The Murder of Lana Clarkson

I watched another episode of Vanity Fair Confidential for this case. It’s season 1 episode 10, titled ‘Legend with a Bullet.’ This case is often called the Phil Spector case, because he was convicted of Lana’s murder (spoiler alert!) However, we should not forget the victim in this case, which was Lana. She was a young actress, only 40 years old, when she died at the hands of a man who was mentally ill and had abused women for years.

Also, just a warning, don’t google Lana Clarkson Murder and click on images- it will show you crime scene photos and I was not prepared for that.

Background of Lana Clarkson

Lana Clarkson was born on April 5, 1962 in Long Beach, California.

She began her acting career in the 1980’s, one of her most known films was Scarface, where she stared alongside Michelle Pfieffer. Lana also modeled, and traveled to countries like Japan and Greece for photoshoots.

In January 2003, about a month before she was killed, she took a job at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. She had suffered an almost career ending injury, when she broke her wrists and couldn’t work for six months. The House of Blues is where she met Phil Spector.

Background of Phil Spector

Phil Spector, born Harvey Phillip Spector, was born on December 26, 1939 in the Bronx, New York City.

It’s reported that Phil had a hard life. His mother was mentally ill, and they often fought. His father also killed himself when he was only 9 years old.

Phil had a love for music, and Phil would often play and write music to escape from his tragic life. Phil became a music producer in the 1960’s, and was in and out of working in the industry from the 1960’s to the 1970’s. In the 1970’s, he worked with the Beatles.

Phil also had both adopted children, and biological children with different women. His biological son Gary, was interviewed for this episode and he said his home life was like a prison. His father controlled everything the kids did, including when they woke up, went to sleep and came out of their rooms. He also controlled his wife, Ronnie, and she left in the middle of the night to get away from him.

Phil was also an alcoholic and very abusive.

The Murder of Lana Clarkson

On February 3, 2003, Phil had gone out with several women to various restaurants. The last place he went was The House of Blues, where he met Lana.

Phil was reportedly asking various waitresses to go home with him that night. They all said no. He finally asked Lana, and she declined at first, and then she said she’d go to have one drink with him.

Phil’s driver took them to his home, Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California. They arrived back at his home around 3:00am, and soon after that tragedy would strike.

Phil’s driver, Adriano de Souza, reported that Phil came out of the house with a gun, and said “I think I just killed someone.” Adriano called 911.

The police arrived soon after, and entered the home through the open back door. At first they didn’t see anything, and then they saw Lana sitting in a chair. She had blood on her face, and her teeth were found all over the carpet. Lana died from a single gun shot wound to the mouth. They also didn’t find Phil’s fingerprints on the gun.

The police also found a blood trail and 9 extra guns inside Phil’s house.

Phil was taken into custody that night. However, he didn’t go easy. The police ended up having to use a taser on Phil, when he wouldn’t cooperate. He didn’t talk to the police, and said that Lana had “kissed the gun,” and that it was a suicide.

Trials

Robert Shapiro was Phil Spector’s lawyer. Shapiro is infamous for defending O.J. Simpson. Phil was out on bond until his trial.

His first trial began on March 19, 2007. The defense was adamant that Lana killed herself. It must have worked because on September 26, 2007, the jury declared a mistrial and it was a 10-2 vote for conviction.

Lana’s character was completely trashed by the media. They called her a washed up actress, a cocktail waitress, and said she had enough of her life and decided to end it.

Phil’s second trial began on October 20, 2008, and it was not televised this time. The defense stayed the same, that Lana had committed suicide. However, this time it didn’t work. On April 13 2009, Phil was found guilty of second degree murder. He was also found guilty of using a firearm during the commission of a crime, which added four more years to his sentenced.

On May 29, 2009, Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 88 years old.

Other

In June 2012, Phil’s attorneys filed a habeas corpus appeal, and stated that the trial judge did many inappropriate things at trial. They also filed a petition for release, due to Phil’s “poor health.” All appeals were denied.

Phil has denied his son, Gary, any contact with him.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m not trying to judge anyone based on appearances, but this dude was creepy looking. Lana even mistook him for a woman when she first met him. There was also footage of him shaking at trial, in this episode. Despite him being creepy, he was a monster. Multiple women came forward and said that Phil loved guns and would constantly point them at people’s heads and threaten them. I believe every single one of them, and any of them could have been the victim at any point.

At the very end of this episode, Gary, Phil’s son victim blamed Lana. He said he believed Lana got into his father’s face and set him off and he killed her. I didn’t like that at all. I’m sure it was hard for Gary to grow up in a home that was described like a prison, but don’t victim blame. LANA DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE. He made up for it a little when he said it’s karma that his father’s in prison, but still I wasn’t a fan of Gary.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Lana_Clarkson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Clarkson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Spector

https://www.thoughtco.com/phil-spector-and-lana-clarkson-murder-971285

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/music-legend-phil-spector-fatally-shot-actress-lana-clarkson