Graphic Autopsy Photos Shake Up Tupac Murder Trial

Tupac Shakur was shot multiple times. And on day two of this highly. anticipated murder trial against Dwayne. Kei D. Davis, jurors saw exactly what. those bullets did to the superstar. rapper. >> He died of gunshot wounds of chest and. abdomen. As witnesses took the stand and. described the gunshots and what they saw. in the moments after, the defense argued. that after almost 30 years, the. investigation itself may be the. prosecution's biggest problem. >> And we just suddenly heard a a lot of.

gunfire. >> Somewhere between 9 and 15 shots in a. series, >> something like that. >> That suggests to you that the weapon was. a Glock 40. >> That's correct. >> Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, so we're continuing our coverage. of the Dwayne Kefei D. Davis trial out. in Las Vegas. The only person ever. charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur, who we know was gunned down out in Las.

Vegas in 1996. Now, yesterday was the. opening statements. It was day one of. the trial. It was the beginning of. witness testimony. The prosecution. alleges that Davis orchestrated the. killing of Tupac Shakur, that it was. because Shakur and others allegedly beat. up his nephew, Orlando Anderson earlier. in the night at the MGM Grand. They plan. to use Davis's own alleged statements. over the years in media interviews, a. memoir, law enforcement interviews,

statements that the prosecution claims. Davis admitted to his involvement. Now, the defense argues those statements were. exaggerations, that you can't believe. what Davis said, that there is nothing. to corroborate that he was telling the. truth about his alleged involvement in. what happened with Tupac. With all that. in mind, now we go to day two. So, the. prosecution began today by calling Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and. medical examiner for Clark County. Now,

she wasn't the original doctor who. performed Tupac's autopsy. That doctor. has since passed away, but she reviewed. the records, the photographs, the. medical reports from 1996, and she. formed her own conclusions about what. happened to Tupac Shakur. Notably, we. learned that as she began to walk the. jury through the autopsy photos, several. members of Tupac's family got up and. left the courtroom. Not surprising when. you consider what's going on on the.

screen. But Dr. Gavin continued that. this is what she told the jury about how. Tupac died. >> After reviewing all of those records, do. you have an opinion as to the cause of. death of Mr. Shakur? >> Yes. >> And what is that? >> He died of gunshot wounds of chest and. abdomen. >> And uh do you have an opinion as to the. manner of death? >> Yes. >> And what is that? >> Homicide. When a medical examiner uses.

the term homicide, what does that mean? >> Uh, the simplest form is death at the. hands of another. >> Now, to be clear, evidence like this. doesn't necessarily directly implicate. Davis, right? But prosecutors, they have. to build a case from the ground up. They. have to build it element by element. So, at the very least, they have to. establish that Tupac Shakur was in fact. shot and killed, that he was murdered, that it was an intentional killing. That.

is what this evidence goes to. Now, Dr. Gavin then walked the jury through each. wound, starting with the chest. The. bullet had apparently entered near his. armpit, traveled across his right lung, and lodged near his collar bone. The. lung collapsed, filled with two lers of. blood. Doctors remove the lung trying to. save him. And here's how she described. it. This is the right side of the body.

up by the chest area. You can see the. right axilla or armpit in in that. region. And then uh you could see some. of the sutures of what they call a. thoracictomy incision where they've cut. into the side of the chest. And then. just below that, this is an entrance. gunshot wound. >> And then just below that thoracictomy. chest, there appears to be a stitched up. area. And. I can move my mouse too. Right there. What What is that? >> Uh that's a sutured chest tube site.

