Lorraine
HOH
Posts : 4575
Join date : 2008-09-06
 | Subject: ex "I Love New York" contestant arrested for murder  Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:44 am | |
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Trulove blew his shot at the big time in 2007 when he got into a shouting match with a fellow contestant on a reality TV series and was bounced from the show during the first episode.
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His brief time in the limelight wasn't a total loss, however, according to San Francisco prosecutors - it helped them cement a case against him for allegedly murdering a man just a few weeks later.
Trulove, 29, went on trial this week for the July 23, 2007, slaying of Seu Kuka, 28. Prosecutors say Trulove shot Kuka at the Sunnydale public housing project in Visitacion Valley as Kuka was chasing Trulove's brother during a fight.
The district attorney's office has one eyewitness who will be called to testify after lawyers deliver their opening statements as soon as Tuesday - a woman who told San Francisco authorities in fall 2007 that Trulove, whom they had been hunting for three months, had shown up on the VH1 reality series "I Love New York 2."
The series was taped in Los Angeles shortly before Kuka was slain. In it, Trulove - billing himself as a rap singer named Milliown - was one of 15 or so suitors vying for the affections of Tiffany "New York" Pollard, a reality TV veteran.
Trulove was among five contestants selected for the show in an Internet vote after submitting an audition tape. In the first episode, however, he got into a loud argument with another contestant during the meet-and-greet with Pollard, who promptly dismissed him as a romantic candidate.
"Milliown, he's got to go - I can't believe he started a fight in front of me," Pollard said on the show.
For his part, Trulove posted a rap "diss" about the show about a month later on his MySpace page, suggesting it was "fake" - scripted and rigged. "Check it out for yourself, you'll see what the f- I'm talking about," he sang.
In October 2007, with Trulove now being sought on the murder charge, VH1 began airing the reality series. The prosecution's eyewitness saw him on the first episode and called authorities, which they say helped to back up her original identification of Trulove as the killer.
By the time the reality show hit cable, however, Trulove "was not around," homicide Inspector Michael Johnson said.
A year later, one of the San Francisco Police Department's gang task force investigators happened to be on vacation in Monterey and spotted Trulove, leading to his October 2008 arrest in the town of Seaside, Johnson said.
Trulove's lawyer, Christopher Shea, declined to comment about the case.
Brian Buckelew, spokesman for District Attorney Kamala Harris, said Trulove's outburst on the program was "dwarfed" by the real life "senseless" violence a few weeks later in Visitacion Valley.
"His criminal and reality show career should end now," Buckelew said.
During jury selection Wednesday, none of the prospective panel members said they had heard about the show. Jury selection continues today. 
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Lorraine
HOH
Posts : 4575
Join date : 2008-09-06
| | Subject: Re: ex "I Love New York" contestant arrested for murder Fri Feb 12, 2010 3:03 pm | |
| Reality show contestant convicted of murder
(AP)
–
2 days ago
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco jury has found a former reality TV show contestant guilty of killing a man in 2007.Twenty-nine-year-old
Jamal Rashead Trulove of Oakland was convicted Tuesday of first-degree
murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.Prosecutors
say Trulove fatally shot 28-year-old Seu Kuka at a San Francisco public
housing project in July 2007. Truelove was arrested in Monterey County
on a $5 million murder warrant in October 2008.Trulove appeared
on the VH1 reality show "I Love New York 2." The program was filmed in
Los Angeles just three weeks before Kuka's murder.Truelove
appeared on the first episode and was dismissed from the show for
fighting. He could face a minimum of 50 years to life in prison when
sentenced March 19. | |
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