Coroner: Spector May Not Have Shot Victim

[Brad]

Coroner: Spector May Not Have Shot Victim

By Linda Deutsch
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - An actress killed at music producer Phil Spector's home was shot with a gun inside her mouth and had gunshot residue on both hands, indicating she may have fired the weapon, according to a coroner's report given to The Associated Press.

The forensic analysis involving the .38-caliber Colt revolver was prepared four days after the Feb. 3, 2003, death of Lana Clarkson at the suburban Alhambra home of Spector, who was immediately arrested but wasn't charged with murder until November. He is free on $1 million bail.

"Analysis revealed several highly specific particles and many consistent particles of gunshot residue on both the right and left hand. ... Therefore, the decedent may have discharged a firearm or had (her) hands otherwise in an environment of gunshot residue," the report said.

Spector defense attorneys Leslie Abramson and Marcia Morrissey, who released the report to the AP after the coroner refused media requests to see it, issued a statement Thursday explaining their decision.

They said that the district attorney's office and Sheriff's Department have tried to keep the results secret by placing them on a "security hold."

"There is certainly no justice in maintaining this secrecy in the light of Mr. Spector's being charged with murder," they said.

DNA analysis of blood found on the gun's exterior and inside the barrel matched Clarkson's DNA, the report showed.

Autopsy drawings show that Clarkson had a broken acrylic fingernail on her right thumb which defense attorneys are expected to argue came from firing the gun.

Ultimately, however, the coroner's report, which cites law enforcement reports in addition to its own autopsy findings, concludes that "the manner of death is homicide."

The defense lawyers declined to release a report on gunshot residue tests done by sheriff's investigators on Spector the night of his arrest.

The autopsy report notes that Clarkson showed no signs of being suicidal and there was no suicide note.

Other reports in the thick coroner's file showed that Clarkson had alcohol and the prescription painkiller Vicodin in her system when she died.

District attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said prosecutors don't dispute that the gun was in Clarkson's mouth.

"It does not mean she put it there," Gibbons said. "We're fully aware of the contents of the autopsy report and we intend to proceed with this case."

A gunshot releases a cloud of residue within a three-foot radius, Gibbons said.

"She could have had her hands on her lap when the gunshot went off and residue would have still been on her hands. There was residue on Spector's hands. He also had blood on his hands," Gibbons said.

Prosecutors believe that Spector wiped the gun clean before it was placed on the floor near her ankle, Gibbons said.

The coroner's report said that law enforcement reports indicate that Clarkson's "male companion" had possession of the gun when it was discharged.

"Circumstances also indicate that the weapon was apparently taken from a holster found in the drawer in the male companion's house left of the decedent's position," it said.

The narrative included in the coroner's report is based on Sheriff's Department reports of an interview with the chauffeur who took Clarkson and Spector to his home from a nightclub where she worked. He reported hearing a "popping sound" from inside the house and told of seeing Spector emerge from the house holding a gun and saying, "I shot her."

Abramson said the chauffeur, whose first language is not English, has given differing accounts of what he heard and has refused to talk to the defense.

[Jrnygrl]

This has to be the most bizzare murder in Hollywood history. Did she or didn't she. Her friends say she wasn't the type to do this, who knows what happended.
It is a tragedy.