Chaos Merchants

It was one year ago that Tupac:187 was released to the public. It was released with little fanfare, as most things are when hype is not a factor. And if you dealt with Russell Poole, hype was never in the conversation.

We re-worked Russell’s groundbreaking investigation, from the start, and we looked several times at every lead Russell could remember, and even a few he could not. When Russell, Michael, and I finished the book, we knew that there were two fundamental issues that applied to long-gestating investigations (and books based on them: a) People’s testimony can change, and b) so much time goes by that one needs a scorecard to remember who the players are. And the book became overwhelming.

In Tupac:187, we came up with the analogy to the Camelot story, and in looking back I am not sure if it helped or hurt the message we wanted to tell. As a storyteller, a documentary gets dry when there is not something mildly entertaining about the story. But journalists are a different kind of storyteller, and I was ceasing to become an entertainer and more of a journalist. Of course Michael was already there; I think that, had I recognized and embraced the evolution, Tupac:187 may have read more like what you are about to read; the facts are all there, but Michael and Russell stripped away all of the fat and came up with an ultimately distilled (and augmented) view of the investigation. For those who want to get to the bottom line, there is no team better than Michael and Russell to do that.

However, Russell is no longer with us. The man, who had conviction to stand in the face of the Los Angeles Police Department with allegations of corruption, was at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (by invitation) to take his convictions further. Russell believed that Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were involved with the shooting and cover-up of Knight in 2014. Russell had spoken to an attorney with Knight’s camp, and whether or not Knight is credible as a witness, the attorney said that Knight was in agreement with Russell’s Tupac Murder theory. Russell was at the Sheriff's office willing to allege that a deputy had acted illegally and participated in Knight’s shooting. The Sheriff knew he was coming. Russell dropped from a heart attack while pleading his case with an apparently apathetic Sheriff's office.

As to the work on Chaos Merchants: I had some foundational involvement with it, but I was largely sequestered for the few months following the book's release. I was harassed during that time and was threatened by people who did not like having their names out there. LAPD's Threat Assessment Unit was on speed dial. Because of this, I had to take a break from following leads; Michael and Russ kept moving the ball down the field, and with all our work in consideration. They turned over new conversations you will read about here. They took the 187 theory and kept pushing for new witnesses and evidence to support it.

What you will see is not a rewrite of our work. It sets up the stage for those who follow in continuing the investigation. New facts can be introduced, and I look at this book as a masters course in the Tupac Shakur/Christopher Wallace shootings. It gets right to it. If you want a more flowery exposition, pick up Tupac:187 and take a day off.

This book is a concentrated work to shed light to a tragic situation. Even now, more leads are coming in, and yes, I am now back in the hunt to pick up from where Russ left us. Michael has done a fantastic job of mowing down the weeds of deception, and really getting to the heart of the truth. Chaos Merchants sets the question of who is creating this chaos and why. By his ability to clear the debris, Michael has left us capable of aiming our investigation in a true and unrestricted direction.

As Michael and I sit down and figure out where we are going, expect that you will also be along for the ride. We believe the information now coming in, too quickly to process, is beneficial to the investigation and shaping up to make a new project, where we look at what the harsh light was; who was trying to kill Knight, what they were doing to cover it, and why it was necessary to do that in the first place.

Russell Poole never backed down. Most people never would have entertained going to the very people they suspect of wrongdoing asking for help in getting arrests. Most people dislike confrontations with the police, and controversy involving law enforcement in general. Not Russ. He had his truth and he stormed their castle. He died for what he believed in. Not much more can be said for a man who gives his life for his belief.

Rest in Peace Russ! Michael and I have this.

R.J. Bond

CHAPTER ONE

FORMER LAPD DETECTIVE RUSSELL POOLE’S DEATH

August 19, 2015

Russell is an American Hero. He knew the risks of what he was doing. We talked about it. He and I made a pact that if one of us was killed the other would get the information out there where it could be used to bring the killers to justice. He died for something he believed in. He died because the Tupac and Biggie cases have always stuck in his craw and he wanted to solve them. He did solve them. He first tried to meet with LAPD and they burned him. He thought the Sheriff’s provided an alternative that would serve justice. He hiked six miles a day and was in better health than I had ever seen him in. His spirits were high as he felt finally there would be someone that would bring this case to closure.

I spoke with Russell Poole at 9 AM this morning. He was stuck in traffic in Diamond Bar on the 60 and he was on the way to meet with the LA County Sheriff’s in Monterey Park. I had talked to him yesterday about cancelling the meeting but out of respect for Jim McDonnell he felt he should go through with it. He was on his way to talk about the murder of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls with summary pages that were footnoted about the case. Russell told me he was going to call me the minute he got out of the meeting and let me know what was said. I waited and waited but got no word from him. I sent a few inquiring text messages and got no response.

About 5:30 PM I got a text message from one of my confidential informants telling me that Russell Poole was dead. I immediately looked it up on Google and sure enough the news reports were already in that Russell had died. It is strange that it hit the media before his family was notified. I was the one that called his aunt and she broke down in tears from the news.

