Mac Minister is an American rapper, recently found guilty for the murder of Kansas City rappers Anthony "Fat-Tone" Watkins and Jermaine "Cowboy" Akins in Las Vegas, Nevada in May 2005.

Mac Minister was profiled on an episode of America's Most Wanted, allegedly responsible for the murder of Anthony Fat-Tone Watkins in Las Vegas, Nevada, in retaliation for the murder of Bay Area hip-hop legend Mac Dre. After a 10-month manhunt, Mac was apprehended by the FBI on the evening of March 2, 2006 while hiding out in a San Francisco apartment, becoming AMW Direct Result Capture #879.

Homicide charges

Minister, real name Andre Dow and age 37, was convicted along with his friend Jason “Corleone” Mathis of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The trial lasted less than a week. Both men received sentences of life without parole.

The bodies of the victims were later found riddled with AK-47 bullets at a construction site outside of Las Vegas. MGM Grand security cameras documented Minister leaving the hotel with two men just hours before the slaying.

Police immediately sought to question him, but the veteran rapper went on the lam, prompting a 10 month manhunt. The case was featured prominently on America’s Most Wanted before Mac’s capture on March 2, 2006.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 31, 2008.

Wikipedia.org

West Coast Rapper Mac Minister Found Guilty Of Murder

Authorities say Las Vegas homicides were part of a war between Midwest and West Coast rappers

By Gil Kaufman - Mtv.com

July 22, 2008

San Francisco rapper Mac Minister (born Andre Dow), 37, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder on Monday, in connection with the May 2005 slayings of 24-year-old Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins and his 22-year-old friend, Jermaine "Cowboy" Akins. Authorities said the murders were the final shots fired in a bloody Midwest/ West Coast rap war.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the District Court jury in Las Vegas found Dow guilty and recommended two life sentences without a chance of parole. He will be formally sentenced on September 24.

Dow, who has worked with Too Short and Snoop Dogg, first made headlines in 2000, when he got into a brawl with fellow Bay Area rapper E-40 at the Source Awards. Though he is somewhat of an underground figure in the larger rap world, his trial drew attention because his witness list included Snoop, who could have been called to testify in Dow's defense. Prosecutors claimed that Dow lured Watkins and Akins to their deaths with the promise of meeting Snoop to discuss a potential concert-promotion gig. But after the trial, one of Dow's attorneys said that upon reviewing the evidence, they didn't feel the need to question Snoop in court.

During the trial, prosecutors said that Dow and an accomplice, 29-year-old Jason Mathis, killed Akins and Watkins as part of a rap war between California rappers and Midwest MCs. Mathis' trial is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas this week. Dow is also accused of killing a potential witness in the case, 21-year-old prostitute Lee Danae Laursen, who had been living with Dow and Mathis. Her car was seen leaving the spot where Watkins and Akins were killed, and two days after their indictment for the murders, she was found shot in the head.

Prosecutors painted the murders of Akins and Watkins as retaliation for the November 2004 killing in Kansas City, Missouri, of Mac Dre (né Andre Hicks), an MC from Vallejo, California. (Read about Mac Dre's influence in the San Francisco hip-hop scene in the MTV News feature My Block: The Bay.) According to the Review-Journal, despite being cleared by police in Mac Dre's death, Watkins was still rumored to be linked to the murder, which was reportedly instigated by a dispute over payment for a concert.

Police said that Watkins and Akins were seen leaving their hotel with Dow hours before they were murdered at a construction site outside of Las Vegas. Dow's attorney said his client and Watkins were friends who had traveled together to pursue their music careers and were not rivals, but close associates. But when the verdict was read, the Review-Journal reported that Akins' mother broke down and cried, saying she was shedding "tears of joy."

Dow's reaction to the verdict after the weeklong trial was described as being more stoic. Once the jurors handed down the sentence, he told them, "God bless you all."

In July 2005, police pulled Dow over near the Golden Gate Bridge and he fled the scene. In his abandoned car, police reportedly found a documentary Dow had produced about his life and an article about the murders of Akins and Watkins. He was arrested a month later by the California Highway Patrol, and subsequently released. In November 2005, he was indicted on two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but remained at large.

While on the run, a source told MTV News, Dow recorded the intro to the Game's Doctor's Advocate. Shortly after being featured on Fox's "America's Most Wanted," the rapper was finally apprehended by police in a San Francisco apartment in March 2006.

Bay Area Rapper Mac Minister Apprehended By FBI

Fugitive was wanted in connection with the murders of two Kansas City, Missouri, rappers

By Shaheem Reid

Mtv.com

March 3, 2006

Bay Area rapper Mac Minister, who has appeared on albums by West Coast artists including Snoop Dogg and JT the Bigga Figga, was apprehended by the FBI and San Francisco Police Thursday night, according to authorities. Minister (born Andre Dow) had been a fugitive from the law since November following indictments for the murders of Kansas City, Missouri, rap artists Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins and Jermaine "Cowboy" Akins.

Watkins and Akins were found dead in Las Vegas in May. Police have theorized that Mac killed the two men in retaliation for the murder of Vallejo, California, rapper Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks, who was shot dead in Kansas City in November 2004. Dre, a convicted bank robber, turned his life around in the 1990s to devote himself to rap. He became the leader of the Bay Area's feel-good Thizz movement, which continues to grow.

On Thursday, the FBI received a tip that Mac Minister, who was profiled on "America's Most Wanted" in February, was hiding out in a San Francisco apartment. Federal authorities called in local police to help with his capture. A San Francisco S.W.A.T. team arrived on the scene around 6:30 p.m. After some resistance, Mac Minister was detained at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Mac Minister