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A deadly tale of underground rap
Vallejo's Mac Dre was slain in a dispute over money -- rumors led to reprisal and 3 more killings, police say
Vallejo rapper Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks wasn't on MTV, on magazine covers or in movies. But his clever, hardcore rhymes had an underground following, and when he was killed on a Kansas City freeway last November, hip-hop radio stations mourned him at length. Mac Dre was big enough for that.
Police investigators say Hicks, 34, was shot in a financial dispute, but the rumor mill said something sexier: that a West-Midwest rap war had flared and that a notorious Kansas City rapper dubbed "Fat Tone" had taken out Hicks. In the world of hip-hop, police say, bad blood often means good business.
Six months later, police say, a San Francisco rap promoter nicknamed "Mac Minister" and a friend avenged Hicks in Las Vegas by firing 33 assault-rifle rounds into two Kansas City men -- including Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins.
The two San Francisco men were indicted on murder charges early this month. Two days later, a 21-year-old call girl who was in Las Vegas with them turned up dead in Fairfield, shot in the head.
The violent story, pieced together through interviews and court records, reflects the blurry line between rumor and reality in the world of underground rap.
Kansas City police Detective Everett Babcock, who cleared Watkins in Hicks' death, feared that rumors following the shooting might turn deadly.
"The tragedy of the whole thing is that, assuming (the woman killed in Fairfield) was killed as retribution for being a witness, that's three people dead over a financial matter over an amount of money that wouldn't pay for a weekend in Vegas," said Babcock, who would not elaborate on the alleged dispute except to say that Watkins was not a suspect in Hicks' death.
The saga began quietly, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2004, as Hicks rode in a white van driven by a friend through Kansas City. He had been performing in the city, and he and other Bay Area rappers enjoyed second-home popularity there.
Hicks, who grew up in Vallejo's hardscrabble Country Club Crest neighborhood, first gained radio airplay as a teenager with a song titled, ironically, "2 Hard 4 the (expletive) Radio." He had long been the subject of rap world rumors. His mother, Wanda Salvatto, said she'd heard about her son's death at least three times before.
Despite serving a five-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit bank robbery, Hicks was no thug, his mother said. His problems were behind him when he was killed, Salvatto said, and he talked about mentoring teenagers to keep them flying straight. He had recently moved to Sacramento and owned a record label.
Still, as his driver moved through Kansas City in the dark a year ago, a stolen black Infiniti G36 pulled alongside and someone opened fire, police said. The van swerved across a grass median and four freeway lanes, then crashed into a ditch.
Detective Babcock said the investigation was hampered early by the reluctance of Hicks' travel companions to cooperate. Some, when approached, even pretended they didn't know Hicks. But it wasn't long before rumors started to fly about a rap war -- and "Fat Tone" Watkins.
Fat Tone was a large figure, literally and figuratively. After he was shot and wounded in 2003, when he was 22, his next album cover showed him sitting up in a hospital gurney flashing a middle finger. He was "Fat Tone the Untouchable." He was once arrested in the killing of a pregnant woman, although the charges were dropped.
"Every shooting that happened (in Kansas City), you would get calls saying, 'Fat Tone did it, Fat Tone did it.' His name always came up," Babcock said. But when it came to Hicks' death, he said, the rumor had legs.
Soon after Hicks' slaying, Watkins was summoned to Kansas City's police headquarters for an interview. "I told him we expected retribution," Babcock recalled. "He said, 'I'm watching myself.' "
Several months later, Watkins denied in a rap song that he had killed Hicks, but "the rumor was that he admitted it," Babcock said.
Early on May 23, a security guard found the body of the 24-year-old Watkins in a housing development under construction in southwest Las Vegas. He'd been shot about 20 times and was slumped over the front seats of a blue 1992 Toyota Tercel, according to grand jury testimony. A few feet away, 22-year-old Jermaine Akins -- a friend who was a fugitive from federal cocaine-selling charges -- also lay dead after being shot 13 times.
At the time of the killing, San Francisco promoter Andre "Mac Minister" Dow, his friend Jason Mathis and call girl Lee Danae Laursen were in Las Vegas, according to police. Mathis had rented a house less than five blocks from the murder scene. Dow was with his 28-year-old girlfriend. Laursen, who came from the small town of Payson near Provo, Utah, might have been turning tricks for Mathis, police said.
Slaying victims Watkins and Akins were in Las Vegas for a Snoop Dogg concert at the Palms and were staying at the MGM Grand. According to Las Vegas police Detective Todd Hendrix, Watkins told his mother and girlfriend that Dow had promised him a meeting with Snoop Dogg.
