Friday , March 29 2024

Phil’s Night Out

Police are piecing together how a quiet night out led to Lana Clarkson being shot in the face at Phil Spector’s pad at 5AM Monday morning:

    In the hours before he allegedly killed a woman in his hilltop mansion, record producer Phil Spector visited a music club, had a post-midnight snack and left a $500 tip on a $55 tab — none of which seems to have been particularly out of the ordinary, according to those who saw him.

    “He is always very generous with the help,” said Dan Tana, whose West Hollywood restaurant has long been a popular hangout for celebrities. Tana said Spector turned up between 12:30 and 1 a.m. Monday, had a quiet meal with another woman and left at 2 a.m. after shelling out the over-the-top gratuity.

    ….Spector is known to have visited the House of Blues, the Sunset Strip club where Clarkson worked as a hostess. Employees saw her leave with him in his chauffeur-driven black Mercedes S430 when her shift ended about 2:30 a.m. But it is not clear whether Spector had been at the club earlier in the evening, when three metal bands were playing.

    Before picking up Clarkson, Spector had been at Dan Tana’s with the other woman, identified as a waitress at a Beverly Hills restaurant.

    “They arrived together, and it looked like a date,” said another customer, talent manager Martin DeLuca. “They were talking and laughing. It was a very quiet dinner. There was no arguing.”

    Spector and the woman shared salads and drank cocktails, and the woman pulled out a folder, which she showed the producer, DeLuca said.

    Tana said Spector is a regular at the restaurant, and requested his usual spot, table No. 4, which is farthest from the entrance. The couple were in good spirits and “well-behaved,” he said.

    Among the mysteries still facing investigators are when Spector met Clarkson; what he was doing before his visit to Dan Tana’s; and what occurred between 2:30 a.m., when he left the House of Blues with Clarkson, and about 5 a.m., when she was shot. [LA Times]

One mystery is solved, Spector’s driver made the call to police – it appears murder was not something he was willing to look the other way about.

    Alhambra police officers found Clarkson’s body on the floor of Spector’s foyer after being alerted to the shooting by the producer’s driver, who was outside. Spector, according to investigators, was standing in the foyer when officers arrived.

    Spector resisted arrest, forcing the officers to use a nonlethal weapon to restrain him, a law enforcement source said. He was taken to the hospital later that day.

    Investigators say Clarkson and Spector were alone in the house at the time of the fatal shooting.

Hmm, not looking too good for Phil – they were together for about 2 1/2 hours, then she was shot in the foyer: looks like Phil didn’t want her to leave. I wonder how many women are thinking it could have been them.

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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