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(Tupac in a car with a man is believed to be Haitian Jack Agnant, the former friend that Pac accused on the song “Against All Odds” of being involved in the Quad Studio shooting.)

We all saw the headlines:

“Inmate Confesses to Shooting Tupac Shakur in 1994”

So are you sure you know who shot Tupac at Quad Studios?
Well if you read the same prison confession that I read yesterday….then the answer is:
No…

It was the kite read ’round the world. Seventeen years after Tupac Shakur was shot in the lobby of Manhattan’s Quad Studios, a man named Dexter Isaac released an explosive statement to Allhiphop. The site ran both a detailed story as well as a jpeg of a typed letter, in which Isaac accused controversial music exec Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond of paying him to participate in a 1994 robbery of Tupac Shakur, which left the rising rap star with 5 bullet wounds. Three men were said to have attacked Pac. He survived the shooting, only to be killed in Las Vegas two years later.
Isaacs, who is currently serving a life sentence in The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, said he wanted to come clean because he was upset Henchman had accused him of cooperating with a drug investigation.

Here’s an excerpt of Dexter Isaac’s letter (full version after the jump):

Jimmy…I have kept your secrets for years… How dare you call me an informant!…
Mr. Rosemond, if I was an informant like you, I would’ve been home for years ago with my family, not doing life in prison.
Now I would like to clear up a few things, because the statute of limitations is over, and no one can be charged, and I’m just plain tired of listening to your lies.
In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob 2Pac Shakur at the Quad Studio. He gave me $2,500 plus all the jewelery I took, except for a ring he wanted for himself… He said he wanted to put the stone in a new setting for his girlfriend at the time, Cynthia Ried [sic]. I still have as proof the chain that we took that night in the robbery…

Isaacs then goes on to hint that he knows details of Tupac and Biggie’s murders. And even throws Diddy into the mix (“Jimmy, you and Puffy like to come off all innocent-like but as the saying goes. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”).

But no where on Isaac’s letter, or in Allhiphop’s companion story does this prisoner ever confess to shooting Tupac. Not once. But most of the early coverage skewed it that way…

Time Magazine: “Inmate Confesses To Shooting Tupac Shakur in 1994”
MTV News: “…an imprisoned man has admitted to shooting the late rapper/actor during a robbery at Manhattan’s Quad Studios in November 1994.”
Gawker: “Some Guy: I Shot Tupac”
NYDailyNews: “I shot Tupac Shakur in 1994 robbery on orders of rap manager, claims convicted murderer Dexter Isaac”

The absolute best (and by best, I mean worst) abuse of reading comprehension came from the Huffington Post. They sent a tweet headline that read:
“@HuffPostEnt: SHOCKING: Inmate admits to shooting, killing Tupac Shakur ”

Wow, forget the confession, the real bombshell is that Pac was a zombie from ’94 to 96. (Thankfully, they’ve since fixed that ridiculous error.) (Update 3: New favorite worst headline: “I Shot Tupac Kapur…“)

If Dexter Isaac really did admit to shooting Tupac, then he also signed himself up for an attempted murder charge to go along with his current life sentence…
More on this, photos and video…
After the jump

Obviously the main point is that this guy Dexter is saying he did a bad thing. But he specifically mentions that he can’t be prosecuted for it “because the statute of limitations is over, and no one can be charged.” Again, that reinforces that he’s not admitting to the shooting. As Eskay pointed out to me: “in NY state there is no statute of limitations on Class A felonies, which the shooting would be classified as (either attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon).”
So by misrepresenting this guy’s revenge “confession”…media outlets are getting this guy a brand new charge. Add it to the life sentence he already has? (*Update: checking this list of NY statutes, it only lists “murder” as exempt from the statute of limitations. Would attempt murder still qualify? Or would it expire in 5 yrs?*) (Update 2: According to page 31 of this list of NY statutes, all class A felonies are exempt from the statute of limitations. And attempted murder is still a Class A felony.)

Alhiphop’s original headline read “Exclusive: Jimmy Henchman Associate Admits to Shooting Tupac; Apologizes To Pac & B.I.G.’s Mothers“….
But later on, they amended the headline to “Exclusive: Jimmy Henchman Associate Admits to Role in Robbery/Shooting of Tupac; Apologizes To Pac & B.I.G.’s Mothers.”
Few others made the same correction.

Allhiphop’s exclusive was huge, and they’ve also been very diligent in posting the ongoing Jimmy Henchman saga.
But in reading over the Dexter Isaac companion story, I had to ask whether this guy admitted to the shooting to Allhiphop writers during correspondence that was not used in the actual piece. A source told me that yes, there was conversation in addition to the formal letter. Also, Isaac purposely never said he shot Pac, but did take responsibility for being part of the attack, along with 2 other men. One of whom must be the real shooter.