Just hours before the killings, Hendrix said, MGM Grand cameras recorded Dow leaving the hotel with Watkins and Akins. He believes the victims were driven to the neighborhood where they were killed roughly 80 minutes later.
According to Mathis' arrest warrant, he later admitted to a friend that he had shot Watkins and Akins to avenge Hicks' killing. Mathis "said he shot Watkins, then chased Akins into the street and shot him while he was on the ground pleading for his life," the warrant alleged.
The Toyota Tercel, investigators now say, had been given to Dow's girlfriend by a Berkeley activist, a woman who once was her teacher. The car even bore a "Bush Lost" bumper sticker. Meanwhile, another car -- a white Pontiac Sunfire -- was spotted speeding away from the scene.
A day later, a white 2000 Pontiac Sunfire convertible was found burning in Vallejo. The registered owner: Lee Danae Laursen.
Laursen's father has told police that his daughter was forced into prostitution by Mathis, who "would escort her into various Las Vegas hotels hiding an AK-47 under his clothing," according to Mathis' arrest warrant. The father told police that he rescued his daughter once, in the month before the killing, but that she voluntarily returned to Las Vegas.
There, Laursen was seen in a gun shop nine days before the killing, where she bought ammunition similar to that used to kill Watkins and Akins, according to grand jury testimony.
Dow, 35, and Mathis, 26, were indicted Nov. 2 on two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Watkins and Akins. Mathis was arrested July 12 in San Francisco, where police said he had beaten his girlfriend. Investigators soon discovered he was wanted in Las Vegas, where he later pleaded not guilty. His Las Vegas attorney, Keith Brower, was not available for comment.
Dow remains on the lam, sought on a no-bail warrant issued after the indictment, and may be featured soon on TV's "America's Most Wanted." His San Francisco attorney, Eric Safire, says his client isn't capable of murder but admits that Dow is capable of basking in the negative publicity.
"This is the greatest thing that has happened to him," Safire said, referring to the marketing and appeal of violence in gangsta rap. "He was proud he was a suspect."
Laursen, meanwhile, ended up in the Bay Area, where she lived out of hotels at times and offered her services -- as "Alana" -- over the Craigslist Web site, police say. Las Vegas investigators tracked her down in July, and during an interview in San Francisco, Hendrix said he and another detective begged her to cooperate, even offering assistance to help her regain her life.
"She wouldn't stand for it," Hendrix said. "She was completely snowed by Mathis. She thought he'd take care of her. We pleaded with her to get out of there so she wouldn't be harmed."
On the night of Nov. 4, Fairfield police officers went to a quiet neighborhood after residents reported hearing gunfire. Laursen was pronounced dead at the scene from a head wound. A dark-colored SUV was seen speeding away. Soon, Mathis' Saturn sedan, which Laursen had been driving, turned up burning in Richmond, said Fairfield police Lt. Tony Shipp.
"She had information that could be very damaging," Hendrix said. "The timing of it is uncanny."
Salvatto, Hicks' mother, said she doesn't know what to make of the killings and finds it hard to believe that they are connected to her son's death -- although she has noticed that "people like to be tied to the drama." She prefers to ignore the hype and enjoy the sight of young people wearing "Mac Dre" T-shirts, some who discovered his music in the past year.
Salvatto said she had never even heard of Dow or Mathis.
"I don't even know who's in the war," she said. "If Andre were here, he'd be shaking his head."
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A rapper’s killing triggers three deaths
Vallejo rapper Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks’ slaying last year in Kansas City has been linked to the killings of three other people, in Las Vegas and the Bay Area, and two San Francisco men have been indicted in two of the killings.
KANSAS CITY
Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks
The 34-year-old Vallejo resident, who made more than 20 underground albums, was killed Nov. 1, 2004, during a trip to Kansas City, where he was performing.
LAS VEGAS
Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins
The Kansas City rapper, 24, was shot 20 times. His body was found May 23 in an unfinished housing development in Las Vegas.
Jermaine Akins
The 22-year-old friend of Watkins was shot 13 times. He was found near Watkins' body.
SAN FRANCISCO
Andre "Mac Minister" Dow
The 35-year-old rap promoter was indicted Nov. 2 in Las Vegas on murder charges stemming from the deaths of Watkins and Akins.
Jason Mathis
The 26-year-old friend of Dow also was charged in the deaths of Watkins and Akins.
Lee Danae Laursen
The 21-year-old prostitute - a possible witness to the killings of Watkins and Akins was shot and killed Nov. 4 in Fairfield.
The Chronicle City Hall Records
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Mac Dre's murder: "A Deadly Tale of Underground Rap"
what the fukk do 50 & yayo have to do wit it? niqqaz is dead & you comparin them to tv? fukk outta here, this is real shyt & alotta cats are fukked up from that bs.
