Jam Master Case Gets Cloudier

Just weeks before the first anniversary of the murder of Jam Master Jay, an arrest and a flurry of highly publicized new allegations have caused movement in the stalled police investigation. But sources close to the slain Run-DMC DJ insist that investigators are still on the wrong track.

In July, aspiring rapper Karl "Little D" Jordan and his father, Darren "Big D" Jordan, were fingered by a convicted robber and former associate of Jay's named Ronald "Tinard" Washington. Interviewed in the Nassau County jail by the New York Daily News, Washington claimed that he saw Big D and Little D enter Jay's Queens, New York, studio the night of the murder and then saw Little D fleeing through the studio's rear exit moments later. On August 8th, police charged Little D with shooting Jay's nephew Rodney Jones in the leg on May 14th on a Queens street, and questioned Little D about Jay's murder.

But the Jones shooting may have been the result of a feud over song lyrics that Jones wrote insulting the younger Jordan and may be unrelated to Jay's killing. The Jordans deny involvement in the Jay murder, and a source close to Jay who preferred not to be named discounted Washington's allegations, telling Rolling Stone, "I don't know who did it, but I know who didn't do it. Big D and Little D were real good friends of Jay's." Sources close to Jay also point out that Washington is widely known and feared around Queens as a dangerous stickup artist. Although Washington has denied involvement in Jay's death, several sources said they suspect he knows more than he is telling.

Since the killing on October 30th, 2002, police have grappled with a wide assortment of possible motives, including large personal debts owed by Jay, a drug deal gone sour, a beef involving the Murder Inc. label over rapper 50 Cent and even a possible insurance scam involving two of Jay's business partners. Detective Bernard Porter, investigator on the Jay case, says the investigation is progressing, although he is not prepared to say whether Washington's allegations are truthful.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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