After the first shooting, Knight's enemies lay low for three years. On April, 4, 2000, they struck again. Fouse and a friend, William "Chin" Walker, were sitting in a van on a dead-end street in Compton. Just after midnight, two men rushed up, opened fire and fled.
Walker, 37, who was in the driver's seat, died an hour later. Fouse, then 40, was severely injured and confined to a wheelchair for three months.
Three weeks later, the body of Vence "V" Buchanan, 35, a drug dealer and Bloods gang member, was found near a Compton graveyard, with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Buchanan's killers, disguised as police officers, had abducted him, cuffed his hands behind his back, then brutalized him and videotaped his execution, informants have told police.
Buchanan had been friendly with the disgruntled Death Row bodyguard and the drug dealer allied against Knight.
They suspected that Knight orchestrated the slaying to avenge the shooting of Fouse and Walker, informants have told police. The two men allegedly set out to retaliate.
One of their targets was Alton "Buntry" McDonald, Knight's best friend. McDonald and a buddy, David "Brim Dave" Dudley, were rumored to have played a videotape of Buchanan's execution for an audience of friends at McDonald's home in Compton.
On March 25, 2001, nearly a year after Buchanan's death, Dudley was shot and killed in front of McDonald's house.
Knight was behind bars as this drama unfolded. In 1997, a judge had sentenced him to 9 years in prison for violating terms of his probation from his earlier assault case.
Knight said he had no role in Buchanan's murder and did nothing to provoke the attacks on his friends.
McDonald's family said he was not involved in the Buchanan killing, either.
With credit for good behavior, Knight was released from prison in August 2001, after serving less than 5 years. His world had been shaken, but he felt secure in the presence of McDonald. They had known each other since childhood, and McDonald was now Knight's chief bodyguard.
Eight months later, "Buntry" was cut down.
It happened at a crowded gas station on April 3, 2002. McDonald, 37, pulled in around 2:30 p.m. to fill up his black GMC Denali. He had paid the station attendant and was about to start pumping his gas when two men walked up and drew pistols. McDonald was shot four times in the chest.
"We think the same suspects who killed Alton McDonald were involved in the murder of David Dudley at Alton's house a year before - as well as the shooting of William Walker and Wardell Fouse a year before that," said sheriff's homicide Det. Beth Smith. "There are very unique identifiers that link these three cases together."
On Oct. 16, Henry "Hen Dog" Smith, another close friend of Knight's, was shot to death. Investigators say the connection to the earlier slayings is unclear.
Smith, 33, had been a fixture at Death Row for years and had designed the label's logo. He was sitting in a burgundy Jeep near a fried chicken stand in South Central Los Angeles while his girlfriend used a pay phone. A Death Row medallion hung from his neck. His girlfriend's baby was resting in the back seat when a young man leaned into the truck and fired six shots at Smith.
On July 24, unknown assailants again tried to kill Fouse. This time, they succeeded.
To hear Knight tell it, he is ready to close the door on that chapter of his life. He is writing an autobiography and hopes to produce a film about the "true story" of Death Row. He talks about volunteering as a football coach.
But his biggest aspiration these days, he says, is to live long enough to become a grandfather.
"The thing I most look forward to is seeing my kids have their own kids. Man, that would make everything worthwhile," Knight said.