The Chauncey Bailey Killing and Others

Broussard's statement may help police clear two more killings
By Thomas Peele
The Chauncey Bailey Project
Posted: 04/17/2009 04:08:22 PM PDT
Updated: 04/17/2009 04:08:23 PM PDT


OAKLAND — On the order of Yusuf Bey IV, Devaughndre Broussard and Antoine Mackey in July 2007 lured a homeless man to a dark corner where he was shot dead after raising his hands over his head, according to a statement Broussard gave prosecutors last month.

Broussard also said Mackey admitted killing another man with an assault rifle and joking about it, describing himself as "Elmer Fudd" on a hunting trip.

Broussard, who admitted in the document to also killing journalist Chauncey Bailey, is scheduled to describe all three killings to an Alameda County grand jury next week as part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors then expect to charge Bey IV and Mackey with multiple murders.

For weeks, Broussard said, Bey IV, then the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery told him to follow the man, Odell Roberson, in preparation for killing him. The reason, he said, was revenge for the 2005 killing of Bey IV's brother, Antar Bey, by Roberson's nephew, Alonza Phillips.

On the night of July 8, 2007, Broussard, Mackey and Bey IV were "talking and chopping it up" when Bey IV suddenly gave the order: Roberson's time was up. Broussard told investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office he took Roberson to a dark spot on Herzog Street where Mackey passed him an assault rifle, according to a transcript of the interview.

"I took the safety off and pointed it at him," Broussard said. "He tried to break. I'm like, stop, then he turned around and put his hands up and I (shot) him ... . Then he probably turned and I know I just kept hitting him .... his body hopped off the ground and moved a couple of inches." Broussard is scheduled to tell a grand jury next week that he killed Roberson and journalist Chauncey Bailey at Bey IV's order. He also is to testify that Mackey killed another man, Michael Wills, on July 12, 2007.

Bey IV and Mackey are then expected to each be charged with multiple counts of murder. Broussard has agreed to please guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter. In exchange for his testimony, he would receive a prison sentence of about 25 years with a guaranteed release date.

Both Broussard's attorney, LeRue Grim, and Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lamiero have declined to comment on the testimony or plea agreement, which Broussard signed earlier this week.

His testimony comes more than 20 months after he shot and killed Bailey near downtown Oakland. He told Lamiero during questioning in preparation for grand jury testimony that Bey IV ordered Bailey killed because the reporter was working on a story about the bakery's financial problems and internal strife.

Bey IV remains uncharged in Bailey's killing. He is charged with a host of other crimes, including kidnapping and torture, and is jailed without bail and has denied involvement in Bailey's assassination.

In addition to detailing the killings of Bailey and Roberson, Broussard said in the interview that Bey IV kept a "hit list" of people he wanted killed for "revenge, retribution." Broussard said that Bey IV also told him to be ready to kill others in Phillips' family in retribution for the slaying of Antar Bey — plans that were still being developed when police raided the bakery Aug. 3, 2007, the day after Broussard killed Bailey.

Broussard also told investigators that Mackey told him he shot and killed Wills.

Broussard said he was at the bakery and heard shots. Moments later, Mackey and Bey IV rushed in. Broussard said he followed Mackey to his room where Mackey described the killing.

"He said the dude tried to run and then he shot him," Broussard said, adding that Mackey was laughing and described himself as the cartoon character Elmer Fudd out hunting.

"I ran over there and I went to look" at where the killing happened a few blocks from the bakery. "Yusuf was like, 'go look for your self.'" Broussard said he dressed in jogging clothes so he could claim he was just exercising if police stopped him. As he neared Wills body, he said he heard a woman yell "somebody killed that boy. Somebody killed that boy." Wills apparently was a random target chosen because he was white, according to the Broussard's account.

Broussard said Mackey told him he and Bey IV were discussing the 1970 Zebra Killings in San Francisco, where African Americans had killed whites, when they saw Wills, a chef who lived nearby, who was walking home from a convenience store after finishing work.

A few days later, Broussard said Bey IV "said we got a devil....He was cocky like." Both Bey IV and his late father, bakery founder Yusuf Bey have often referred to whites as "devils" while preaching racial hatred.

In telephone calls recorded from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and obtained by the Chauncey Bailey Project, Bey IV often makes similar statements, referring to "white and Jew devils" and "media devils" he claims are trying to destroy him.

Thomas Peele is an investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Reach him at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com. Visit Chaunceybaileyproject.org to learn more about the killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey.



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