Gene Deal claims he's being pressured to testify in Duane "Keffe D" Davis' murder trial over the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur.
During a conversation with The Art of Dialogue, the former Bad Boy bodyguard explained why he believes his testimony is being sought, claiming there is interest in having him establish a connection between Keffe D and Sean "Diddy" Combs.
"They want me to show that Keffe D and Diddy had a relationship," Deal said. "They want me to establish what I know about Keffe D and Puff coercing with each other when they're around each other. Gambling, laughing, drinking, popping bottles, the whole nine yards. That's what they wanted me to do."
Deal stressed that much of what he knows about the circumstances surrounding Tupac's death came from what others allegedly told him rather than what he personally witnessed.
"From what I know, for what I was told, I can't say what I know," Deal explained. "The people that was from New York, they was with Keffe D."
He named Zip, Lil Daddy, and one of Zip's sons among those he was told were in Las Vegas. Deal also mentioned hearing that Foxy Brown may have been with the group but immediately qualified the claim.
"I don't know that to be true," he said.
Deal said he received information about what happened that same night and heard more after the group returned from Las Vegas.
"I can only go by what I was told," he said, adding that he first publicly discussed the claims more than 20 years ago.
Deal also addressed Keffe D's reported claim that he wasn't in Las Vegas when Tupac was shot, arguing that it's ultimately up to prosecutors to prove otherwise.
"The burden of proof is on the prosecution," Deal said. "They got to prove that he was there."
He suggested prosecutors would need witnesses, photographs, hotel records, or other evidence placing Keffe D in Las Vegas.
Deal then offered his own theory for why authorities would want testimony about Keffe D's alleged relationship with Diddy.
"That's why they would want me to come testify 'cause they want to put an association with Keffe D and Diddy," he claimed.
Deal suggested investigators have long wanted to connect Diddy to Tupac's killing and the larger East Coast-West Coast rivalry. He also referenced Voletta Wallace's $400 million lawsuit against the LAPD over the investigation into her son the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder.
Those assertions represent Deal's own theory and do not establish that Diddy had any involvement in Tupac's death. Keffe D has pleaded not guilty to murder in connection with Tupac's September 1996 killing.
