Big day for big names in handcuffs, with Michael Jackson turning his sorry ass in on child molestation charges, and Phil Spector being charged with murder in connection with the death of Lana Clarkson at his home in February:
- Record producer Phil Spector, the 1960s recording-studio wizard who created pop music's Wall of Sound, was charged Thursday with murder in the shooting death of a woman at his home last February.
Spector, 63, was expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in the slaying of 40-year-old Lana Clarkson, a B-movie actress and model found dead in the foyer of his Alhambra mansion.
He has been free on $1 million bail since his arrest for investigation of murder shortly after the shooting Feb. 3. Authorities have not given a motive or commented on other details of the investigation.
The felony complaint did not specify whether prosecutors will seek a first-degree or second-degree murder conviction. District Attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison with a possibility of parole.
....Spector has denied he killed Clarkson, suggesting in an Esquire magazine interview that she may have shot herself. After more than six months of investigation, authorities concluded Spector shot her.
....The investigation into the Clarkson killing had been under investigation since February, and Gibbons said the long delay in charges was due to a lengthy sheriff's investigation.
"The sheriff didn't turn over the evidence to us until Sept. 18," she said. "We had a tremendous amount of evidence to evaluate and we had to gather additional evidence on our own."
She noted that the prosecutor initially assigned to lead the case, Michael Latin, was appointed to a judgeship in the waning days of the Gov. Gray Davis' administration and the prosecution team had to be reconfigured. [AP]
More on the orginal investigation and Spector's bio here. More on poor Lana Clarkson here.
Article comments
1 - Michelle
but eric, you seem rather obsessed with MJ, aren't you?
2 - Eric Olsen
I am not obsessed with anyone, but it's kind of my job to follow the news and stuff, you know? I'm actually quite sick of MJ on every level. But we cover showbiz and crime and freaky weird shit is just part of the game.
3 - David
Encyclopedia of Record Producers, eh? Subtle.
4 - David
Sorry, I'm a bit testy because my face is on fire and my penis just exploded.
5 - Eric Olsen
That would bum me out also. Dude, no attempt at subtlety as the Spector bio is taken directly from the book and I was not the only writer of that entry - just keeping things transparent.