Testifying at the murder trial of rapper Tupac Shakur, William Heidemeier, a former security guard at the Maxim hotel, described hearing multiple rounds of gunfire and seeing a line of cars on Flamingo Road while working nearby on the night of September 7, 1996. Among them, he spotted a young man wearing a white shirt and vest, holding a handgun.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft emphasized that the guard did not witness the actual shooting. The defendant, 63-year-old Duane Davis, is accused of masterminding the attack. According to prosecutors, he orchestrated the killing to exact revenge for a brawl at the MGM Grand complex, where members of Shakur's entourage attacked Davis's nephew, Orlando Anderson.
Former Las Vegas police detective Dean O'Kelly also took the stand, testifying that shell casings, believed to be from a Glock pistol, and a bullet fragment were recovered from the crime scene. During cross-examination, the defense sought to call into question the handling of cold cases and the reliability of Davis's past public statements, which form part of the prosecution's case.
Additionally, jurors were shown surveillance footage from the MGM Grand hotel, confirming the altercation involving Anderson and Shakur hours before the shooting.
