Such was the scene at Phil Spector’s mansion last February when investigators arrived to find the body of B-movie starlet Lana Clarkson with a gunshot to her mouth, as documented in newly released police reports.
At the behest of a true-crime author who’s writing a book on the Spector case and several media outlets, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carlos Uranga on Tuesday unsealed search warrants and other affidavits related to the investigation, in all their gory details.
“[Clarkson] had what appeared to be a single entry gunshot wound to the mouth,” Detective Mark Lillienfeld said in a sworn affidavit. “Broken teeth from the victim were scattered about the foyer and an adjacent stairway.”
Investigators also said they found Clarkson’s blood smeared on the wood railing of a nearby stairway and the back of a door handle, as well as a blood-soaked hand towel in a bathroom near the foyer. A dead-bolt lock lever was found amid the teeth.
The grisly revelations come less than a month after prosecutors charged the 63-year-old Spector with murdering Clarkson on the night of February 3 following a chance encounter with the 40-year-old Barbarian Queen actress at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. Clarkson, who worked at the club as a hostess, agreed to go home with Spector for a “sexual encounter,” according to the documents.
Investigators interviewed Spector’s driver, Adriano Desouza, who told police he had taken the reclusive producer to four bars that night and he had drinks at all four. At the last locale, court papers showed Spector in a generous mood, leaving a $450 tip on a $13.50 tab.
The driver said he dropped off Clarkson and Spector at 3:30 a.m. at the producer’s castle-like compound in the surburban Los Angeles town of Alhambra. Desouza said he left and returned about 5 a.m., when he heard a single shot. He got out of his car and ran into a dazed Spector.
“Mr. Desouza said he could see that Mr. Spector had a gun in his hands. Mr. Spector then said, ‘I think I just shot her,'” Detective Danny R. Smith said in a probable-cause affidavit.
When officers arrived, Spector refused to take his hands out of his pockets as requested, forcing police to use a stun gun to subdue him, after which they placed him under arrest.
An avid firearms collector, the rock pioneer famed for his Wall of Sound recording techniques remains free on $1 million bail and has pleaded innocent. In his only public comment, he told Esquire magazine that the actress committed suicide.
Spector’s attorney, Robert Shapiro, said that a thorough study of the crime scene by his team of forensic experts has found evidence to support the suicide claim and a jury will eventually agree and exonerate his client.
“The scientific evidence clearly and unequivocally is consistent with a self-inflicted wound that was not the result of any action on the part of Phil Spector,” Shapiro said in a statement.
A coroner’s report also noted that gunshot residue was found on Clarkson’s hands. “Therefore the decedent may have discharged a firearm or had hands otherwise in an environment of gunshot residue,” the report said.
Ultimately, though, a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide after receiving police reports that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer may have handled the murder weapon–which had been kept in a drawer in house–when it discharged. Clarkson also had no history of emotional trouble and failed to leave a note.
Investigators said that blood smears throughout the house, including on a white coat found in an upstairs dressing room, suggest Spector may have tried to wipe the scene clean of evidence.
At the time of her death, according to the documents, Clarkson wore a “black nylon slip/dress, black nylons and black shoes. A leopard print purse, with a black strap, was slung over her right shoulder, with the purse hanging down on her right side by her right arm.”
On a chair next to her was a brown briefcase containing Spector’s wallet and other papers. Candles were still alight on the fireplace mantle. A half-full glass of brandy, a bottle of tequila, and a partial can of Canada Dry were on a coffee table.
The alleged murder weapon, a Colt two-inch blue steel .38 caliber six-shot revolver, was discovered under the actress’ left leg. The firearm, one of 10 guns police seized from Spector’s home, reportedly had one spent cartridge and five live cartridges in the cylinder and was splattered with blood.
Among the other items police confiscated during their search of Spector’s home were a desktop computer, a camcorder, gun holsters and ammunition.
Meanwhile, the producer’s ex-wife, Ronnie Spector Greenfield of the 1960s girl group the Ronettes, told reporters on Monday that she was “devastated” after hearing Spector charged with murder.
Turning up at Manhattan courthouse where she and the other members of the Ronettes are continuing to pursue legal action seeking to recover royalties from Spector, Greenfield stood by her former hubby.
“I had never seen him violent like that, with a gun or anything,” she said.
While Greenfield, 60, admitted that Spector often threatened her and once warned her he’d send a hit man after her, she said she didn’t think “he would do anything like this.”
If convicted on the murder count, Spector faces a possible life sentence.
Credit: E! Online