March 18, 2006 15:50

Notorious BIG murder to be reinvestigated

A new team of police is put on the case

A new team of police is investigating the unsolved murder of rapper Notorious BIG, who was shot and killed in 1997 in Los Angeles.

The BBC reports officers were "following up on leads", said Asst City Attorney Don Vincent.

In 2005, the late rapper's family attempted to sue LA and its police department for $18m (£9.9m), accusing two ex-policemen of conspiracy in his killing.

A judge declared a mistrial in July and she ordered LA to pay the family $1.6m (£884,000).

She added that LA must pay the family a further $500,000 (£276,000) for expenses, and ruled that a police detective intentionally hid statements by a prison informant linking the killing to two officers.

A retrial is expected later this year.

Notorious BIG - whose real name was Christopher Wallace - was killed on a street in March 1997, after seven shots were fired into his vehicle. The shooting took place after the Soul Train Awards. It came just months after another famous rival rapper, Tupac Shakur, was also shot dead in Las Vegas.

Notorious BIG's family have long alleged the police department covered up the involvement of rogue officers in the killing.

Mr Vincent told council members that there was no evidence police were involved in the killing.