Tupac Shakur murder trial begins 30 years later

The trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, begins this week in Clark County, Nevada. This legal proceeding aims to shed light on one of American music's most enduring mysteries.

Davis, 63, faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon, specifically alleging he intended to promote or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's death. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $750,000 bail. Prosecutors do not accuse Davis of firing the shots but rather of organizing the attack, procuring the weapon, and initiating the events that led to the murder.

The trial is expected to last approximately one month, starting with jury selection. The prosecution plans to call between 35 and 45 witnesses. This list includes notable figures such as Marion "Suge" Knight, the former head of Death Row Records currently serving a sentence for voluntary manslaughter; Oscar Goodman, former mayor of Las Vegas; and Reggie Wright Jr., ex-head of security for Death Row Records. Family members of Shakur and documentary filmmakers are also on the potential witness list.

Davis's own memoir and subsequent interviews are credited with reopening the cold case. He admitted to being a passenger in the Cadillac from which shots were fired at Shakur in Las Vegas. Shakur, a prominent figure in West Coast hip-hop, died six days after being shot, an event widely seen as a peak in the violent East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry.