Wardell Fouse

Wardell Fouse
Born	(1960-07-22)July 22, 1960 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	July 24, 2003(2003-07-24) (aged 43) Compton, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds
Resting place	Inglewood Park Cemetery
Other names	Darnell Bolton Poochie
Organization	Death Row Records
Known for	Prime suspect in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G.
Allegiance	Mob Piru Bloods

Wardell Fouse (July 22, 1960 – July 24, 2003), also known by his aliases Darnell Bolton and Poochie, was a Bloods gang member who was implicated in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. Since Fouse was deceased by the time his alleged involvement became known to the investigating police, no charges were filed against him.^[1]

Early life and criminal activities

Wardell Fouse was born in Kentucky^[2] and moved to Compton with his family, where he became a member of the Mob Pirus,^[3] a "set" (subgroup) of the Bloods street gang, and acquired the nickname "Poochie."^[4] Suge Knight, whom Fouse would become close friends with, was also affiliated with this Bloods set.^[5]

On February 11, 1975, 14-year-old Fouse fired a shotgun at the house of Sophronia Johnson, after losing a fight with her son. When he was interviewed by the police the next day, Fouse admitted that he fired the shotgun.^[6]

In January 1991, Fouse was wanted for his suspected involvement in a home invasion in San Bernardino, in which a man was murdered and his girlfriend was shot in the head and left to die.^[7]

In 1994, Reggie Wright Jr., who would later become the head of security at Death Row Records, arrested Fouse for the possession of one pound (0.45 kg) of cocaine and an assault weapon.^[8]

Death Row Records

Poochie worked as a bodyguard at Death Row Records and sometime before the murder of The Notorious B.I.G., Knight purchased an Impala for Poochie.^[9]

Danny Boy, an artist at Death Row Records, described Poochie in an interview:^[10]

“He definitely was a killer. He looked like it. He acted like it when he came in the room. It was something about him. He wasn’t a tall man. He wasn’t big, nothing like that. To me he looked like that he wasn’t the one to fuck with.”

Murder of William "Rat" Ratcliffe

In his book Murder Rap, former detective Greg Kading claims that in 1995, an aspiring rapper from the Bounty Hunters Bloods named William "Rat" Ratcliffe was pressuring Suge Knight to sign him to Death Row Records. At one point, Ratcliffe, along with 10 other Bounty Hunter Bloods, cornered Knight in a bathroom. After this incident, Ratcliffe was murdered by Fouse, on the orders of Knight, who allegedly commented “He doesn’t fuck around. That’s how I want him to do it.”, referring to Fouse.^[11]

Murder of the Notorious B.I.G. and investigation

Shooting of Christopher Wallace

At 12:30 am on March 9, 1997 (PST), Christopher Wallace, known professionally as the Notorious B.I.G., was leaving an after-party hosted by

At 12:45 am (PST), Wallace's SUV stopped at a red light on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue while Puffy's driver went through the light. At that point, a dark-colored

Following Wallace's death, there was much speculation that the murder was linked to the shooting of Tupac Shakur, which occurred six months earlier in Las Vegas.^[14] Both Wallace and Shakur were central figures in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. Detective Russell Poole of the LAPD led the initial investigation of the murder. After several months of investigating, Poole suspected that Suge Knight had hired LAPD officer David Mack, as well as Mack's friend Amir Muhammad, to carry out the murder.^[15] Muhammad, who was not an official suspect at the time, came forward to clear his name. Poole sent his findings to the then-chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Bernard C. Parks, who ordered Poole to cease all investigations of Officer David Mack. In protest of Parks' and the LAPD's handling of the case, Poole retired from the department in late 1999.^[16] As a result, the case stalled.

2006 Investigation by Greg Kading

Eventually, the case was reopened in 2006 and was led by LAPD detective Greg Kading. His investigation concluded that Wallace was shot by Wardell "Poochie" Fouse, who Suge Knight contacted through his then-girlfriend, Theresa Swann.^[17]

After Swann confessed to being involved in the murder, the FBI sent her to meet Suge Knight in prison, while wearing a body-wire, in order to extract a confession from him. However, Knight did not say anything incriminating during the visit.^[18]

Death

Wardell Fouse died just two days after his 43rd birthday on July 24, 2003, after he was shot 10 times in the back as he rode his motorcycle in Compton.^[19] Detective Greg Kading has suggested that Fouse was killed as a result of a feud between two Blood sets, stating:^[20]

He was supposedly killed as a result of in-fighting between the Mob Pirus (Suge’s Blood associates) and another Blood gang known as the Fruit Town Pirus.

In their book Once Upon a Time in Compton, Tim Brennan and Robert Ladd claim that Fouse was killed on orders from Rodrick Cardale “Lil Rod” Reed from Fruit Town Piru. An AK-47 was used in the shooting.^[21] Fouse was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.^[22]

Depictions in media

• In Episode 10 of Unsolved (2018), the shooting death of Fouse is depicted. He is portrayed by Harry Fowler.^[23] When police officer Tim Brennan (Scott Michael Campbell) arrives at the crime scene and recognises Fouse, he states "One of Compton's finest. They call him Poochie".
• In the movie City of Lies (2018), he is mentioned by Commander Fasulo (Peter Greene), who tells Jack (Forest Whitaker), that Wardell Fouse was a "Mob Piru Blood who Suge Knight paid to kill Biggie". Furthermore, an image of Fouse is visible on Detective Poole's (Johnny Depp) wall when Jack enters Poole's apartment.

References