Legendary music producer Phil Spector has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering an actress at his Los Angeles mansion six years ago.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler on Friday sentenced 69-year-old Spector to 15 years in prison for second-degree murder, plus another four years enhancement for personal use of a gun.
Spector, who created the famed “Wall of Sound” recording technique during the 1960s, was charged for the 2003 killing of Lana Clarkson, best known for her role in the 1985 cult film The Barbarian Queen.
PHOTO: AFP
He is not eligible for parole until 2028 and if he is not freed then, then under California law his sentence will become a life term.
Clarkson’s mother, Donna, fought back tears while reading a brief statement to reporters that did not directly address Spector or the murder.
“All our plans for the future together are destroyed. Now we can only visit her in the cemetery,” she said, praising her late daughter’s sense of humor, dedication to acting and generosity.
Clarkson, 40, was found slumped in a chair with a gunshot wound to the head in Spector’s castle-like home on February 3, 2003, only hours after meeting the producer for the first time at the nightclub where she worked.
As Fidler read the verdict, Spector, wearing a dark pinstripe suit with a white shirt and a red silk tie, showed no reaction. His defense attorney Doron Weinberg, who repeatedly claimed his client was innocent, said he would appeal.
“My reaction is ‘Oh my God!’” Spector’s 28-year-old wife Rachelle said. “My husband was tried in the court of public opinion, not in a court of law.”
“My main purpose is to prove my husband’s innocence and regain his honor,” she said. “This is a sad day for everybody — not just for Lana Clarkson’s family who lost a daughter, but I’ve also lost my husband and my best friend.”
During Spector’s retrial, defense lawyers said Clarkson, whose career had stalled at the time of her death, had killed herself.
But during his two murder trials, prosecutors said Spector, who was famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones, had a more sinister side.
Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson painted a picture of the music icon as a gun-crazed eccentric with a “history of violence” toward women who tried to leave him.
“Are you asking if I feel sorry for him? Not one whit,” Jackson said after the verdict last month.
“He’s getting exactly what he deserves. It feels especially good that no other women are going to suffer at the hands of Phil Spector,” he said.
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