Gregory James Kading (born May 1, 1963) is an American author and former Los Angeles Police Department detective best known for working on a multi law-enforcement task force that investigated the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls in the mid-2000s. Many credit Kading and his LAPD task force for the 2023 arrest of Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis for the September 1996 murder of Tupac.
Greg Kading | |
---|---|
Kading in 2022 | |
Born | Gregory James Kading May 1, 1963 Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
Police career | |
Country | |
Department | Orange County Sheriff's Department Los Angeles Police Department |
Service years | 1986–2010 |
Rank | Sworn in as Deputy (1986) Sworn in as Officer (September 1988) Detective |
Other work | Non-fiction author Private investigator |
Early life and education
editGreg Kading was born in Reno, Nevada.[1] He graduated from Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California in 1981. He attended Cal State Long Beach and Calvary Chapel Bible College.
Career
editKading was an Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy, where he worked in the jail, from January 1986 to September 1988. He then joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1988.
He retired from the department, where he worked in the robbery-homicide division, after 22 years of service in June 2010.[2] The following year, Kading released his book.[3] A full-length documentary adapted from his book began shooting in 2013.[4]
He works as a private investigator in Southern California.
In February 2021, Kading was featured in the Netflix docu-series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel that covers the death of Elisa Lam.[5]
Book
editIn September 2011, he self-published the book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations. In it, he included new evidence in the rappers' murders that he said implicated entertainment mogul Sean Combs and CEO of Death Row Records, Suge Knight.[6] The release prompted what MediaBistro.com called "a new round of explosive media coverage about the unsolved killings".[7]
Combs responded to the allegation by telling Los Angeles local reporters in emails that "this story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous".[7] Knight has not addressed the claim.[3] Lil' Cease, a rapper and childhood friend of Smalls, told radio host Sway Calloway on the "Sway in the Morning"-show that he didn't believe Combs had ordered Shakur's shooting as Kading alleged in his book.[8]
In response to Combs's denial of the claims, Kading said on the All-out-Attack-Podcast with Harry Robinson that Combs needs to "let the people have what they deserve, and what they deserve is the truth".[9]
The book also details what Kading described as the behind-the-scenes failure by the LVMPD and LAPD to arrest Shakur's and Wallace's killers. The families of Shakur and Wallace have not responded to the allegations.[10]
References
edit- ^ Kading, Greg (2011). Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls and The Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations (ebook). One-Time Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-9839554-8-1.
- ^ Vogel, Chris (2011-10-03). "Greg Kading: The Internal Affairs Report that Cleared the Tupac and Biggie Cop from Wrongdoing in the George Torres Case". Archived from the original on 2012-01-06.
- ^ a b jessejesse (2011-10-03). "EX-LAPD Detective Fingers Diddy, Suge Knight in Tupac Shakur & The Notorious B.I.G. Murders - XXL". XXL Mag. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ García-Ajofrín, Isabel (2013-03-09). "Greg Kading on Notorious B.I.G's murder: "The only option left is arresting Suge Knight"". Archived from the original on 2014-06-24.
- ^ St. Clair, Josh (February 10, 2021). "The True Story of What Happened to Elisa Lam at the Cecil Hotel". Men's Health. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
- ^ Vogel, Chris (2011-10-07). "Greg Kading, Author of Tupac, Biggie Smalls Murder Book, Discusses One Hell of a Week". Archived from the original on 2012-01-25.
- ^ a b Horgan, Richard (2011-10-07). "LAPD Cop Turned Author Re-Ignites Tupac Shakur Murder Investigation". Archived from the original on 2012-01-14.
- ^ Chandler, D.L. (2011-10-06). "Lil' Cease Denies Claims By Ex-LAPD Officer On 2Pac And Notorious B.I.G. Murders". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24.
- ^ Robinson, Harry (Sep 25, 2020). "GREG KADING'S MESSAGE TO P DIDDY ON THE MURDER OF TUPAC - AllOutAttack Podcast #6". YouTube.
- ^ Vogel, Chris (2012-03-22). "Biggie Smalls' Mom Wants Grand Jury on Murder". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 2018-06-14.