September 26, 2007 18:46

Inmate says he lied in Notorious BIG murder investigation

Waymond Anderson admits to wrongly implicating LAPD officer

An inmate linked with the murder of rapper Notorious BIG has admitted to lying about the involvement of a Los Angeles Police Department officer in the case.

Waymond Anderson, a former R&B artist who is currently serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder, has said that he implicated former police officer Rafael Perez in order to receive a monetary settlement from the city.

"I don't know Rafael Perez. It was a lie, and I'm ashamed of it," Anderson said in a recent deposition.

Anderson is alleging that the family of Notorious BIG - whose real name was Christopher Wallace - and their lawyer offered him a cut of any potential award if he falsely implicated the police, reports the Associated Press.

Perry R Sanders Jr, the Wallace family's lawyer, denied the allegation. "This is wholesale, made-up-out-of-whole-cloth perjury," he said.

Notorious BIG 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, and came just months after another famous rival rapper, Tupac Shakur, was 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.

Earlier this year, the Wallace family filed their second wrongful death suit against the city, as previously reported.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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