NOTE: At the end of the Allhiphop piece, two other men are named as Dexter Isaac’s “longtime” fellow suspects in the Quad Studio attack: “Spencer “Scooter” Bowens, who is also serving a life sentence and another man named George Roland Campbell.” I didn’t have much luck finding any references to them as longtime suspects. I also consulted veteran Vibe writer Carter Harris (who covered Tupac and Biggie during the period before their deaths) as well a former Jimmy Henchman employee. The suspects that circulated the most after Pac’s shooting were Walter “King Tut” Johnson, Haitian Jack, and Henchman. So is this another new detail from Isaac?

UPDATE:
-Since the news broke yesterday, the NYPD is now saying that they will be investigating Dexter Isaac’s confession. I wonder if they’ll see fit to open an attempted murder case?
-Meanwhile, Jimmy Henchman’s lawyer is calling the accusations “a flat out lie…Dexter Isaac is not claiming this 17 years later to clear his conscience. He’s doing it because he’s told anybody who will listen he doesn’t want to die in prison. He has kids and wants to work off his sentence. He can’t be trusted.” Henchman is still on the run.

UPDATE 2:
TheSmokingGun says that they spoke to Dexter Isaac before the Allhiphop piece, but refused to answer questions about his “debriefings with federal investigators.” TSG also reports:
“In explaining his decision to cooperate with the government, Isaac explained, “I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life in prison,” according to one TSG source. Isaac’s [beef with Jimmy Henchman] apparently stems from his belief that the music manager has not sufficiently aided him or his family while he has been incarcerated.”
The scariest part of the TSG post is the detailed description of how Isaac got his life sentence: hired by a woman to murder of her Egyptian cabdriver husband in exchange for a house note.


Vintage Vibe Magazine video in which Tupac discusses the Quad Studio shooting, his mistrust of the music industry people who were there when it happened, and his soured relationship with Biggie.

Tags: MTV Shows

Jimmy Henchman insists to MTV News in 2010 that he did not have anything to do with Tupac’s shooting, and speaks on that insane LA Times/Chuck Phillips Biggie and Tupac story scandal.

Related:
The Chuck Phillips Fiasco: When you lie with dogs, you get…..forged FBI documents from a hip hop compulsive liar
Welcome Back to the Suck: More loose allegations from the LA Times about Big and Pac
Jeezy tells Vibe: “Pac and Big gone…I’m already ahead of the game” (UPDATED: What Jeezy really said)
Video: Tupac “The Lost Interview pt.2” w/ Vibe.com

Full Transcript of Dexter Isaacs’ statement to Allhiphop:
My name is Dexter Isaac. On Monday, May 23, 2011, James Rosemond released a statement in which he named myself and another individual, a Mr. Winston Harris (who I do not know) as government informants. I would like to clear the record on that statement. I have never been a rat for anybody and I do not have any deals nor was I made any promises by any government agency for information on Mr. Rosemond.
Mr. Rosemond has crucified good reporters like Chuck Phillips at the LA Times, and Alison Gendar at the Daily News for telling the truth about him and his activities. He claims they had no proof that he was a rat for the government, which is an outright lie, because Mr. Rosemond, you signed a proffer agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in NY no 10-20-1998. Mr. Rosemond, I have copies of your presentence report from North Carolina dated 1-13-1997 and other documents about you working with the government sending people you befriended to prison so you can maintain your own freedom. I have met with individuals on whom Mr. Rosemond has told.
Jimmy, I say to you: I have kept your secrets for years. You have never been arrested because ofme or anyone of our friends because of me. How dare you call me an informant! I have stayed silent in prison for the past 13 years, doing a life sentence like a real soldier should, when you and everybody have turned your backs on me. I have never gotten any help nor asked for any help from you or anyone since being locked up.
As a matter of fact, when I was first notified a couple years ago that the feds and Chuck Phillips were investigating you, I wrote you and sent you everything they sent me. I kept it real with you because that’s what real G’s do. Anyway, that was before I found out that you were, in fact, already a turncoat rat for the government. Mr. Rosemond, if I was an informant like you, I would’ve been home for years ago with my family, not doing life in prison.
Now I would like to clear up a few things, because the statute of limitations is over, and no one can be charged, and I’m just plain tired of listening to your lies.
In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob 2Pac Shakur at the Quad Studio. He gave me $2,500 plus all the jewelery I took, except for a ring he wanted for himself. It was the biggest of the two diamond rings that we took. He said he wanted to put the stone in a new setting for his girlfriend at the time, Cynthia Ried [sic]. I still have as proof the chain that we took that night in the robbery.
Now I’m not going to talk about my friend Biggie’s death or 2Pac’s death, but I would like to give their mothers some closure. It’s about time that someone did, and I will do so at a different time. Jimmy, you and Puffy like to come off all innocent-like but as the saying goes. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Mr. Rosemond, I ask you: Are you going to flip on Puffy when the feds get you? To save yourself like you have done in the past? Because that’s what a rat does. So in closing, we shall see who the rat is, in the near future.
If anyone has any questions regarding these statements or just want to be a friend to a real Soldier fighting for his freedom in prison feel free to write to me at:
Dexter Isaac #49733-053
MDC Brooklyn
PO Box 329002
Brooklyn, NY 11232