>> So that he had a tube there to help. drain some of what was going on in his. body. Correct. And in the previous one. that had all the medical intervention, you could see from the left side, there. was a similar chest tube on that left. side. >> From your review, were you able to. determine sort of the path of this. particular bullet? >> Yes. >> And what was that? >> Uh, it entered here in the right lateral. aspect of the chest just below the. axilla, the armpit, and then went across. the right chest space, went across the.

right lung, and then ended up coming to. rest uh in what we call the sternal. notch. The sternal notch is a location. if just between where your collar bones. uh kind of meet up towards the center of. your chest. So just beneath that the. projectile was recovered. The nature of that type of wound. Um. what did it physically do to him? Uh his. ability to breathe and those types of.

things. Uh so the injury to the lung. would have collapsed the lung and also. caused the lung to bleed and so it was. documented within the medical records. that he had about 2 lers of blood in his. chest cavity when they put in the chest. tube to try to save him. And uh. similarly they ended up removing that. lung to try to save him and kind of. clamp off the bleeding. Uh and then he. already had already had multiple. episodes of not becoming responsive. So,

he didn't wasn't able to breathe. He was. bleeding out in that area from that. injury. >> Okay. By the way, you know how we always. talk about uh the dangers here on. Sidebar of the World. There's a lot. Something you might not be thinking. about. Did you know your data is exposed. everywhere? Your personal data is all. stored across online directories and. people search sites and even commercial. databases. So, that means things like. your address, your phone number, your. social security number. It's out there. But Incogn can help track down that. information and demand it be taken down.

With their custom removal feature, your. dedicated privacy expert will handle. removing your data automatically from. hundreds of data brokers and from any. links that you send in. Look, I was. shocked to find out that databases had. my information. But thankfully within. days, Incogn was taking them all down. They can't harm you if they can't find. you. Use code sidebar at the link below. and get 60% off an annual plan. That is. incogn.com/sidebar. The second bullet that entered his right.

thigh and traveled up to his abdomen, that projectile was actually recovered. Take a listen. >> This is the right lateral aspect of his. body. So his right flank and his lateral. aspect of his right thigh. >> and the. >> and then his uh back back side of his. right hand is also within this uh. picture. >> The ruler though is identifying what. >> the ruler is is around the uh right.

lateral aspect of his uh thigh. So the. right thigh on the lateral side. >> And what is that? >> And that's an entrance gunshot wound. And can you tell me the path that that. bullet took? >> Yes. >> And go ahead. >> Uh that bullet entered in the lateral. aspect of the right thigh and then went. upwards into the abdomen and damaged his. intestines. Uh they ended up uh. operating there and removed a portion of. his intestines and then during that.

surgery they recovered another. projectile. >> Dr. Gavin, as I said, she wasn't the. original M. That was Dr. Jordan and he. has since passed away. Okay. Now we go. to questioning by the defense. So on. cross-examination, defense attorney. Michael Samp pressed her on this that. she was relying on records that were. decades old, photos that were taken with. Polaroid cameras, a record she didn't. keep herself. So to me, this is. consistent with the defense's argument,

which we heard in an opening statement. yesterday, that this whole investigation. was sloppy, that it was botched, that it. was incomplete, that you're talking. about a case almost 30 years old. So. trying to raise reasonable doubt, trying. to raise questions about the reliability. of the prosecution's case, the. investigative work. And if jurors are. perhaps hesitant about one aspect of the. prosecution's case or the investigation, perhaps they will not believe the whole.

case, the whole theory, the whole. narrative. Maybe they'll question it. But the prosecution pushed back on. redirect. Take a look. >> Your testimony here today revolves. really around your view of the record. that was laid out 30 years ago. >> Yes, that's correct. And so fair to say, of course, that keeping records would be. very important in your line of work. >> Yes. >> In the event that in the future. something that you do while you're on. vacation somewhere in the Bahamas could. be testified to by another doctor.

>> That's correct. >> Now, with regards to the records that. you saw here, uh, and is it, uh, Dr. um, >> Jordan? >> Jordan. >> Uh, was there anything missing in your. review of those records in terms of. recordkeeping or anything like that? No, but we only took a few photos at the. time of autopsy. At that time, they used. polaroids or they used film and cameras. and so we had few photos of the body. itself. And so consequently, the crime. scene analyst photos were uh helpful for.

being able to come to determination in. addition to the reports. >> Ma'am, Mr. Sam suggested, I just want to. make it clear, you're not regurgitating. Dr. Jordan's uh opinions. You've. formulated your own opinions as the. cause and manner of death. >> That is correct. >> So, as I talk about this initial alleged. altercation at the MGM after this. alleged beating at this hotel, police. responded to the scene, but the man who. was apparently attacked, Orlando.

