AceShowbiz - Tupac Shakur's suspected murderer Keefe D's attorneys have asked the gangster to be released from jail. The Compton Crip gang leader has insisted any comments he made about the late rapper - who was fatally wounded and died six days after being shot four times on the Las Vegas strip aged 25 on September 7, 1996 - in his book was for "entertainment purposes."

The 60-year-old Kingpin - whose real name is Duane Davis - was indicted by a grand jury in Nevada on one count of murder with a deadly weapon in September. In November, he pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and his lawyers have now insisted he is "not a threat to the community" and have asked for Keefe to be released on bail with an electronic tag.

In a new court filing obtained by Las Vegas' 8 News Now, they argued that the crime lord "did not introduce any independent evidence connecting Duane Davis to the shooting" and that anything taken from his tome as evidence in the case is "an astounding amount of hearsay."

They went on, "The book and video interviews were produced for a financial benefit under the belief that Duane had immunity. The truthfulness of the content of the interviews was never verified. The book and interviews were done for entertainment purposes and to make money from a situation that Kading and others had already profited."

His lawyers also claim being in prison is impacting his health.

In 2011, former LAPD Detective Greg Kading released a book alleging that Sean "P. Diddy" Combs commissioned Keefe to kill Tupac as well as Suge Knight for $1 million.

Keefe has given multiple interviews and written a memoir called "Compton Street Legend", confessing to his role in the shooting of Tupac and claims he rode in the car and handed nephew Orlando Anderson the murder weapon before he fired the fatal shots that killed the rapper. Keefe claimed in his memoir Tupac appeared to be reaching for a weapon before the execution, but his side fired first, essentially killing the rapper.

A hearing is due to take place at the start of 2024, with the trial scheduled for June 3, 2024.