LOS ANGELES, CA - Hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight spoke out publicly Monday about the murder of pioneering Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay, expressing both his condolences and his whereabouts for last Wednesday's shooting.

"Jam Master Jay was a true legend," said Knight, founder of Tha Row (formerly Death Row) Records, through his attorney. "When the news of his murder reached me--which took several hours, as I was thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away from Hollis, Queens, on the opposite side of the continent--I was stunned and saddened by the loss of this great musical innovator. My shock and grief were shared by the dozen or so close friends and family members who were with me, in my living room, at the time. If it weren't for the consoling words of the busload of nuns that, coincidentally, had stopped by the house to ask for directions, I don't know how I would have made it through."

"As I had no personal, artistic, or financial ties with Jay, and thus nothing that could be construed as a motive to want him dead, I cannot possibly fathom the mindset of the man who would commit such a heinous act," continued Knight, who in 1997 was convicted of assault charges and spent the next five years in prison. "I only hope that Jay's music, like that of my fallen friend and Death Row Records superstar Tupac Shakur, can live on in a series of lucrative posthumous albums that will enrich both his fans and his record label alike."

In the conclusion of his statement, Knight, who has been accused by former rapper Vanilla Ice and many others of intimidation, extortion and assault, offered his opinion on the theory that Jam Master Jay (born Jason Mizell) was slain as part of a 'rap war.' "It would behoove investigators to remember," cautioned Knight, "that if, hypothetically, someone had previously used his ties to major Los Angeles street gangs and corrupt members of the LAPD to arrange the assassination of a major, rival industry figure--a figure like the Notorious B.I.G., for example--in order, hypothetically, to cover up this same person's involvment in the murder of his own supposed friend and protege--someone like 'Pac, just by way of a for instance--and if, hypothetically, that person has successfully avoided prosecution but still has been publicly implicated in that murder by several investigators both with the police and major newspapers, that this hypothetical person has probably learned his lesson and had nothing to do with last week's killing.

"Hypothetically," he added.