Gun-obsessed Spector guilty over murder of actress

Published on Tuesday 14 April 2009 00:32

MUSIC producer Phil Spector was convicted last night of murdering actress Lana Clarkson.

The 40-year-old died of a gunshot fired into her mouth while seated in the foyer of Spector's hill-top mansion in 2003.

The jury in the retrial at Los Angeles Superior Court was unanimous in its verdict of second degree murder, as required by Californian law.

The conviction carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison.

The jury deliberated for around 30 hours before delivering the guilty verdict to a gaunt-faced Spector, who remained quiet as it was read out. His young wife, Rachelle, sobbed as the decision was announced.

The producer looked frail and yawned as he entered the courtroom to learn of his fate.

After the verdict was returned, the judge remanded Spector in custody and set sentencing for 29 May. Spector spoke only to whisper "yes" in agreement to the date. Rachelle left the courtroom with a bodyguard.

Prosecutors portrayed Spector as a dangerous man who became a "demonic maniac" when he drank and had a history of threatening women with guns.

They also contended blood spatter evidence proved that Clarkson could not have shot herself.

They presented testimony from five women who told of being threatened by a drunken Spector, even held hostage in his home, with a gun pointed at them and threats of death if they tried to leave.

Clarkson, who starred in the 1985 cult film Barbarian Queen, was murdered on 3 February, 2003, hours after meeting Spector at the House of Blues nightclub. The actress was killed in the early hours of the next morning by a single gunshot to the mouth while seated in the foyer of the 69-year-old producer's mansion.

The two successive juries heard testimony from Spector's driver claiming that the producer emerged from the house brandishing a gun and saying: "I think I killed someone."

But his lawyer claimed Clarkson committed suicide. In an magazine interview, Spector said she "kissed the gun" before pulling the trigger herself.

At the first trial in 2007, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision and were deadlocked at ten to two in favour of a conviction. Yesterday's verdict comes after two-and-a-half weeks of stop-start deliberations. Unlike in the first trial the jury was offered the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, but opted against it.

Spector was notorious for a long list of incidents, including discharging a firearm during a row with John Lennon, placing a loaded pistol at Leonard Cohen's head during recording sessions and forcing Dee Dee Ramone to play bass guitar to his specifications at gunpoint.