I’ve spent a lot of time over worrying about Phil Spector. Is he happy? Is he warm? Is he safe? Does he feel content with his life? Does he have good reading material and yummy, nutritious food to eat? So you can imagine just how devastatingly bummed I was to learn that the answer to all these questions was pretty much no. Poor Phil. He’s written a letter to a friend, copies of which were given to Page Six, in which he is absolutely astounded and infuriated that a murderer should be treated… like a murderer. The nerve!

Relatedly, Phil doesn’t even know where he is. Not a big surprise.

Music legend-cum-murderer Phil Spector is whining about being locked up in a “snake pit” of a prison with such other high-profile killer nutjobs as Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan — but California corrections officials say Spector is full of beans.

“Imagine sending me to the same prison — shows how low they can go,” fumes Spector in a letter to a buddy, Bay Area music manager Steve Escobar. “They’d kill you in here for a 39-cent bag of soup!”

California prison spokeswoman Terry Thornton sputtered when asked about the claims by the 69-year-old “Wall of Sound” impresario, who’s doing a life stint for killing B-list actress Lana Clarkson. “It’s ridiculous! Because Spector is not in the same prison!” said Thornton, noting that he’s locked up in the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility a full two miles away from the Corcoran State Prison that houses Manson and Sirhan. “If he has fears about his safety, he needs to tell prison administrators.”

But things aren’t all bad for Spector in prison, according to his letter, which his publicist, Hal Lifson, provided to Page Six. Spector wrote Escobar that Phil’s 29-year-old wife, ex-Playboy model Rachelle Short, has begun making an 800-mile round trip drive to visit him. The oddball record producer quipped that Rachelle’s visits were a “Darwinian blessing” — but also griped that a “mean and nasty” guard ordered her to change clothes four times to comply with the prison’s dress code. “Rachelle piled me up with dinners to eat in my cell so I don’t have to go in to the dining room with the scumbags,” Spector wrote.

[From Page Six]

The sentence “Imagine sending me to the same prison” should really be “Imagine sending ME to the same prison!” And then some more about how wonderful and special and unique he is, because he’s Phil Specter. How dare they try to get in the way of his murdering people when he feels like it! Can you believe the California courts will actually lock up a genius like Phil Specter and make him feel the full consequences of his actions? Vindictive folks, I tell you.

I used to work in a volunteer program at a state prison when I lived in Seattle. I cannot tell you how many times I was told to change my clothes. You can’t wear underwire bras. You can wear anything with a v-neck. And as I embarrassingly found out in front of my professor, you sure as hell better not wear a very loosely fitting polo shirt with buttons, because you will be told by a guard to button it up all the way since, “I assume you’re not here looking for dates.” So I really have no sympathy for Phil’s wife. And considering she seems to be attracted to jailbirds and murderers, I assume she is looking for dates. I’m surprised she was able to make herself presentable on the fourth try.

So boo hoo, life is not filled with pleasure when you kill someone. It’s so cute that Phil thinks this is the real injustice. Wonder what kind of angry letter he’ll write when he dies in prison?

Here’s Phil’s wife Rachelle Short leaving Los Angeles Criminal Courts after he was sentenced on May 29th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

He might have almost gotten away with murder, but disgraced record producer Phil Spector wasn’t fooling anyone with his bizarre collection of fake hair. Now that he’s in prison, convicted of murder, Spector had to surrender his toupee. I’m sure that had to take his ego down a few notches. Still, seeing the full extent of Spector’s baldness in all its glory was kind of a shock. A hilarious shock. Thank you, Smoking Gun.

Now that he is a ward of the California state prison system, wig-loving murderer Phil Spector has been forced to return to his au naturel state.

As seen in the below mug shot, the 69-year-old Spector’s dome is no longer covered by one of the fright wigs he wore during his criminal trials (the most recent of which ended in the music producer’s conviction for killing actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003). Spector, who was sentenced last month to 19 years in prison, was photographed after arriving last week at the North Kern State Prison Reception Center in Delano.

