Yo boy...
Of course, the letter is unsigned, and it was written by someone else at
the murderer's direction, because Sam would be able to recognize the
murderer's handwriting, but there are different points in the letter where
Sam was able to authenticate it as coming from the murderer. This is one of
them. The murderer always referred to Sam as "boy," or called to him, "Yo
boy."
...You is A Real Fuck-Nigga, Cold Rat Bitch made
ass Nigga...
"Nigger," is still used by some African-Americans to refer to each
other. It can be a term describing a friend, e.g. "My Nigger." "Nigga" is this generation's variation of the N-word, popularized by Rap. However, "Fuck-
Nigger" or "Fuck-Nigga," has always been a supreme insult. It is often the
last thing said before the speaker kills his auditor.
"Rat" is a term that has stood the test of time as applied to those who turn against their fellow criminals and cooperate with the police. The murderer was a drug-dealer, Sam was one of his workers. Sam got arrested for trafficking drugs out of state (a circumstance conducive to cooperation with the police) and told what he knew about violent crimes, a standard law enforcement question in their debriefing of a drug trafficker.
I'm not sure how the murderer is using the phrase "made ass." In organized crime, someone is "made" who joins the mafia. He could be referring to Sam as someone who was "made" in that way by working for the murderer. However, in context here, and of the entire letter, it seems the murderer means it to be... critical... of Sam,
like Sam's cooperation with the police made him "made."
An African-American man does not call another African-American man a "bitch" without malice aforethought.
How you gonna Lay Down On Dre like that...
There should be a period after "that." Though he excels at murder, the murderer is
weak on punctuation. "Dre" is the nickname of the murder victim.
I do not entirely understand the meaning of the sentence. The way that it is
phrased, it sounds like the murderer is accusing Sam of doing something
harmful to the victim. That may be what he means, he spreads disinformation
in this letter, but I don't know. There are limits to my abilities as a linquistic anthropologist.
every Move you Make...
The title of an old Pop song? No.
I know
The murderer truly did track and stalk the murder victim, Dre. It would be
a plausible claim that the murderer would know every move Sam makes.
And you telling on my homeboy Red...
Here is an example of the murderer's disinformation. "Red" is the murderer's nickname, a common one in the African-American community, to describe someone with a light complexion. "Black" is the opposite. The murderer is attempting to disguise his authorship by writing as if he's someone else.
The law requires that there be shown some direct link to the defendant, and here the murderer deliberately refers to himself in the third person ("homeboy"=friend). His purpose was to make it difficult legally for me to get the letter admitted into evidence against him in trial (He failed).
and you Done told the Police that you Don't
know shit about DRE AND NOW You WANNA
TELL LIES...
More disinformation. When this letter gets published to the jury he wants the
jury to think that Sam had originally told the police that he knew nothing about the muder of Dre. Not true. As soon as Sam was arrested for trafficking he told what he knew of this, and other violent crimes.
Your Pussy Ass run off with red money now you want
to try to take the man life.
"Pussy Ass"=Sissy. Like "bitch," "pussy ass" is a supreme insult to make
against an African-American male. The murderer was always taunting Sam that
he was not tough enough, that is, that he wouldn't kill.
Sam did not "run off with," i.e. steal, the murderer's money. Another untrue
allegation, written for effect on the jury.
And now, after stealing the murderer's money, Sam wants to see him spend the
rest of his life in prison.
I Keep it Real with you...
I am serious..
I should have killed Your Fuck Ass when
I had the CHANCE TO Fuck Boy RAT ASS NIGGA.
Fuck Boy Rat Ass Nigga=Sam.
You NEED TO Tell them POLICE That
You DON'T KNOW SHIT...
The legal term for this is "Witness Tampering."
Because When I SEE you Pussy ASS...
Because when I see you Sam (comma)
You Know FOR A FACT YOU DONT WANNASEE ME...
and you know you don't want to see me (comma)
ALL YOU FUCK NIGGA'S who SAY yall
From THE CITY...
Here, the murderer is distinguishing himself from those in "THE
CITY." Rivalries, and murders, occur for no other reason than one
person lives in one telephone area code--or even exchange--from
someone else lives. This is a relatively new phenomenon. Life has never
been so cheap.
...IS RAT SAMMY the Bull AS NIGGAZ...
I think this clause and the one immediately above should read,
"All you fuck niggas who say that you're from the city are rat-Sammy-
the-Bull-Ass niggas."
If that is correct, then the murderer is saying that all of the guys
from "the city" are snitches, government informers.
"Sammy the Bull" is a reference to the government's main witness
against John Gotti, the Mafia head in the 1980's and 1990's (I think
that's the correct time frame). Gotti was nicknamed "The Teflon Don"
because he had been acquitted in previous trials. Gravano was Gotti's
second-in-command. When he "flipped" (our slang for, "became a
witness for the government"), Gotti's teflon was gone and he was convicted.
The murderer knows the history of his vocation, and is very concerned that
Sam is a witness against him. Nice literary touch, though.
...AND YOU KNOW IMMA ALL
WAYS KNOW WERE TRy At AND IM
COMING TO GET YOU...
"And you know that I am always going to know where [you
are]..." (I don't know what "TRy" means)..."And I'm going to
kill you."
...RAT RAT RAT...
"Informer, Informer, Informer..."
...AND If I GO TO HELL...
And you will.
...ILL SEE YOU THERE. I bEEN told
Them BOYS YOU A RAT AND They NO
BETTER...
"I have been telling people (in the city?) that you are testifying
for the government and they know better than to do that (period)."
IMMA KILL YOU AND PUT youR DICK IN
YOUR MoutH
An old Mafia technique, done to informers, intended as a
deterrent to others.
...fUCK NIGGA...
Sam.
AND AT The END OF the day
At the end of the day?
you know who the real gangsta is.
i.e., the murderer.
ILL be HAPPY i die...
As will I.
...then to live as a rat BET THAT!!!
"You bet I'd rather be dead than testify for the government!!!"
(BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT)
SAMMY DA BULL
I couldn't recreate on Blogger the way that this was
written in the letter. "Blood in" was on one line and "Blood
Out," two lines underneath, on the left-hand side of the
letter. On the right-hand side, and between "Blood in" and
"Blood out," the murderer wrote, "Sammy Da Bull."
I have heard of "Blood in, Blood out" before, but cannot remember
it's meaning, and, to my surprise, Sam didn't know what it meant either.
I think it means something like "You spill my blood, I'll spill yours,"
but I'm going to have to check with some of my colleagues in our
Gang Unit to confirm.
THE GUN MAN [Drawing of sad face]
Sam said that "The Gun Man" was the murderer's nickname
for himself, another way in which Sam can authenticate the author.
*NO REAL NAMES OR NICKNAMES USED.
