Confessing to Murder
Rapper G Dep was a rising star on the New York hip-hop scene until he turned himself in to the police and confessed to murder.
Trevell Coleman, better known as the rapper G Dep, was a rising star on the New York hip-hop scene and had been signed to P Diddyβs Bad Boy record label. He also had a wife, Crystal, and twin boys.
Yet Trevell, who was brought up a Catholic and always retained his faith, had a terrible secret - as an 18-year-old, he had mugged and shot a man. He never knew what happened to his victim, yet 17 years later, in 2010, he could no longer bear the guilt and went to the police β a step almost unimaginable for someone from the hip-hop world.
A police search of their cold case files revealed the case of John Henkel β shot and killed in 1993 at exactly the same street corner in Harlem where Trevell says he committed his crime. He is now serving a jail sentence of 15 years to life for Henkelβs murder. Yet he has no regrets; βI wanted to get right with God,β he says.
Trevellβs choice was perhaps hardest to bear for his wife Crystal, who now has to bring up their teenage boys on her own.The story is told by Trevell himself, Crystal and others who played a part β including the foreman of the jury that found him guilty.
(Photo: Trevell Coleman aka G-Dep. Credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage/Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Sun 10 Jul 2016 02:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Sun 10 Jul 2016 07:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 10 Jul 2016 08:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Sun 10 Jul 2016 15:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online
- Sun 10 Jul 2016 18:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean, Online, UK DAB/Freeview & South Asia only
Podcast
-
Heart and Soul
Personal approaches to religious belief from around the world.