Law&Crime Sidebar - P. Diddy Could Be Connected to Biggie Smalls' Murder: Ex-Bodyguard

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

Gene Deal, once a bodyguard for Sean “Diddy” Combs, says his former boss could have been involved in the murder of Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls and the Notorious B.I.G. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber gets some insight from celebrity defense attorney Brian McMonagle.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wonderly Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Someone who had essentially been at Sean Combe's side for years now seems to suggest the rapper, business mogul, and now indicted criminal defendant, may have had something to do with the killing of notorious B.I.G. We're going to break down this claim made in a brand new documentary about Combs, and we're going to discuss it all with renowned criminal defense attorney to the stars, Brian McMonagull. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

One of the greatest unsolved crimes in the last 50 years has been the murder of notorious BIG. Christopher Wallace happened back on March 9, 1997. The rapper was gunned down in a drive-by shooting out in Los Angeles after Vibe Magazine's Soul Train Awards party at the Peterson Automotive Museum. And though there have been theories and speculation and rumors, no arrests have ever been made in connection with this killing. But now, an accusation has surfaced that perhaps Sean Diddy Combs, the man we have been focusing upon a lot lately, could have been involved somehow in this shooting. And this insinuation comes from Gene Deal. Now, Gene Deal is Combs' former bodyguard, who has been quite outspoken about Combs recently, especially after Combs has been accused of sexual assault and multiple lawsuits

and currently sits in a Brooklyn Detention Center awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking, racketeering, and prostitution charges, as trial is currently scheduled for May 5, 2025. But you see, Mr. Deal, who is reportedly Combs' bodyguard from 1991 to 2005, sat down for an interview in a new documentary called Diddy the Making of a Bad Boy that aired on Peacock. And I want to read you what Deal said, because when he was asked about Combs and Biggie, he remarks, so did he directly have something to do with it? He could have. And he bases that off of his perception that Combs was maybe acting a little weird leading up to the 24-year-old's death. He says on the show, the week which Biggie was murdered, he was just,

just acting real anxious and trying to get big at this party. And what's crazy was Big was telling people he had to be in London, but Puff was telling people he ain't going to London, that whole week. So you fast forward to the day of the party and Deal says, I'm sitting up at the Beverly Hills Hotel and I get a phone call. It's about 9 o'clock. And they say, Gene, get ready, we go into the vibe party. I was like, we go into this party. We don't have no security. But according to Deal, he tried to warn Combs that this probably wasn't a good idea. He says, yo, Puff, I got some Intel, bra. He said what?

I said, yo, man, if we go to this party tonight, one of us going to get killed, somebody going to die, because now we had East Coast West Coast beef. He said, yo, Gene, I don't want to hear that S, so we all jump in the car. Now, this East Coast West Coast beef was in reference to the infamous rivalry in the hip-hop world that lasted several years in the 90s between West Coast and the West Coast. death row records. So we're talking about Shug Knight, Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, who, by the way, was tragically killed in 1996 in Las Vegas. Actually, some believe that Biggie was killed as retribution for Tupac's death. And then on the other side, we have the East Coast. We have

Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Records, Combs label, with his artist Biggie. And when you think Diddy and Biggie, you're thinking hits like, more money, more problems, it's all about the Benjamin's victory. So Deal explains what happens when they all leave the vibe party. Quote, I was in a car with Puff. Big was in his own car, and the next thing you know, you hear pow, pow, pow, pow. The FBI has stated, by the way, that Biggie was in the passenger seat of a Chevy Suburban when a Chevy Impala pulled up at a red light, a shooter just opened fire. Deal says after Biggie was shot four times, deal tried to make sure that Biggie didn't go to sleep but kept talking to keep him alive. And according to Deal, they told him they were taking him to the hospital to which a deal claims Biggie replied, just do it. And Deal says in the documentary, that's the last thing I heard big say. And they said the hospital was two blocks away, and that's the longest two blocks I ever seen in my life. Hey there, everybody. So I want to thank Morgan and Morgan for sponsoring this episode of Sidebar.

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You came a little too close to me. It hurt me a little bit. I'm probably actually going to have to hire you guys now, but that was well said. That was well said. Now going back to Combs, Deal says they go to the hospital. Biggie dies, by the way, less than an hour after arriving there. And Deal explains to Combs what's going on with Biggie. So Puff ran out the hospital door and he grabbed my arm. He said, Gene, we got to pray. We got to pray. We got to pray. And I knocked his hands off of me. I said, pray for what? And then he basically says that Biggie's dead, bro. He just was stunned. He just seemed like he had this look in his eye like he couldn't believe it that he was dead. He couldn't believe it.

Now, the documentary makes clear that Combs has always denied involvement in the killings of Biggie and Tupac. And in fact, Diddy's legal counsel issued a statement after the airing of this documentary saying, one combs unequivocally denies the basis allegations being circulated in connection with this documentary so i want to try to make sense of all of this with renowned criminal defense attorney brian mcmonigal of the firm mcmonigle perry mckee mishak and davis is he has famously represented bill cosby meek mill uh brian so good to see your friend of the show i'm so happy to see you happy new year i think you're probably going to be the last person i say happy new year too i think we're at the point where i can't say it anymore isn't that a rule that's the last

say it two weeks, right? What is it? You can't say it two weeks after? Yeah, I think we might have, we might have exceeded the time, the time limit, but happy New Year. Happy New Year. So you're my last Happy New Year. So what do you make of these claims? You know, let me be funny for or not funny for a minute. No biggie, no deal. I don't see this. You know, this is a 30-year-old accusation. And it seems to me, that it's getting to a point where Diddy is concerned, where it's dangerously getting to piling on in a way that I think might just help him. As I thought about this last night, once I saw the article in the post and was referenced on the documentary,

it seems to me that there are a lot of people now that are jumping on this bandwagon of making, what I would say are baseless allegations against this guy. This one in particular just smells to me. Did this guy say any of this stuff over the past 30 years to anybody in law enforcement? Has there ever been any kind of a suggestion that he was involved by law enforcement? It seemed to me that he was in a close relationship with Biggie

and that if anything, he was on the other side. of this east coast west coast fight so i i the one thing that i that i would say about it is just bringing this kind of full circle to this upcoming trial they're going to be looking for things like this the defense in this trial they're going to be looking for accusations that are stretched they're going to looking for looking for moments that they can disprove things and make no mistake about it there'll be a few things like that and And hope that that'll give them the kind of strength and ability to diffuse perhaps as many of these allegations as they can where this indictment's concerned.

Do you think, I mean, do you think the name notorious BIG is going to come up at his criminal trial at all? I don't think this. I don't think this is going to have anything to do with his criminal trial. Right. But it's got everything to do with jury selection. Right. And it's got everything to do with just where he stands in the case.

eyes of the public and perhaps his jury as he starts a trial because in other words what you're saying is this documentary these words that could taint a future jury there's no question about it i mean people watch these shows i mean some of these shows are great obviously and people watch them and now they come into this trial not only with the allegations that are made against him in the indictment but the idea that he might have been a party to a murder and so it's it's dangerous for the defense just in terms of jury selection and And this is going to be something that they're going to have to use in jury selection to see if anybody's watched these documentaries, listen to them. And these will be jurors they're going to have to strike, you know, as they try to prepare for this trial.

Can I give you a little bit more background on this to why I think this is an interesting that's coming that's coming out here? Because, first of all, you mentioned what did Gene Deal say in the past. Well, Gene Deal apparently said back in 2003 on the Art of Dialogue show, wasn't no drive by. The car was standing there at the corner. The stories they tell is not truthful. He previously told Vlad TV, and apparently this is backed up by an FBI investigation file that was obtained by the Sun back in 2018, and that it's possible, Combs was the intended target. That's radically different than what we're saying now, that Sean Combs was the intended target that night?

