Tupac Shakur murder trial: former security officer describes witnessing aftermath of shooting – latest updates

The Aftermath of the Shooting

William Heidmeyer, a former security officer at the Maxim Hotel and Casino, now known as the Westin, testified about witnessing the aftermath of Tupac Shakur's shooting in 1996. Heidmeyer was working with Las Vegas police officers to investigate the theft of some vehicles on the third floor of a Las Vegas parking garage when they heard gunfire. He described hearing 'three volleys' of gunfire, with 'Three to four, maybe even five,' shots in each volley of gunfire. Heidmeyer also described seeing a line of vehicles on Flamingo, heading east, including a white Dodge Stratus at the front, a Black BMW behind it, a white Chevy suburban behind that, and several more cars. There were a number of people standing outside vehicles, including one Black man who was visibly holding a pistol in his hand. Heidmeyer described the Black man holding the pistol as 'very young, well dressed, he was wearing a very bright white three-quarter sleeved shirt, black pants and a black dress vest.' His conclusion at the time was that the man with the gun that he had seen was the suspect in the shooting, Heidmeyer testified. 'That's what I deduced at the time.'

The Investigation

Former Las Vegas police detective Dean O'Kelley testified about the investigation into Tupac Shakur's murder. He described the initial update that they were looking for a light-color, possibly white, Cadillac with two Black male occupants related to the shooting. Later, they were told that the Cadillac had four Black male occupants, O'Kelley said. About an hour after the shooting, no longer responsible for securing the crime scene, he and others went looking for the light-colored Cadillac. O'Kelley also testified that the ammunition cartridges found at the scene of the shooting suggests that the weapon used was a Glock. He also described crime scene analyst Dan Ford, who also responded to the scene, as an investigator who had responded to 'countless' homicides during their overlapping Las Vegas careers. 'Dan had indicated that these [ammunition] cartridge cases were checked for fingerprints at the time, with negative results,' O'Kelley testified.

The Trial Continues

The trial of Duane Davis, accused of planning Tupac Shakur's murder, continues with new evidence and testimony. The court is now on lunch break, and will resume at 1:45pm Las Vegas time, judge Carli Kierney said. Under cross-examination from Duane Davis' defense attorney Michael Sanft, former Las Vegas police detective Dean O'Kelley's has pivoted from discussing his experience of responding to the scene of the 1996 shooting to talking more broadly about his later work on cold case homicides. Sanft appears to be trying to use O'Kelley's testimony to raise questions among jury members about the challenges of solving cold case homicides, and about what kind of new evidence prosecutors ought to have in order to revisit a case like Shakur's, which went unsolved for nearly three decades.