[From The Smoking Gun]

Talk about flipping your wig! Sure, the sight of Phil’s big white dome is snort-worthy, but how about that homicidal look on his face? Yikes! Slap a little clown makeup on him and he could pass for Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It.” Way to give me nightmares, Smoking Gun. Anyway, I can’t wait to see this headline: “Phil Spector’s Rectum Destroyed by Gangbangers.” That’s gonna be a sweet day, folks.

The verdict in the retrial of legendary music producer Phil Spector came in yesterday: guilty! Phil looked completely flabbergasted as the verdict was read. After his first trial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson ended in a mistrial, it seemed that the producer was going to get away with it. But this time around, the jury was convinced that Spector indeed was responsible for the shooting.

Six years after the death of actress Lana Clarkson, and nearly two years after a 2007 mistrial, a jury found music producer Phil Spector guilty of second-degree murder on Monday. Spector, 68, will be sentenced May 29 and faces a prison sentence of 18 years to life.

Long before the jury’s final verdict, Spector had vanished from the music industry. He hadn’t completed an album since the 1970s. But it almost didn’t matter. Spector produced some of the greatest recordings of the 20th century — with Ike and Tina Turner, The Ronettes, The Beatles and many others — but his work was always colored by his mental state.

Shortly before the shooting that led to Spector’s arrest, journalist Mick Brown taped the reclusive producer’s first interview in years, as he told NPR in 2007.

“Almost as soon as I sat down with Phil Spector, he started to talk about his mental state,” Brown said. In the interview with Brown, Spector referred to “devils inside that fight me,” adding, “I am my own worst enemy.”

[From NPR]

Clarkson, a 40-year-old actress who starred in the 1985 cult film Barbarian Queen, was found in the foyer of Spector’s mansion with a gunshot wound to the mouth in 2003. The defense claimed Clarkson was depressed over a breakup and used a 38-caliber pistol to kill herself.

Jurors in Spector’s first trial, which ended in September 2007, failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for 15 days. His retrial began in October of 2008.

In closing arguments to jurors last month, the prosecution called the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer “a very dangerous man” who “has a history of playing Russian roulette with women.” This time it took jurors less than 30 hours to side with the prosecution.

[From People.com]

This time around, the prosecution painted a chilling picture of a mentally unstable man with a fondness for threatening, frightening and hurting women. It was not a pretty picture, and Spector didn’t do much to help himself by showing for court looking like a psychopath day after day. The defense asserted that Clarkson killed herself, but the evidence just didn’t support it. In the end, the jury didn’t buy it. Looks like the music is over for Spector now.

Phil Spector is shown outside court on 4/13/09. I’m sure Obama appreciates the endorsement. Credit: WENN.com

Legendary music producer Phil Spector’s fate is now in the hands of yet another jury. Spector’s murder retrial isn’t quite the spectacle as his first trial, during which he showed up with a different, insane hair style every day, but the prosecutors in the case are going for the jugular anyway. The prosecutor characterized Spector as a deranged lunatic prone to violence against women – a man who has more than a normal fondness for guns and who considers himself above the law.

A prosecutor told a jury that Phil Spector’s history of violence against women was like a game of Russian roulette that ended with the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his hilltop mansion.

Deputy District Attorney Truc Do urged jurors Monday in the music producer’s retrial to find Spector guilty of second-degree murder, not the lesser possibility of involuntary manslaughter. His first jury deadlocked 10-2 for conviction.

She referred in her closing argument to Spector as becoming “a demonic maniac” when he drank and “a very dangerous man” around women.

“This case is about a man who has had a history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women,” she said. “Five women got the empty chamber. Lana got the sixth bullet.”

A ruling by Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler which permitted testimony by five women in Spector’s past was perhaps the most controversial of both trials. All the incidents occurred between 1975 and 1995 but none resulted in guns being fired. All involved women who said Spector confronted them with guns when they tried to leave his presence.

