An American hero by the name of Rich Jones has obtained and published the entire 94-page FBI file of Ol' Dirty Bastard, the Wu-Tang Brooklynnnn Zuhh member who died of a wildness overdose in 2004. Some select highlights are below. [Click to enlarge the images]

The Crimes of the Wu-Tang

Much of the file is taken up with police reports on the alleged connection between the Wu-Tang Clan and various forms of crime—"the WTC is heavily involved in the sale of drugs, illegal guns, weapons possession, murder, car jackings, and other types of violent crimes," according to one report. And money laundering. (Image 1)


There is also talk of crime collaboration between the Bloods and the Wu-Tang, including allegations that the Wu "ordered" homicides to be carried out by Bloods members. (Image 2)


So Many Shootings

In December of 1997, a man named Robert "Pooh" Johnson was shot to death in Staten Island. He's described in the police file as "Known Wu-Tang Clan associate." In 1998, ODB himself was shot. (Image 3) Later information in the file indicates that ODB was specifically targeted as a victim by an active criminal robbery squad. That robbery was two years after the previous time ODB had been robbed and shot in the projects.


A portion of the notes from the police interview of ODB about the incident in which he was shot and robbed describes a bad night: while he was sleeping, a group of armed men burst in his house and relieved him of his jewelry. (Image 4)


Just weeks later, a man was shot to death in Ohio, and ODB was pulled over nearby with guns in his car, although he's not named as someone who actually participated in the shooting. The next year, there was ODB's shootout with the cops—for which he was never indicted. (Image 5)


The FBI file also includes a copy of ODB's New York criminal record, which begins with arrests for fighting and petit larceny in 1987 and continues for years and years through weapons charges, assault charges, missed child support payments, and even turnstile jumping. It ends with his arrest for the police shooting incident. (Image 6)


After all that, he was killed by his own bad habits. RIP, ODB.

UPDATE: Much more on this topic can be found in Jaime Lowe's 2008 ODB biography Digging For Dirt.

[The full FBI file is here. Image by Jim Cooke]