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Phil Spector’s Background

Philip Spector was a world-famous music producer who got his start in the music industry at the age of 18 when he started the group The Teddy Bears with three friends.

The group later signed with Era Records and released several singles before breaking up in 1959. During his time with the band, Spector was mentored by Stan Ross, the owner of Gold Star Studios.

He would have a big impact on Spector’s future production style. In 1961, he co-founded the record label Philles Records, and he produced twenty top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965.

By the late 1960s, he was working with Ike and Tina Turner. In the 1970s, he worked with the Beatles and the Ramones.

By the 80s and 90s, he was considered a weird recluse. He was semi-retired and out of the spotlight. During this time, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer.

Murder of Lana Clarkson

On February 3^rd, 2003, Spector visited several places in Hollywood where he was drinking heavily. The House of Blues was his final stop that night. There he met 40-year-old Lana Clarkson, a waitress at the establishment. Initially, she refused him entry into the VIP area before her managers told her to let him in and treat him like gold.

At some point in the night, Spector invited Clarkson back to his home for a drink, and she accepted. They went back to his place in his Limo and went inside while his driver, Adriano DeSouza, waited outside.

An hour after they arrived, DeSouza heard a gunshot. He later testified that Spector ran outside holding a gun and said, “I think I killed somebody”.

The driver called the police, and when they arrived, they found Clarkson dead with the bottom of her mouth blown off and a gun underneath her left leg.

At some point after their arrival, they tased Spector when he wouldn’t keep his hands out of his pockets. Once he recovered from the 50,000 watts that shot through his body, he allegedly said, “What’s wrong with you guys? I didn’t mean to shoot her, it was an accident.”

He was arrested and taken in for questioning, but was out on bail within 12 hours thanks to OJ Simpson’s former attorney, Robert Shapiro.

After the shooting Spector was difficult to control. He sent an email to friends calling her death an “accidental suicide”. He also did an interview with Esquire Magazine, where he said she “Kissed the gun”.

He was charged with second-degree murder in November 2004.

Legal Proceedings

On March 19^th, 2007, his trial began. The prosecution said he shot her because she rejected his sexual advances. They put several ladies on the stand who said Spector had threatened them with guns in the past.

The defense said she was depressed about her failed acting career and financial problems and committed suicide. They said there was no proof that Spector was holding the gun, and blood spatter on his clothing showed he was too far away to have been the shooter.

In September 2007, the case was sent to the jury. They deadlocked at 10 guilty and 2 not guilty, and the judge declared a mistrial.

A retrial began in October 2008 and ended in April 2009 with Spector being found guilty of second-degree murder. In May 2009, the then 69-year-old was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.

He died in prison on January 16^th, 2021, at the age of 81.