Anderson, Kefi D's nephew, seemingly. didn't want to cooperate. Sergeant. Kenneth Rios was one of the officers who. responded that night. Here's what he. told the jury about his interaction with. Anderson. >> I asked him first if he needed medical. assistance and he refused. He said he. was fine. Uh I then asked him what. happened and he told me basically that a. couple of guys that he didn't know. jumped him and once again I asked him if. he needed medical. He said no. I asked. if he wanted to file a report and he.

said no. >> Uh at that point was he released and. free to go on his way? >> Yes, he was. Okay. Um later on that. evening, uh did you learn about a. shooting involving Tupac Shakur? >> Yes, I did. >> And then were you asked to then draft a. report as to what your interaction was. with Mr. Anderson? >> Yes, I was. >> Um and at that time, what name did you remember for Mr.

Anderson? >> It was Orlando. I remember his first. name. Um, would it be is it anything unusual. that when a victim. gets attacked and doesn't want to uh. press charges or write a report for you. not to have written a report that night? >> No, it's it's not basically if you don't. have a victim, you don't have a crime, as we put it. Um, which isn't. necessarily true. you always have a. crime, but if you don't have a victim,

the chances of prosecution, you won't get any information and. there's so we don't take a report if. there the victim refuses. >> I would imagine the argument would be. from the prosecution. Anderson didn't. want authorities to get involved, right? Because he and co would want to take. care of it themselves, that they would. want to go after Tupac Shakur. I wonder. if that's the significance of this. We'll see. Now, let's go to.

cross-examination by the defense. The. defense did press him on one thing, his. report. Now, Rios admitted he didn't. write it immediately after the fight and. didn't know if anyone requested more. surveillance video that night. So, the. defense's point again, does this prove a. sloppy investigation? >> And so, the state had asked you a. question specifically as to when you. wrote your report. You wrote it after. like after you got off This is their. fuller shift. Is that when you wrote. your report? >> I don't recall when I wrote it, but I'm.

sure that my officer's report would. reflect that time, but um I know I. didn't write it immediately after. >> All right. And in terms of your. knowledge that Tupacor had just been. shot, your testimony to the jury is that. you had understood at that point that. potentially a person by the name of. Orlando may have been something to do. with that particular case. >> I don't recall if that was the reason. why I wrote the report. if that's what. you're asking. >> Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm a little curious. like how do you I mean you know there's.

a shooting of Tupac Shakur. How do you. Is it because you heard that there's a. shooting up on Tupac Shakur? They go. wait a minute there was an incident. occurred with Tupac on property. Is that. how we get to this point? >> Um back then I I don't recall if that. was the process that I went through to. make the report. I don't believe so. I. believe that um there was some other. officers that. probably told me and suggested that I. write a report because of his possible. involvement. >> Right. So.

news goes out throughout the valley. Tupac has been shot and then you're. advised, hey, there was something. happening where Tupac just capture. whatever it is that you remember. Right. >> I don't recall that happening that way, but for most intense purposes. >> Right. Now, in in terms of your report. and um you writing it, um you're still I. mean you're you're still on property. when you hear that there this incident. had occurred with Tupac. >> I don't recall where I was at the time.

>> Okay. Um would you have ever called back. to the MD and say, "Hey, capture more. video uh of, you know, this particular. incident and the guy with the Marino. jersey, you know, the night of the. shooting to help them whatever. investigation could be out there. Did. you do that? >> Not that I recall. No. >> Do you know if anyone else among the. three officers that were there or any. other officers uh would have done. something like that? >> I have no idea. >> Okay. Um maybe they're all Bears fans.

and that's the reason why they didn't do. that. >> It could be. Yep. >> Now, the prosecution called a man who. was working security at the Maxim Hotel. that night. It was right at the corner. of Flamingo and Koval. William Hyde. He. was on the third floor of the parking. garage when he apparently heard. something that stopped him cold. Listen. to this. >> Had two metro officers with me and we. were we were looking for stolen. vehicles. There were five or six Dodge. caravans that were stolen out of our. parking garage that night. >> And where were you located uh uh when.

