Russell Poole, Detective In Biggie’s Murder Case, Dies

Russell Poole, the retired Los Angeles police officer who publicly contended the LAPD was involved in the death of rapper Biggie Smalls, died suddenly from a suspected heart attack Wednesday. Sheriff’s Investigators performed CPR and Poole was rushed to a local hospital but a short time later was pronounced dead.

That incident took place shortly after Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a Christopher Wallace, was ambushed and fatally shot while he drove from an event at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Wallace’s killing was retaliation, Poole suggested, according to The Times.

The rapper’s death spawned conspiracy theories, among them that it was somehow connected to the Las Vegas slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur six months earlier because they and their respective record companies were seen as rivals. Poole alleged that police were involved in the killing, as part of a general theory that the killing sprang from an East Coast-West Coast rap feud. He resigned from the force in 1999 due to not liking the direction of his investigations, including Big’s case.

While his death equally seems straight out of a movie, it likely ends the investigation into Biggie’s still unsolved murder and Suge’s connection with the crime, being that Suge is already on trial for another murder on top of his deteriorating health.