Yeah, it's night and day. I mean, and that's, that's, that's, that's really my point. I mean, you're reinventing history at some, at some point. You know, before you know it, we're going to get, you know, I think that if he was old enough, they might, they might try and put him on the grassy and all, Jess. I just, I just think at some point in time, you know, someone is going to cry on one of these things. And this might be the time. I mean, here's, here's a situation where he goes from a potential target in a drive-by shooting. to now a culprit in the murder. I just, it's, it's troublesome if I'm putting my, my, myself in the shoes of his lawyer because I am worried now that all of this is just this avalanche of publicity, all negative, nothing positive, that you got to deal with in addition to the facts of your case. Well, I would, I would counter that by saying this. Look, there's no evidence to suggest that Sean Combs was involved in the death of Biggie. And I would, but, but, and I'm going to read something in a minute from Rolling Stone article,

the argument would be if at any point in time in Sean Combs' life, if he was really going to be investigated for what he did in the past, right now, after being hit with so many lawsuits, after being hit with criminal charges, after having his bail denied, he's locked up, you're seeing more and more people come out, this would be the time that people would come forward with information about what they know of him in the past. And we know there's no statute of limitations on murder. So the reason people might be looking at this and saying, well, if something, we're going to get answers about Biggie

and maybe Combs roll, whatever that might be, a ledge roll, you know, now would be the time. The reason I say that, let's just keep that in mind, because there was an article that came out by Rolling Stone last year, and it was amid all the drama surrounding Combs. This was before his arrest. And it details how Combs liked Tupac Shakori, admired his talent.

But according to a source who was close to Be, Biggie and other bad boy artists, Tupac didn't respect Sean Combs, that both he and Biggie saw Combs as a, quote, corny executive. And when this bond developed between the two artists, former bad boy president Kirk Burroughs says Combs became jealous. And reportedly, Biggie was planning to leave bad boy before he died. Now, I know a lot of this is speculation, people trying to read through the lines and trying to see if something else is there. But again, you know, Again, going back to the idea of if we were to have answers about Combs' alleged involvement in what happened to Biggie, I guess people are saying now would be the time.

Yeah, I mean, that's certainly one way of looking at it. The way that I would look at it would be, now would be the time where people would be piling on with false accusations. And I'm really not trying to make the case for Combs. I don't represent them. But I think there's always a danger in stale accusations, particularly in. in a case like this where it's easy to pile on and easy to say anything you want about the guy and because everybody is listening for the negative and no one's listening for the positive

so i hear you um i just think that you know this has got kind of part and parcel with what we've been seeing over the past several months in this case which is just this avalanche of bad publicity some legitimate perhaps and some completely incredible and i'd have to put this one on that incredible side. Yeah, by the way, I mean, there are those who say it's the complete opposite. So, for example, hired LAPD detective Greg Cating, alleged that Biggie was actually killed by a gang member and associate of death row records exec, Shug Knight. This was again revenge for the death of Tupac who was killed six months earlier. Author Randall Sullivan also suggested that Knight was responsible, even worked, claimed that he worked with a bent LAPD officer to carry

out the killing, although to be clear about that one, the main source for Sullivan's story, had mental health issues and memory issues, but, you know, there's two competing narratives about what might have happened. You mentioned something interesting about jury selection. Do they ask these potential jurors, and by the way, my understanding is based on the current schedule, the jury questionnaire forms are due April 11th. What do those forms look like? What are they asked on those jury questionnaire forms to prospective jurors? And once prospective jurors are brought in for a more thorough voir dire process, are Are they asked everything they know about Sean Combs?

Are they asked maybe about East Coast, West Coast, Tupac, Biggie, are they asked those questions? Well, the first thing it'll happen is both sides will submit them. And a judge will make a decision as to what's going to, what the real questionnaire is going to look like. From the defense side, the more, the better. The more areas you can probe in a questionnaire, the better.

And so you'll see every question under the sun, particularly as it relates to public. publications, newspaper articles, documentaries, and the like, asking jurors perhaps to list everyone they've seen, asking jurors if they've seen this one or that one. Now whether or that submission ever gets to a jury remains to be seen, because at the end of the day the judge is going to take the government's submission and any objections the government has to what the defense is proposing. And then ultimately they'll bring everybody in, they'll bring a panel of 100 or perhaps

in this case a couple hundred and they'll have them fill out the questionnaires whatever they look like and then each side will get time to review those questionnaires perhaps a day or or so to look at them and then jury selection will begin and a lot of times what they'll do in these high profile cases it's been my experience anyway is they'll they'll have the government and the defense get together and see if they can agree after looking at the questionnaires that there are going to be a pot that they just put what I'll say are going to be excluded jurors in so they don't even have to bother with them during individual voir dire when they get into the courtroom but it's really going to be up to this judge how he wants to do it or how she wants to do it

