Wu-Tang Clan Was Investigated by FBI in Two 1999 Murders
Members of the Wu-Tang Clan were investigated for allegedly ordering two men’s murders in 1999, according to recently released documents.
The allegations come from a federal trial of two Staten Island drug kingpins, brothers Anthony and Harvey Christian, stating that two men may have been murdered because they robbed Wu-Tang founding members RZA and Raekwon‘s family members. Last October, the Christian brothers were found guilty of running a major drug-dealing operation for 20 years and Anthony Christian was also found guilty of orchestrating a 1999.
With sentencing against the drug lords on its way, Anthony Christian’s lawyer Michael Gold has requested “all police files” about the Wu-Tang Clan’s alleged involvement in the murder of 17-year-old Jerome (Boo Boo) Estella, as well as those of a second man named Corey (Shank Bank) Brooker. He contends that information in Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s FBI file alleges the murder was pulled off “at the instruction of members of the Wu-Tang Clan.” Ol’ Dirty Bastard‘s FBI file was released in a heavily-redacted form in 2012.
“These reports seem to suggest someone else was liable for those murders. I’m not suggesting that Wu-Tang committed these crimes. The FBI did,” Gold told theStaten Island Advance. “What I’m trying to ascertain is their stated belief in an official file that Wu-Tang ordered this homicide.”
In response, the federal prosecutors issued a filing last month describing what information they had sent in the trial’s discovery process, noting RZA and Raekwon’s possible role in the killings. They stated Gold already had all reverent information prior to the trial and that none of it provided evidence that might exonerate his client.
The prosecutor’s information was based on 1999 interviews with Brian Humphreys, a Bloods gang member who later turned federal informant, who was the gunman in Estella’s killing and testified against the kingpin Christian brothers.
“A couple of weeks before the Boo Boo [Estella］shooting, Uncles (the street name of drug supplier-turned-informant Paul Ford) told Humphreys about a Blood named Boo Boo who just came home from jail,” the filing reads. “He stated that Boo Boo had robbed RZA’s little brother and had also gotten into something with the Christian brothers.”
It continues, “Uncles was talking about Boo Boo and said that he had just come home and robbed RZA’s brother and that they would likely come after him for that. Humphreys believes Uncles was referring to members of Wu Tang.”
The prosecutors’ documents also mention conversations involving the drug supplier-turned-informant Ford, Bloods-member-turned informant Humphreys and kingpin Anthony Christian about Brooker who was shot to death on June 22, 1999.
Ford claimed Brooker had robbed RZA’s brother and Raekwon’s cousin, prompting RZA to issue a $30,000 contract for Brooker’s murder, according to the documents.
The filing reads, “Ford stated that he had previously heard that Shank Bank [Brooker］was killed by Phife (ph). Ford believes that Phife collected money from RZA for executing the hit.” There is no explanation of to whom the name “Phife” refers.
Prosecutors contend they that Estella’s robbing RZA’s brother would have reinforced Anthony Christian’s desire to organize his killing, since such robberies were bad for the drug trade.
Anthony and Harvey Christian were arrested in 2011. Anthony Christian faces a mandatory life sentence; Harvey Christian faces 40 years to life in federal prison.
Read the federal prosecutor’s court filing and the 2012 release of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s FBI file here.
