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Phil Spector the wild-eyed murderer will die in prison
Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter14 Apr 2009
STARING into the police camera after his conviction for murder, a wild-eyed Phil Spector faces up to the reality of spending the rest of his life - and death - behind bars.
This photograph of the music producer, found guilty of shooting the actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion six years ago, was released by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department today. The police photo, taken shortly after his conviction, shows Spector, 69, looking dazed and confused.
Spector, who will be sentenced next month, is likely to be jailed for a minimum of 18 years. A jury took 30 hours to find the producer, one of the most influential figures in the history of rock and pop, guilty of second-degree murder. This carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison but the use of a gun will add at least another three years.
Spector, the inventor of the "Wall of Sound" who worked with acts such as the Beatles, Ike and Tina Turner, the Righteous Brothers and the Ronettes, showed little or no emotion when the jury returned its verdict.
His mouth gaped slightly before returning to the stoic expression that had served him during the long trial. In contrast, his new wife Rachelle, 41 years his junior, sobbed as the decision was announced.
Ms Clarkson, 40, star of the 1985 cult film Barbarian Queen, died of a shot fired into her mouth as she sat in a chair in the foyer of Spector's mansion in 2003. She met Spector hours earlier at her job as a nightclub hostess.
Prosecutors argued Spector had a history of threatening women with guns when they tried to leave his presence, while the defence claimed she committed suicide.
Spector's lawyer Doron Weinberg said today his client would appeal against the conviction. Mr Weinberg said he believed the case was swayed by the judge's erroneous rulings, particularly one that allowed five women from Spector's past to testify of his habit of threatening them with a gun.
"We believe analytically there is absolutely no legal basis for the admissibility of that evidence," said Mr Weinberg, adding that Spector knew he risked being found guilty - an earlier trial in 2007was abandoned after the jury could not agree. "Mr Spector is a realistic man," said Mr Weinberg, who added that the producer's reaction to the verdict was to ask, "what was next."
But following the conviction, deputy district attorney Alan Jackson said "justice... was unserved until today. Today is when the Clarkson family get their justice."
The defence had depicted Ms Clarkson as psychologically fragile and pathetically obsessed with fame, and suggested she shot herself in a spur-of-the-moment suicide.
Her mother, Donna, and sister, Fawn, declined to comment after the verdict, but John Taylor, a lawyer handling Donna Clarkson's civil suit against Spector, said: "The family is pleased that the jury rejected the distortion and trashing of Lana Clarkson's life."
At a news conference, the jury forewoman, 48, who works as a paralegal, cried as she described how the panel made its choice. "It just is a painful decision," she said.
The forewoman, who refused to be identified, said the panel was swayed by the "totality" of evidence laid out during five months of testimony.
She said the scientific evidence had not been a telling factor after both prosecutors and the defence insisted bloodstains and other evidence supported their version of the shooting. She said they had also been unsure about Ms Clarkson's mental state.
Reader views (10)
What a bunch of musical snobs you guys are!
- Wayne, Salt Lake City, USA, 27/05/2009 06:54
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If he was just a guy of the street he would have been convicted years ago, one law for the rich and none for the poor.
- Barbus, Liverpool, 27/05/2009 05:54
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His life is written in his face isn't it?
- Fred, Horsham, 27/05/2009 05:54
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He, and many others who promote pop "music", should have been jailed years ago for their disservice to music.
- Dr S H Russell, Grantham UK, 27/05/2009 05:54
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Cally G, the musical pseude, there is a reason why flute music is the preserve of wannabe middle class schoolgirls, nobody else likes it. The flute has been irrelevant since ‘Howlin’ for Judy’ came out.
Unlike Phil Spector, who, whilst allegedly/apparently being a gun toting maniac, produced some of the most popular music ever. If you somehow think playing the flute in your bedroom is more musically ‘real’ or relevant that Spector, and that pop is a grubby 2nd rate soma for the working classes/art school kids, then you really are an intellectual halfwit. Same goes for you, Doc Russell (ok, minus the bit about flutes).
Perhaps you snobs could help us, and share with us your visionary insight as to what ‘real music’ is? James Galway, knocking out ‘El Condor Pasa’ on his 18k golden flute?
- Prof. Seamonkey, Moscow, Russia, 27/05/2009 05:54
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I believe Leonard Cohen wasn't particularly enamoured of their time together in the studio. But then again has he released anything as impressive as Death of a Ladies' Man since?
- Nick, London, 27/05/2009 05:54
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As far as I know music has never killed anyone.
One can't say the same for doctors.
- Nigel, London, 27/05/2009 05:54
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Dr S H Russell - Yes he should have been jailed but yours is an infantile comment; one that's nothing to do with this story. Unless its worth saying, don't say it at all.
- Jc, London, 27/05/2009 05:54
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The Ronnetts were one of my favorite girl groups of all time; Dr S H Russell; if you are a real doctor, you will know the saying; music soothes the savage breast etc.
Mind you; Wagner didn't help Hitler much.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/05/2009 05:54
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Actually, I agree with S H Russell. As a competent musician who plays classical flute as a hobby, I despise pop music (or "pseudo music" as I call it).
- Cally G, Essex, UK, 27/05/2009 05:54
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