Attorney Michael Sanft Found Dead in Las Vegas

Attorney Michael Sanft, who represented Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the murder case involving rapper Tupac Shakur, was found dead at his Las Vegas home Friday morning. Sanft’s cause of death had not been confirmed, and police said his death did not appear suspicious, according to reports citing a friend and local reporting. The accounts give conflicting ages for Sanft: two say he was 55, while another says he was 54.

Sanft’s friend Michael Sloan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Sanft was found at home. The reports do not establish when he died: one says he was found Friday morning, while another says he reportedly died Thursday night. No further details about the circumstances were reported.

Sanft defended Davis, who was convicted of first-degree murder for his role in Shakur’s 1996 killing and sentenced to 40 years in prison. A court-record account says Sanft filed a notice of appeal challenging Davis’s conviction on October 30, about a week before Sanft was found dead. Sanft had argued that prosecutors waited too long to bring the case.

The reports described Sanft as Davis’s lead trial attorney. He told FOX5 Las Vegas after the trial that he did not see what he could have...