FBG Duck‘s murder trial is currently underway, and an FBI agent has informed jurors that a rap blogger was paid almost $25K to be an informant.
A report from the Chicago Sun Times published on Monday (November 27) reveals that Trenches News YouTube channel creator Martell Wiley was paid $24,963 over roughly 15 installments for his cooperation in the investigation of the rapper’s killing, according to testimony from FBI Special Agent Kevin Doyle.
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Doyle stated that Wiley’s participation officially began in April 2021, though he’d allegedly called the Chicago Police Department just one day after the August 2020 shooting to offer his help.
“He would provide background information. He reviewed surveillance footage [and] reviewed social media postings,” Doyle said.
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Wiley will appear in court this week to testify as well – which naturally isn’t sitting well with many in Chicago. While he first sidestepped allegations of being a “snitch” and getting paid to cooperate, he later fessed up about testifying in what he described as “the trial of the century.”
“They subpoenaed me to court. I’ve gotta come here and tell them, man,” he said in a video on his channel. “It ain’t no more discrepancies. I’m here. Long live [FBG Duck, aka] Carlton.”
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Defense attorneys noted Wiley had been used twice as an informant more than a decade ago, when he apparently lived on O Block. They have described the blogger as a member of the Black Disciples’ Newtown faction, though Doyle acknowledged he later ran with Duck’s crew and the Gangster Disciples. He also agreed that Wiley may be “a little biased.”
According to unsealed police documents, FBG Duck (real name Carlton Weekly) was a member of the Gangster Disciples alongside a woman named Gakirah Barnes, who was allegedly killed in 2014 by King Von, a member of the Black Disciples. It’s believed that her murder sparked an all-out war between Duck and Von and their respective gangs.
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Ultimately, police said, the war continued between the two rappers’ rival factions until it culminated with the deaths of King Von and FBG Duck, both of whom were killed within months of each other in 2020.
These revelations, and more, came out in the indictment of the six men in connection with the death of FBG Duck: Ralph Turpin, Charles “C Murda” Liggins, Kenneth Roberson, Tacarlos Offerd, Christopher “C Thang” Thomas and Marcus “Muwop” Smart.
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A seventh man was also allegedly connected to FBG Duck’s murder, but he took his own life prior to his indictment.
As part of the indictment, it was alleged that the Black Disciples offered up a bounty that totaled $60,000 for anyone who killed FBG Duck. The indictment also revealed that King Von allegedly ordered FBG Duck’s execution prior to his own murder in 2020.
“The shooting lasted about 12 seconds in total, but the shooters fired 38 times, and hit [FBG Duck] 16 of those times,” read the indictment.
The six men aren’t just being charged with the rapper’s murder, however. According to a separate report for the Chicago Sun-Times, they are also being hit with larger federal racketeering charges under the RICO act, since the alleged murder-for-hire was done by a street gang.
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The trial for all six men is currently ongoing.
