The Murder Trial of Phil Spector Has Reached Its Conclusion

The murder trial of Phil Spector has reached its conclusion at last and has resulted in a verdict of guilty for the second degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003.

He is due to be sentenced on 29th May 2009 and is expected to get anywhere between 18 years and life imprisonment for the crime. Even if he gets the minimum sentence, he'll probably die of old age whilst in jail, which may be a burden on the taxpayer, but at least it will serve to mean justice is done.

So what do we know about the actual crime itself?

Well, we know from what the court has been told that on that fateful day, Phil Spector had been out drinking when he met Lana Clarkson in a bar and they got talking. They carried on drinking together and after the night out ended up back at Spector's Mansion, which is in the Alhambra district of Los Angeles. There they allegedly continued drinking until Spector made sexual advances on Clarkson. She spurned those advances whereupon he produced a gun and in a fit of temper, shot her in the mouth.

He later told police that she had been depressed at the lack of progress in her acting career and had actually committed suicide. The jury in the case were having none of it and convicted Spector of murder in the second degree as well as guilty the lesser charge of discharging a firearm.

So now he awaits his inevitable fate of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder

The Murder Trial of Phil Spector

I want to post the main story as it has been published in a major US newspaper and being there is a time difference, the first one that I stumbled upon was the New York Times, so I'll paraphrase their story. I guess Los Angeles hasn't woken up yet...

Phil Spector, music producer and legend behind a string of popular music hits, artists and songwriters was convicted on Monday 13th April of murdering a small time actress, Lana Clarkson at his Los Angeles mansion in February 2003 following a night of heavy drinking.

This was the second murder trial in the case with the first having ended in a hung jury back in 2007. Phil Spector has been at large albeit on bail for the vast majority of the last 6 years, but as soon as the verdict was reached on Monday, was immediately taken into custody.

Phil Spector came to court looking frail, old and sullen. He wore a long blue overcoat, a bright red tie, and sported a shaggy shoulder-length hairstyle. He did not bother with psychedelic glasses or any of his other eccentric accouterments and the boyish, arrogant swagger that carried him through several decades at the top of the pop music scene was absent. Spector whispered a few words to his lawyers but that was all. He leaned forward intently as the court clerk read the verdict, although throughout the proceeding, his face betrayed little emotion.

The 68 year old Phil Spector will face at least 18 years in jail. The jury reached its decision after 27 hours of deliberating whether he shot the woman in a fit of anger or, as his lawyers argued, merely witnessed her suicide.

In addition to second-degree murder, the jury found Mr. Spector guilty of illegally discharging a firearm. The trial lasted five months and its culmination will certainly send shock waves around the media industry today.

Info source: New York Times

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder!

That was the incredible and stunning headline that was there in the news to greet us this morning. The famous music producer that created a string of popular bands, singers, songwriters and musicians throughout his long and illustrious career has sent it spinning down the toilet after being convicted of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003 after a night of drinking.

In this blog, I'll be looking at all the circumstances that led up to the culmination of this trial on Monday 13th April and the conviction of Phil Spector for the murder of the actress in his Los Angeles mansion home. What I may uncover may not be pretty or even palatable, but it'll be truthful and you can ask for no more or less than that. So let's get on and see what we can see with a brief outline of today's top news story:

The world has been stunned by the revelations of how her death came about and now music guru Phil Spector gets his just desserts.

The press is full of stories about the tragedy that led to the arrest and charging of Phil Spector over the incident which finally led, after one failed court case to a conviction for the murder of Lana Clarkson. In addition to the second degree murder conviction, the jury also found Phil Spector guilty of illegally discharging a firearm on the same date.

Phil Spector, who is now 68, now faces a minimum sentence of 18 years in jail, where he could quite possibly die of old age.

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder