Hip Hop artist wanted for rap murder

Bay Area hip-hop rapper Andre “Mac Minister” Dow is very well known among the hip-hop and rap community. He now is also well known by law enforcement officials. In November last year, he was indicted in connection with the murder of Kansas City rapper Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins, 24, and his friend Jermaine “Cowboy” Akins, 21.

Police say on May 23, 2005 Watkins and Akins attended a concert by hip-hop rap artist Snoop Dogg in Las Vegas. That same night, and about 80 minutes before their murder, they were seen leaving their hotel with Dow.

According to Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins’ mother, her son and friend were told by Dow that they were going to meet with the hip-hop star Snoop Dogg after the concert to discuss a possible record deal. Police haven’t been able to confirm if this is true, or if Dow set up a trap to lure Watkins to Las Vegas.

Police say that Andre Dow, aka rap artist Mac Minister, may not have acted alone. A white Pontiac Sunfire was seen leaving the murder scene. An investigation led police to Jason “Corleone” Mathis, whose girlfriend, Lee “Alana” Danae Laursen, owned a white Sunfire. Mathis, an aspiring hip-hop and rap promoter and Dow’s friend, is now in custody and awaiting trial in Las Vegas. According to police, the white Sunfire was burned on May 25, 2005.

Police believe that Mathis and Dow killed Watkins and Akins in retaliation for the murder of San Francisco Bay Area hip-hop rap artist Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks, who was gunned down in Kansas City in 2004 after a dispute over a payment for a concert.

Rumors among Bay Area hip-hop and rap artists say that Watkins was behind Andre Hicks’ murder. However, police in Kansas City haven’t found any evidence to prove those rumors– they say the streets convicted Watkins.

On July 14, 2005, the California Highway Patrol pulled Andre Dow, aka Mac Minister, over for speeding, near the Golden Gate Bridge. But when the trooper was about to write the citation, Mac Minister sped off and a chase across the bridge followed. Police believe that Dow may have thought he was going to be arrested for his involvement in the Las Vegas killings. Dow abandoned his car in a neighborhood, but police found it and recovered a video documentary that he produced about himself and an Internet article about Watkins’ murder in Las Vegas.

A month after the incident, Mac Minister was arrested by the California Highway Patrol, but was released a few days later. It was not until November 2, 2005 that homicide detectives in Las Vegas gathered enough information to indict Andre Dow for the murders of Anthony Watkins and Jermaine Akins. Dow was charged with 2 counts of murder with a deadly weapon and 2 counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

Police say Dow found out about the indictment just two days later, on November 4, 2005. That same day Lee Danae Laursen, Jason Mathis’ girlfriend was found murdered. Police now consider Dow a person of interest for Danae’s murder. They say she may have been a witness to Watkins’ and Akins’ deaths.