Snoop Dogg‘s 1993 murder case is as far behind him as it can possibly get, as the record has been officially sealed.
According to documents obtained by TMZ on Wednesday (October 9), Snoop quietly filed to have the records sealed back in January, and a judge signed off on it the very next month — so he’s actually had the case behind him since February.
The outlet reports that Ceasar McDowell and his nonprofit org Unite the People helped out with the matter.
The first-degree murder case revolved around the murder of Philip “Little Smooth” Woldemariam, a member of a rival gang who was actually shot by Snoop’s bodyguard, Malik, in self-defense. The trial took place as Snoop was recording his debut album, Doggystyle, which spawned the single and subsequent video “Murder Was The Case.”
In a November episode of his podcast Collect Call, Suge Knight made a bold claim that he helped Snoop Dogg avoid a life sentence in prison.
“If it weren’t for me, [Snoop would] still be in prison doing life,” he said before discussing the incident that lead to the infamous trial.
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“The lawyer said: ‘Well, the bodyguard has a 9mm, so we can’t say he protected Snoop and shot the guy; Snoop had a .380,’” Suge recalled. “I said: ‘We’ll be fucked if the bodyguard had a .380 and Snoop had a 9mm., and he got shot with a .380, right? He got shot with a 9mm.”
He continued: “But since Snoop had the .380 and the bodyguard had a 9mm, and he got shot with a .380, all the bodyguard gotta say is he was using .380 bullets in his 9mm.”
The defendants were ultimately acquitted on all charges in the death of the rival gang member due to self-defense claims and negligence on the Los Angeles Police Department’s part.
Furthermore, Knight claimed to have spent $6 million to help cover up loose ends. This involved paying off someone from Snoop’s crew who was blackmailing the rapper, going so far as to meet with a private investigator and telling him “the muthafuckin’ truth” on record. But according to Knight, once he stepped in, this person “destroyed” the alleged tape.