What is also strange is that Bomb1st had an interview from Reggie Wright Jr. who already had the news and he said he was glad Russell was dead[1]. He also talked about our summary pages of information like he had those pages in front of him. He knew exactly what Russell was there to discuss. I know because Russell and I spent hours on the telephone discussing this meeting and preparing for it. How did Reggie Wright Jr. know about what homicide investigators were discussing with Russell minutes after the meeting and Russell dying?

This ties back directly to Suge Knight’s current legal troubles, his shooting at the 1Oak night club and the attempt on Suge’s life on the night of September 7th 1996, when Tupac was shot and later died as a result of the wounds he received that night. My opinion is that Russell was murdered because we have uncovered the truth about the murder of Tupac Shakur. It is reminiscent of the attempted murder of Michael Harry-O Harris while he was in prison and given a 7 UP by one of the central characters in this story. It also makes me wonder if Tupac wasn’t given something in those final hours. He seemed to be on the mend and took a turn for the worse and then his body gets rushed off to be cremated.

The truth is that an off-duty Sheriff was videotaped letting the two shooters into the 1Oak Nightclub to kill Suge Knight. They picked the nightclub because the Sheriffs would respond to the crime scene. Standard protocol was not observed and they turned out the nightclub without getting witness statements. The crime scene was purposely bungled by Sheriffs so that no prosecution could ever by made. The same off-duty Sheriff was caught on videotape dropping the shooters off at LAX. He was brought in for questioning and fired. The investigation led to a payment of $50,000 to the shooters by someone directly tied to this story who was questioned. But no charges have ever been filed. Then Suge is lured down to the Straight Outta Compton set where he will again be in LA County Sheriff’s jurisdiction. Again the crime scene is bungled and key witnesses are allowed to leave without giving statements or getting their contact information.

THE SAME INVESTIGATOR HANDLED BOTH CRIME SCENES WHICH IS A HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Then David Kenner is appointed as Suge’s attorney. Suge claims that David Kenner stole 80 million dollars from him.[2] Kenner tries to make deals with the prosecution to sell Suge Knight down the river. On March 2nd there is a hearing to transfer the case to downtown. Suge Knight rises and fires David Kenner. Ignoring Suge there is discussion after David Kenner is fired and they try to reach a deal for Suge Knight. There is a closed-door meeting after Kenner is fired with Kenner and those transcripts have been withheld and then they were doctored before being released.

On March 17th the Sheriff Investigator that handled both cases – the one embroiled in the conflict of interest visits the judge and gets him to sign a protective order that would not allow Suge Knight to have any other contact (incoming or outgoing) with anyone other than David Kenner. That protective order is signed 15 days after David Kenner was fired as Suge Knight’s attorney.

The Sheriff’s Investigator called Russell Poole yesterday to ask about what they would discuss. Russell told the investigator that he knew that an off-duty Sheriff had participated in the attempted murder on Suge Knight. He told them that they had a dog case on their hands and that they could save themselves from ultimate embarrassment when it became public that an off-duty Sheriff participated in the attempt on Suge Knight. The investigator urged Poole to bring all of his case files on a disk to provide to investigators. He confirmed that, indeed an off-duty Sheriff had participated and asked Russell how he came to possess this information. Russell said he did not disclose the source of this information.

So now Suge Knight’s life is in danger. Why? The Compton Police Department was corrupt and they were not disbanded instead they were absorbed into the LA County Sheriff’s Department. The Compton Police were involved in the murder of Tupac Shakur and the cover-up. Reggie Wright Sr. is on the full MGM surveillance tape watching Orlando Anderson be interrogated. Look at the end of the tape. Who is it that shakes Orlando Anderson’s hand and takes him away at the end of the tape? Is it the same man who knows about Russell’s visit and the intimate details of their conversation?

There are still remnants of the corruption inside of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. They have access to the jail system. I believe that Suge Knight is in danger now and that they have been attempting to kill him ever since September 7, 1996 because of the hundreds of millions of dollars Death Row Records was worth at the time. If he is not removed from the Sheriff control there is a high probability he will not survive.

I like Sheriff Jim McDonnell and I supported him in his Sheriff’s campaign. I met with him last year in March and wrote an article about him. You can see it on the American News Service Website.[3] It is my opinion that Jim has no idea about the corruption that still exists within the Sheriff’s Department. There are over 18,000 employees and he has yet to clean house. Now is the time Sheriff for you to act swiftly to solve the Tupac and Biggie Murders and to do the right thing here in the memory of Russell Poole. Russell’s father was an LA County Sheriff for decades. He was well respected and he deserves for you to treat his son right.

To Jim McDonnell on a personal note. Today I called you on your cell phone. I sent you numerous text messages and you have yet to respond to me. Please do the right thing for Russell Poole. It was you that set up this meeting. We discussed it on July 22nd. There needs to be a full investigation into this death with a coroner’s looking into all exotic toxins that could trigger a heart attack. Then again we know there are substances that are untraceable. Please do the right thing here.

CHAPTER THREE IS WHAT RUSSELL

GAVE TO THE SHERIFF INVESTIGATORS.

I