Attorney Doron Weinberg was to present the defense argument Tuesday. The original case prosecutor, Alan Jackson, was to argue as well before the case goes to the jury Wednesday.

Weinberg is expected to say that the 40-year-old Clarkson, a down-on-her-luck actress in despair about her career, put the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger six years ago. She was best known as the star of the 1985 cult film “Barbarian Queen.”

Do, who joined the prosecution team for the second trial, is well known for her expertise with electronic evidence displays. She dimmed the courtroom lights and illustrated every point with photos, PowerPoint displays of testimony excerpts and the video testimony of a now-dead woman who testified at Spector’s first trial in 2007.

Do spoke briefly about blood spatter evidence which she said proved that Clarkson could not have shot herself, but the bulk of her argument concerned two aspects of the case: the testimony of the five other women and a chauffeur who testified that Spector told him: “I think I killed somebody.”

She cited evidence of Spector washing his hands and trying to wash off Clarkson’s bloody face after the shooting.

“He can wash his hands clean of her blood but he can’t wash them clean of her murder,” she said.

At the end of Do’s presentation, Weinberg moved for a mistrial, saying she had overstepped the bounds of pretrial rulings by the judge in attacking Spector’s character rather than focusing on trial evidence. The judge denied the motion.

Spector, 69, the legendary producer known for his “Wall of Sound” recording technique and his eccentric personality, sat staring straight ahead as the prosecutor spoke. His wife, Rachelle, and one of his sons were in the courtroom.

If convicted of second-degree murder he could draw a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of two to four years behind bars.

[From Huffington Post]

I haven’t been following the second trial, but I did read about the first trial. Phil Spector is one scary dude- and I don’t just mean his hair! If the jury can’t agree this time, I think the prosecution is just going to have to let this go. This may be their last chance to get this verdict right.

Phil Spector is pictured on the last day of his first murder trial, shortly before the jury announced that they were deadlocked. Photo credits: Bauergriffin.

Music producer Phil Spector wears his crazy on his sleeve just like Michael Jackson. He just looks the part of a rich, unbalanced eccentric, but despite all the circumstantial evidence that he shot a B movie actress at least two people thought it was too much of a logical leap to declare the guy a murderer. After a trial that lasted five months, and deliberations for eight days, the jury said it could not reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. The jury announced for a second time that it was hung on whether to find Spector guilty of second degree murder, and said they were divided 10-2. It is unknown which way they were leaning.

After a week of deliberation in which they remained deadlocked 7-5, the judge was considering giving the jury the option to consider an involuntary manslaughter charge, but it was not offered to them. Spectors lawyers said that would make the appeals case stronger and the judge agreed.

Spector was being tried for the February 3, 2003 murder of a B-movie actress that he picked up when she was working as a hostess at the House of Blues that night. Spector asked 40 year-old Lana Clarkson to come back to his mansion for a drink. She was found the next morning, dead in a chair in his foyer from a shot to the mouth. She had a .38 revolver at her feet and someone had tried to clean up the blood with a diaper.

Spector’s chauffeur testified that he saw him in the driveway that morning and that he said “I think I killed somebody.”

Spector’s lawyers claimed Clarkson committed suicide and was depressed in the months leading up to her death. A friend of the victim testified that she said “I don’t want to live anymore… I want to end it.” Prosecutors note that Clarkson had her purse over her shoulder, indicating that she was shot when she tried to leave.

According to evidence submitted by the defense, the blood spatter pattern on Spector’s jacket shows that he was too far away to have put the gun in Clarkson’s mouth and pulled the trigger.

Spector has a history of threatening women and it’s possible he killed Clarkson, but at least two people thought there wasn’t enough hard evidence to convict him of second degree murder.

Spector is known for his crazy permed giant afro hair, but changed his look to a bowl cut toupee in March before jury selection. He is shown in the header image with his wife, struggling actress and singer Rachelle Short. They were married in September, 2006.