Yusuf Bey IV

Oakland police allow suspects from bakery to talk in private.

By Paul T. Rosynsky, Chauncey Bailey Project

OAKLAND — Yusuf Bey IV, leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery, told the suspected killer of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey to “tell the truth” before Devaughndre Broussard confessed to the slaying, authorities said Thursday. Using an investigative tactic, investigators brought Bey in to meet Broussard before they interviewed the suspected killer a day after Bailey was gunned down, authorities said.During that meeting, police Sgt. Derwin Longmire said Bey told Broussard to, “tell the truth, tell them what you told me.”

Shortly after that meeting, Broussard told police he killed Bailey by shooting him three times with a shotgun after stalking the journalist on the morning of Aug. 2, police said.

Longmire described the meeting between the two bakery members after Broussard’s attorney questioned police procedures in the interviewing of his client. LeRue Grim said Thursday morning that his client was told to take the fall for the slaying of Bailey during a discussion Broussard had with a “high-ranking person from the bakery.”

Grim said that discussion occurred in an interview room at the police station as police investigators watched.

“With police there, this person from the bakery ordered (Broussard) to confess and ordered him to tell police how he did it,” Grim said. “So he did, but that confession is not the true confession.”

Longmire confirmed that Bey IV, 21, spoke with Broussard and said, “Yusuf Bey IV was allowed to speak to Broussard as part of the investigative strategy.”

At the time, Bey IV was being held by police as a suspect in the kidnapping and torture of two women in May. He was also wanted on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge from San Francisco of assault with a deadly weapon.

Bey IV was eventually charged with a host of violent criminal acts in connection to the kidnapping and torture of the women, as were two other members of the bakery, Tamon Halfin, 21, and Bey IV’s brother, Joshua Bey, 20.

Bey IV was also charged with 12 criminal counts related to real estate fraud in which he stole a person’s identity to secure a loan for the purchase of a house.

Grim’s comments about Broussard’s confession came after a brief court appearance by Broussard in which he was scheduled to enter a plea on charges that he killed Bailey. Instead, the case was postponed until next month.

Devaughndre Broussard

Broussard is accused of killing Bailey because he was upset about a series of stories the journalist was working on about the bakery’s troubled finances and family feud.

Broussard was arrested after police recovered a shotgun at a duplex where Broussard lived during a multi-agency raid on the bakery’s headquarters and its member’s residences.

During an interrogation the night of August 3rd after the raid, police said Broussard confessed to the slaying.

But several days later, Broussard told a television news station he was beaten into a confession, a claim police have denied.

Broussard continues to claim he was beaten during the police interview but Grim said, “I have not explored that yet.”

Grim said he has not been able to find out all the information he needs because police and jail officers had denied him access to his client. The first time he spoke with Broussard was Wednesday night.

Broussard demanded legal representation during the police interrogation but was denied access to an attorney, Grim said.

“He also said that he was asking for a lawyer. That is believable because they would not let a lawyer see him while he was in jail,” Grim said.

But Oakland Police Homicide Lt. Ersie Joyner III denied the claim.

“He never did ask for an attorney. He was given a waiver form which he signed indicating that he did not want to meet with an attorney and that he was willing to talk to the investigators,” Joyner said. “Suspects do this all the time after they make a confession.”

Oakland Tribune staff writer Harry Harris contributed to this report.