SECTION THREE
sm
COLUMN
EIGHTY-EIGHT, APRIL
1, 2003
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)
IS PHIL SPECTOR OFF THE HOOK? COPS SAY HE ISN'T
PHIL SPECTOR
"Mad Genius" music producer Phil Spector reportedly sent emails to friends saying he was off the hook. But he aint, say the cops.
The Associated press quotes
the L. A. sheriff’s office as insisting a crime was committed in the death of
actress Anna Clarkson, who was shot to death in the foyer of legendary music
producer Phil Spector’s hilltop mansion and no matter what Spector’s lawyer
friend claims,
sheriff's Captain Frank
Merriman said:
"If we had come to a
conclusion as monumental as suicide, we would have a duty to say so publicly. We believe a crime
occurred."
According to the Associated
Press, palimony lawyer Marvin Mitchelson, a longtime friend of Phil, said the producer sent out an email suggesting that Lana Clarkson's death was
"an accidental suicide."
According to the AP, phone
calls to Spector's attorney, Robert Shapiro, were not immediately returned.
Spector, 62, who produced
records for the Beatles and other top groups, was arrested Feb. 3 after the body
of the 40-year-old actress was found in Spector’s hilltop home in suburban
Alhambra.
Spector was taken into
custody at the scene but has not been charged. He was released on $1 million
bail.
Marvin Mitchelson, a longtime friend of Spector, said the producer sent an email to him and
What's
the
story?
others
Monday suggesting investigators would soon clear him and that Clarkson's death
was "an accidental suicide."
"'We hate to use the
words, 'I told you so,' but I did tell you so,'" Mitchelson said, quoting
the email. "After seven weeks of silence, we can say with certainty, this
will speak for itself, and boy does it speak volumes."
Mitchelson said he has not
talked with Spector about the email.
"No one involved in
this investigation said that," Merriman said. "My opinion is that
somebody is orchestrating this to plant seeds of doubt with potential
jurors."
It may be summer before
investigators present their case to the district attorney's office, Merriman
said. The investigation is taking time because the evidence is complex and
forensic tests involved take months to complete, he said.
Merriman declined to
discuss specifics of the investigation.
Spector has not only helped
bring out Beatles recordings, but he also produced such
pop music classics as Da Doo Ron Ron and To Know Him is to Love Him
and worked with such musicians as the Ramones and Elvis Presley.
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