As rap impresario Sean "Puffy" Combs prepares to stand trial in New York today on gun and bribery charges, authorities are investigating the possible connection of a co-defendant to a fatal shooting in Atlanta.
The homicide occurred five years ago at a party Combs attended with associates from his Bad Boy record label, according to several witnesses. An argument that evening involving Combs' employee and bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, ended in a hail of gunfire that left an employee from a rival record company dead, witnesses said.
Law enforcement officials recently interviewed one person who saw the shooting and says Jones pulled the trigger. In addition, an off-duty police officer watched the shooting, and Atlanta detectives are now seeking to interview several other witnesses.
Jones is now on trial with Combs in New York on weapons charges; they each face 15 years in prison if convicted. Attorneys for both Combs and Jones say they had "absolutely nothing" to do with the Atlanta killing.
The 1995 shooting is yet another in a series of violent acts surrounding Combs in the last decade. A conviction in the New York trial could severely damage the relationship between Combs and executives at Bertelsmann, the Gueterslow, Germany-based media conglomerate that finances his record label. Combs' record productions, clothing lines, restaurants, magazine and other businesses generate an estimated $130 million in annual sales, according to Forbes magazine, which recently put him on its cover and proclaimed him one of the world's richest entertainers.
Although Combs hangs out in the Hamptons with the likes of Martha Stewart and Donald Trump and recently made an appearance on ABC-TV's hit program "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," his ascent as chairman of the Bad Boy music empire represents an extraordinary confluence of violent art and violent reality.
His company's latest hit record, titled "That's Gangsta," features Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, a Bad Boy rapper who is charged with attempted murder in the New York case. Police say Barrow opened fire in a Manhattan nightspot Dec. 27, 1999, and seriously injured three bystanders after a club patron insulted Combs.
On the CD, Barrow raps about gunning people down and getting away with murder. The song's video includes a cameo appearance by co-defendant Jones, who has a lengthy rap sheet that includes a conviction of attempted murder of a police officer. During the video, Jones stares into the camera and quips, "That's gangsta!"
Law enforcement sources view the Sept. 23, 1995, shooting death of Jai Hassan-Jamal Robles at an Atlanta nightclub as the primary catalyst for a bicoastal feud during the 1990s between New York-based Combs and Marion "Suge" Knight, founder and owner of Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.
Knight attended the Atlanta party that evening with Robles, a friend and former gang member nicknamed "Big Jake." Knight had hired Robles straight out of prison to do marketing and promotion for the Death Row label not long before the shooting.
Last month, Atlanta police investigating Robles' death contacted New York authorities seeking background checks on Combs and his bodyguard Jones, who were charged with gun violations stemming from the 1999 shooting in Manhattan. A stolen weapon from Atlanta was found on the floor of the vehicle in which New York police arrested Jones, Combs and his girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, after a high-speed chase.
Prosecutors did not file charges against Lopez, who was called last year before a grand jury along with Combs' driver. The driver testified that Combs offered him a bribe to tell officials that the gun recovered from the vehicle belonged to him.
The following account of the Atlanta incident is based on information detailed in a police report obtained by The Times and from interviews and law enforcement sources.
The shooting occurred about 4 a.m. at the Platinum City Club following a party for rap producer Jermaine Dupree, whose So So Def record label is based in Atlanta. Combs had flown in from New York the previous night to attend the after-hours party. Knight had flown in from Los Angeles with Robles.
The killing was witnessed by Chris Howard, an off-duty Fulton County deputy sheriff who was working security at the Platinum. In his statement to police that night, Howard said the shooting stemmed from an argument during the party involving individuals associated with Death Row and Bad Boy, including Knight and Combs. At one point, the verbal dispute apparently got so heated that Howard had to step in and break it up.
Following a second flare-up involving Robles and Jones, Howard said, he told Combs and Knight and their associates to leave the club. To avoid a clash, Howard said, he asked Knight to wait inside the club while he escorted Combs and his crew out of the building. Checking the entrance to the club to make sure that Combs and his associates had left, Howard then turned to Knight and Robles.