something unusual did happen? >> Well, I was on the ramp of the third. floor of the parking garage on the. southeast side of the property. And uh. while you were there uh describe what. you hear. >> Well, the two officers, another security. officer and I were standing around one. Dodge Caravan and we just suddenly heard. a a lot of gunfire and we ran to the the.

barrier wall that was overlooking the. overlooking Koval Boulevard. Not. Flamingo Boulevard and that's when I. witnessed what I saw. >> So you hear a bunch of shots. How do you. have any idea how many you heard? >> It sounded It sounded like a lot. Um. >> one volley, two volley. >> Three volleys. >> Three volleys that you heard. >> And when you say a lot, I mean to some. people, can you put any sort of number. on it? >> I had three to four, maybe even five.

each volley. It was a a series of pops, >> somewhere between nine and 15 shots in a. series, >> something like that. >> He then testifies about the man he. claims he saw holding a gun, and the. defense tried to make an objection as to. speculation, but you'll see what. happens. >> I I was armed, so I was leaning over the. retaining wall to to see what I could. see. >> And when you look over the wall, what do. you see? I see a line of vehicles in the.

the. left straight lane on Flamingo heading. heading east. And there's a several vehicles. There. was a white Dodge Stratus at the front, a black BMW behind it, another dark car, and I believe another car. And then. there was a white Chevy Suburban behind. that and several more cars. >> Do you see anybody outside of those. vehicles? Yeah, there were a number of. people standing outside of the vehicles. in the traffic lanes. >> And do you see any of them armed?

>> One gentleman was armed. One black male, adult, very young, uh well-dressed. He. was wearing a very bright white 3/4. sleeve shirt, black pants, and a black. uh dress vest. >> And at the time that you see him, is he. firing his weapon? >> No, he's not. But he does have the. weapon in his hand. It was an automatic. weapon. Automatic pistol. semi-automatic. pistol. >> Yes. >> And is he holding it down? Is he. pointing it in any direction? >> He wasn't pointing in any direction. It.

was kind of just off to his side. >> What do you see this caravan of cars do? Well, I I I looked back because the. metro officers jumped in their cars to. pursue and then when I turned around, everyone was back in their cars again. and they made a Uturn heading. west on Flamingo towards Las Vegas. Boulevard. >> Uh, all of the cars in the caravan. >> Yes. >> And so you see them make a U-turn at.

Coveal and head back towards Las Vegas. Boulevard. >> Correct. And those vehicles, you saw two. the two metro officers you were with. jump in their vehicle to give chase to. that caravan. >> Correct. >> Um at the time that. you're out there and you see somebody. with a gun, you've just heard shots. fired. Is it the conclusion you. originally drew that that person was. your suspect? >> Yes. Yeah, that that's what I deduced at.

the time. And based upon the officers. following that caravan, that's a. reasonable assumption that they deduced. that as well. >> Right. Um, and they asked me what. direction they were going. They from. they rolled down their windows and were. asking me what direction everybody went. And so I pointed to make a right and. head towards Las Vegas Boulevard. >> And those officers then went after the. caravan. >> Correct. Check speculation. >> Uh, what's your response? >> Well, he watched him do it. You didn't.

>> Did he defense find that? >> Did you watch the. >> more foundation? >> Did you watch the officers go after the. that caravan? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you, sir. >> On cross-examination, the defense. pointed out that Hydemer Meyer didn't. write a report that night that he handed. it off to someone else. And they. highlighted that he didn't actually see. the shooting happen or anyone firing a. weapon. He only heard the gunfire and. saw a man with a gun after the fact. Now, you were investigating at that. particular time uh stolen vehicles out. of that garage. Did you write a report.