I think we have a male judge still signed to this case yep yeah and you know my guess is there'll be a very very lengthy questionnaire that ultimately gets to these jurors and if I'm you know if I'm the defense counsel in this case and they've got preeminent counsel in this case, they're going to be asking everything under the sun. You know, there were allegations in this indictment and also specified it in a lot of the lawsuits that Sean Combs is essentially a gangster, right, that he's operating criminal enterprise, that it involves guns, and there are these beefs that he has with other people.

So I'm curious to see if anything like Shug Knight or Tupac or Biggie comes into the course of the trial. What I do have a question, and I think it's important for you to clear it up here. There are those who say, well, wait a minute. You know, guys, listen, they just raided his home. last year. They got a collection of all this evidence. Who knows what they found? How does it work if they found something? Investigators found something during their search. So they're searching for evidence of sex trafficking and racketeering. And during the course of their search, they find

something else. A, would we have known about it by right now, right? If they found evidence that maybe really did link them to a murder. Wouldn't we know about that right now? Maybe not. You tell me. How does it work with if they find something during the course of the search that maybe they didn't intend to find? Well, it happens quite often. And it'll result if the evidence is substantial enough and corroborated enough to perhaps a separate indictment. I would think you'd know about it here because there's been a huge exchange of discovery, I'm sure, already and will continue. And unless there is some effort made by the government to seal certain evidence, because it's not part of this indictment. and it wouldn't be part of any defense strategy, but it might be the subject of a new grand jury that's going on somewhere. You might not see it. And I'm not saying that happened here. But every now and then, they'll go looking for, you know, they'll go looking for thefts and all kinds of other crimes, and they'll find something that leads to something much larger.

And perhaps it could even be a homicide. I wouldn't expect that here, but you never know. You never know. And let me just end on this point. Again, no evidence to connect Sean Combs to the death of Biggie. And I will tell you, I mean, in my perspective, I've always just seen them as incredibly close. I mean, I remember as a kid, when Combs released, I'll be missing you, you know, that tribute to Biggie after Biggie's death. And by the way, you know, he spoke at his funeral service. And by the way, just talking about the impact that Christopher Wallace, Biggie left. So his body was driven in a hearse through Brooklyn, and several thousand people, they showed up to mourn and pay their respects. That's how much of an influence he had. You remember that? It was reported by the New York Times that his service was attended by more than 350 people, included Flavor Flav, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Mayor David Dinkins, of course, Combs spoke. So, you know, I understand people still want answers to this because he still left such an impactful legacy, and the death and his death at 24 years old is just such a tragedy. No question about it.

And, you know, you put it that way, and as I think about it, imagine if you're, you're Sean and you're sitting there in a jail cell facing these enormous allegations against you, and you pick up or you get the opportunity to hear that now somebody somewhere is suggesting you had something to do with a close friend's death. Got to be tough stuff, I got to tell you, for a guy who certainly would seem to me to be innocent of that accusation. Yep. We will continue to monitor and see what happens, but it made its way in a big documentary. And, oh, by the way, I should tell you, just real quick about the documentary and whether any of the producers have any liability here. Let me ask you about this. Do the producers of this documentary put themselves in any hot water? because Ari Mark, who is the executive producer of the doc, told the New York Post,

we were really careful about making sure that we weren't saying necessarily that these things happened or that these things are necessarily true. But do the documentary, you know, the words of Gene deal, any trouble there? Well, I wouldn't say for the producers, they're only, you know, they're only providing what is being said. But if they take it the next step, they've got to walk a careful line there because the next thing they could be hit with is a defamation action. And I'm guessing that their in-house counsel made sure they walk that line and put as many caveats as they could into it, not suggesting

that this was an allegation against columns. But better be careful, particularly when you're dealing with something like this. Yep. Brian McMonigle of the firm, McManagel, Perry McHugh, Micheach Davis. Thank you so much for coming on. Really appreciate it, sir. Good seeing you. Happy New Year. All right, everybody. That's all we have for you. right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

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