Rapper Snoop Dogg on witness list

Celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg is no stranger to Las Vegas. He's performed here countless times and has been spotted around town with fellow rapper Bow Wow, football player Terrell Owens and others on the A-List.

Snoop Dogg might be in Las Vegas again this week, only instead of on stage he could be on the witness stand.

Snoop Dogg, aka Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., has been named as a witness in the murder trial of Andre "Mac Minister" Dow, a 37-year-old San Francisco rapper and rap promoter charged in connection with the 2005 fatal shootings in Las Vegas of two men from Kansas City, Mo.

Authorities said the Las Vegas killings were part of a West Coast and Midwest rap war that spilled onto the streets of Las Vegas.

Dow's trial began Monday in District Court and is expected to last at least a week. He is accused of killing Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins, a 24-year-old Kansas City rapper, and Watkins' friend 22-year-old Jermaine Akins.

A second defendant in the killings, Jason Mathis, 29, is being tried separately.

Snoop Dogg is one of about 20 witnesses defense attorneys could call to testify in the trial, according to a witness list filed in District Court. The witness list also includes rapper Tone Capone and a local DJ from Hot 97.5 KVEG named Franzen Wong.

Erick Ferran, one of Dow's attorneys, said he hasn't yet served Snoop Dogg with a subpoena ordering him to appear in District Court. He said Dow's defense team is going to review the evidence in the case and "if the need rises, we're going to pursue all our options." This includes issuing Snoop Dogg a subpoena, he said.

Dow has recorded with Snoop Dogg and the two have attended award shows together, said Deputy District Attorney Josh Tomsheck.

On the night of the killings, according to Tomsheck, Dow lured Watkins and Akins to their death by telling them he would introduce them to Snoop Dogg.

Snoop Dogg's publicist, Kisha Maldonado, declined to comment. According to Snoop Dogg's official Web site, the rapper is scheduled to be performing on the East Coast and in the South for the rest of the month.

John Powell, another of Dow's attorneys, said Dow is innocent. Powell said Dow was at a Las Vegas radio station at the time Watkins and Akins were gunned down in Southern Highlands in southwest Las Vegas.

He also said Dow and Watkins were friends, not bitter rivals. He said Dow had helped Watkins in his music career and the two were business partners.

The case started on Nov. 1, 2004, when Vallejo, Calif., rapper Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks was riding in a van with a friend in Kansas City. A car pulled up alongside the van and someone opened fire, killing Hicks.

Kansas City police interviewed Watkins but cleared him in Hicks' killing, authorities said. Watkins was also known as "Fat Tone the Untouchable" because he was shot and wounded in 2003 but survived.

On May 23, 2005, a security guard found the bodies of Watkins and Akins near a house under construction in Southern Highlands. Watkins was shot 20 times and Akins was shot 13 times. In all, Las Vegas police found 40 spent shells from an AK-47-style rifle. Akins also had blunt-force trauma to his head.

Las Vegas police ruled out robbery as a motive; Watkins had $1,200 in cash on his lifeless body.

Police eventually tracked down surveillance video from the MGM Grand, where Watkins was staying. The video showed Watkins, Akins and Dow leaving the casino just a few hours before the shooting, Tomsheck said.

Among other things, Tomsheck said Dow's girlfriend owned the vehicle that Akins and Watkins' lifeless bodies were found in or near, and Mathis' girlfriend owned an AK-47-style rifle, the same type of gun used in the Las Vegas slaying. Neither woman has been charged in connection with the slayings.

The trial is set to resume today.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.