mm blue-steel pistol, and fired several rounds into the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace in the chest. Wallace was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by Combs and the rest of Wallace's entourage, but was pronounced dead by doctors at 1:15 a.m.

Investigation of Notorious B.I.G.'s death

After months of investigating, Poole accused LAPD Officer David Mack, along with Mack's friend, Amir Muhammad, of being complicit in the murder of Christopher Wallace. Poole claimed he had enough evidence to prove Mack had ties to the CEO of Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight.[2] He suspected Mack and possibly other officers took part in the murder.[3][4] Poole had sources that confirmed Mack was raised in the same Compton neighborhood, and was in the same gang as Knight (the Bloods). Mack was a frequent visitor at Knight's private parties, and frequently wore the same style and color (red) clothes as Knight and the Bloods gang. Much of Poole's investigation was used as the basis for Randall Sullivan's book,[5] LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal. The book formed the basis for the highly anticipated 2018 film City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp as Poole. The film was released on December 8, 2018, at the Noir film festival.[6][7]

Chief Parks' involvement and Poole's resignation

Poole sent his findings to the then-chief of the Los Angeles Police Department,

public with his findings.[10] Poole, as a private investigator, continued independently investigating Wallace's murder on his own. He was included in a 2001 interview with VH1 in the documentary film Biggie & Tupac released in 2001 by British documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield
.

Tupac:187

Tupac:187, written by Richard RJ Bond, Michael Douglas Carlin, with a contribution by Russell Poole, is an alternate theory in the murder of Tupac Shakur.[11]

Death

While discussing the Wallace and

heart attack at the Monterey Park office of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on August 19, 2015.[13]

In popular culture

Poole was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2018 film City of Lies.[7]

In 2018, Jimmi Simpson starred as Poole in Unsolved: Tupac & Biggie, a ten-part series originating on the USA Network, also on Netflix. IndieWire praised the "elevated artistry" of Simpson's performance, while Vulture.com commented in their review: "In an ensemble this solid, it can be challenging for one performance to emerge as a standout. But Simpson's does because he so carefully calibrates Poole's intensity, dialing it up by slight degrees in each episode until he's radiating with panicky determination ... Simpson physically and emotionally illustrates [the character's] internal struggle beautifully".

Bibliography

  • LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal, Atlantic Monthly Press,
    ISBN 978-0-87113-838-5
    .
  • Chaos Merchants: Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG, Amazon Kindle, ASIN: B01A2VbbbYJTO.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. The Los Angeles Times
    . Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  3. ^ Kreps, Daniel (August 20, 2015). "Russell Poole, Notorious B.I.G. Murder Investigator, Dead". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  4. ^ "Interviews - Detective Russell Poole | PBS - L.a.p.d. Blues | FRONTLINE". PBS. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  5. ^ Singer, Matthew (September 6, 2016). "Portland Journalist Randall Sullivan Wrote the Book on the Conspiracy to Kill Tupac and Biggie". Willamette Week. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  6. Hollywood Reporter
    . Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Barsanti, Sam (November 16, 2016). "Forest Whitaker joins Johnny Depp's hunt for Tupac's killer". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  8. ^ Court TV Crime Library Archived 2006-06-21 at the Wayback Machine at Crime Library
  9. ^ Stated by him to Nick Broomfield in the film Biggie & Tupac (2002)
  10. ^ "[INSIDE]". Wjcohen.home.mindspring.com.
  11. ISBN 978-0692317846
    .
  12. ^ "PRNewswire". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  13. ^ Buncombe, Andrew (21 August 2015). "Detective in Tupac and Biggie case dies". The Independent. Retrieved 26 April 2020.

External links

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