uh on your own with regards to what you. were doing that night with the stolen. vehicles? And. >> actually, you know, I turn that report. over to my other co- officers because I. was tied up with this incident. >> Okay, I'm going to zoom in a little bit. better for you here, sir, if I could. Uh. going back again, that's hopefully more helpful. Um, all. right. So, when you said that you looked. over and you saw, can you explain for us. again sort of where the vehicles were.

that you saw? Well, the vehicles were on. Flamingo heading east and they were in. You have a left turn lane, uh, two. forward lanes and a right turn lane. And. the vehicles were in the farthest left. center lane. >> Farthest left center lane. >> Correct. meaning that they were intending on. going forward. >> Correct. >> They're not making that left. >> No, but they ended up making a U-turn. >> Sure. And once again, for our. edification, this is 30 years ago, right? So, you've got three lanes going.

directly east. >> and is that a Yes. >> Yes. I'm sorry. >> And then you have is it two lanes that. are actually turn lanes uh to turn onto. it? >> Actually, I believe it was two lanes. So, it was it would be from the. facing facing east. It would have been. the third lane that they were in. There's two turn lanes, two straight. lanes, and a right turn lane. >> All right. And then with regards to the. vehicles themselves, your your testimony. was that there was a white van of some. sort or maybe vehicle in front of the.

black W. >> Yeah, it was a white Dodge Stratus. >> I see. Is that Is that a van? No, that's. >> No, it's a it's a two door sedan. >> Okay. And then behind it is the M is the. BMW. >> Yes. >> And then behind it are multiple cars. leading back. >> Yes. And your testimony was that you had. identified a lex, is it a Lexus behind. it? >> I think it was a Lexus, I believe. So, >> and then another vehicle and then a. white Chevy and then it just kept going. all the way down. >> Correct. >> So, even though we're identifying these. vehicles, you don't know how many.

vehicles were in the in the procession. or the. >> It was several. I didn't count them at. the time, but it was a good 10 vehicles. >> Okay. And all those vehicles are now. making a U-turn and heading back towards. Las Vegas Boulevard. >> Correct. Uh you don't see the actual. shots being, you know, someone actually. pointing a gun at something and shooting. something? >> No, I did not. >> You just heard it. >> Yes. >> The individual that you had identified. as the uh person with a gun? >> Yes. >> Do you um did you see that individual. shoot his weapon? >> No. >> All right.

>> By the way, for a big case like this, we're doing something a little bit. different. We're kind of limited in how. much we can actually show you here on. Sidebar. So, if you haven't heard yet, you can look at everything we have, basically all the documents in a case on. case files on the Long Crime Plus app. We're opening up the evidence vault, so. you can inspect things like raw body cam. footage and 911 calls and crime scene. photos and full trial tapes all. firsthand. Plus, you get adree streaming. of all your favorite long crime and. court TV shows. You can see the full.

picture for an entire month free. Head. on over to longrimeplus.com, enter promo code sidebar, and start. exploring today. Okay, let's jump back. into this. Now, another key moment that. I should mention is when the prosecution. called Michael Ingram, an investigator. for MGM Resorts, to authenticate the. surveillance footage from the night of. this alleged beating. The video, which. was captured on VHS tapes that were. reused and degraded over time, showed or. seemingly showed the confrontation.

between Tupac's Entourage and Orlando. Anderson in the elevator core of the MGM. Grand. Personal, I have been there so. many times. I used to go to Vegas all. the time. I used to stand by that. elevator bank all the time. I know it. very well. Now, Ingram walked the jury. through that footage, showing Anderson. allegedly being attacked and then. seemingly fleeing through the casino. floor towards the Lion entrance. On. cross-examination, the defense pressed Ingram on what he. didn't know. He wasn't working at MGM in.

1996. He didn't know if security reports. were written. He couldn't verify the. date and timestamps on the video beyond. what was already recorded. The video. itself was very grainy. No one could. definitively identify anyone in it, but. it seemingly established one very. important thing. That this attack. happened and it happened on camera. But. for the prosecution, they are hoping. that in the minds of the jury, it. established one very important thing.

that a beating happened and it happened. on camera. And that's all we have for. you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. And as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. And you can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock as well. Thank you so much. See. you next time.