A city official
in Los Angeles, California hopes a $50,000 reward will provide leads in the
unsolved slaying of rapper Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace.
The rapper was
gunned down on March 9, 1997 after leaving a party by VIBE magazine near
the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Councilman Dennis
Zine introduced a measure Friday (April 7), which would double a 1997 measure
that offered a $25,000 reward for tips that will lead to the apprehension of
the person(s) who murdered the superstar rapper.
"I am hopeful
someone will come forward with information which will lead to the eventual apprehension
of the murderers involved in this case," Zine said in a statement.
In January, the
family of the late Notorious B.I.G. was awarded $1.1 million by U.S. District
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper.
The money was paid
to the family by the City of Los Angeles after it was learned the Los Angeles
Police Department intentionally withheld evidence that could have implicated
two rogue LAPD officers during the family’s civil lawsuit trial.
Zine has blamed the LAPD, saying sloppy detective work was the reason for the
city’s loss.
Last summer, authorities
discovered previously undisclosed statements from an informant who said an LAPD
officer, Rafael Perez, had confessed to participating in the killing with another
officer named David Mack.
A new group of
detectives from the LAPD from the department’s robbery-homicide division were
recently assigned to re-investigate the murder of the late Notorious B.I.G.