Finally, a "Why" to Chauncey Bailey's Murder

I gave the local newspapers a hard time after the murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey. I was dismayed and a little surprised that no Bay Area paper tried to uncover the facts that led to Bailey’s assassination. I ascribed the indifference, in part, to the recent media consolidation that left the region with just two newspaper chains – The San Francisco Chronicle, owned by Hearst Corp. and Dean Singleton's MediaNews.

It’s been more than two months since Bailey’s murder and the Chronicle redeemed itself today with a story explaining the rise and fall of the Bey family and their Black Muslim Bakery. This is the story that Bailey was apparently reporting when he was killed. It’s a nicely done story by Erin McCormick and Jaxon Van Derbeken as it touches on many of the issues that make this killing so disturbing – the rise and fall of Yusef Bey’s empire, his children’s hoodlumism, the inability of the police to stop their crime spree. It’s kind of shocking that no one was able to stop the violence.

Part One was a profile of Chauncey Bailey.