Malcolm X’s Daughter Said to Have Signed Confession

The daughter of Malcolm X signed a statement last month incriminating herself in a plot to assassinate Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, sources confirmed Friday.

One source familiar with the investigation characterized the still-undisclosed statement as “a confession.”

However, William M. Kunstler, one of a battery of defense lawyers representing Qubilah Shabazz, disputed the reliability of such a document.

“It was made without any attorneys present--just another example of overzealous prosecutors taking advantage of a young woman with a history of emotional problems,” Kunstler said in a telephone interview.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Shabazz, 34, signed the statement in December after the FBI confronted her with what it knew about the alleged murder-for-hire affair.

When Shabazz made those incriminating admissions she was not yet accused of any crimes and was not in the custody of law enforcement officials. It was not clear whether she was advised of her rights to consult an attorney before making any statements.

Shabazz was named last week in a nine-count federal indictment charging her with plotting to kill Farrakhan and paying money to an alleged hit man, who turned out to be a government informant.

As a child of 4, Shabazz was present in a Harlem ballroom when her father was gunned down by three men. Last year her mother publicly blamed Farrakhan and his followers for the murder.

Shabazz pleaded not guilty in a brief court appearance earlier this week, and Kunstler attacked the case as “the dirty business of entrapment.”

Sources said that undercover video and audiotapes recorded Shabazz trying to obtain the services of Michael Kevin Fitzpatrick, a longtime government informant she had known since they attended high school together in New York.

Kunstler has not denied that a murder-for-hire scheme was plotted, but contends it was concocted by the government’s agent who “manipulated this poor girl.”

The Times reported Friday that Fitzpatrick’s former roommates said he had admitted using crack cocaine at the time he was the government’s informant in the case. The former roommates said Shabazz made numerous calls looking for Fitzpatrick.