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Clarkson had begun 2003 with a lot of plans. She lately had been drawn to comedy, and had made a video of herself portraying funny characters, intending to circulate it among producers and directors.
She'd planned to visit a friend in Arizona in February or April and was the first to RSVP to a March ceremony of friends renewing their marriage vows.
On Feb. 2, 2003, her last full day, she sent an e-mail accepting a birthday party invitation: "Can't wait. XOXO Lana."
Around 4 p.m. that day, while shopping with her mother, Clarkson bumped into a friend, Dianne Bennett, at Nordstrom in the Grove shopping center. Bennett, a former columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, runs "Beautiful Women Successful Men," a matchmaking service.
Bennett had asked Clarkson over the years to send in her picture, but Clarkson had always said she wanted to concentrate on acting. Now her priorities had changed.
"I'm finally ready to get married and have a family," she told Bennett.
"I have the perfect man for you," Bennett responded. She told Clarkson about a good-looking, successful, 40-year-old entrepreneur who lived in Malibu.
Bennett promised to get in touch the following week.
"Be sure and give me a call," Clarkson said as she waved goodbye.
'It Went Like This, Bang!'
While police searchers were turning up 10 handguns at the mansion -- in addition to the one that killed Clarkson -- Spector was in the booking area of the Alhambra police station. He refused to give jailers his name and address. His speech was slurred and his breath stank of alcohol.
Derek Gilliam, an officer for 3 1/2 years, was assigned to sit with Spector until he calmed down enough for the booking to proceed.
Gilliam told the grand jury that he sat with the producer for about an hour while Spector rambled about the music business and the "dead girl in my house."
Spector told Gilliam that the girl took a gun from him and, waving it lariat-style above her head, began singing "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," two of the producer's pop hits from the 1960s.
Spector said he told her to put the gun down, but instead she placed it against her right temple and pulled the trigger. Then he demonstrated, placing the index finger of his right hand to his head, and dropping his thumb as though it were the hammer of a gun.
"It went like this, bang!" he said.
Then Spector hung his head straight back and stared silently at the ceiling for five seconds, as though he were dead.
Twice more he demonstrated, each time letting his head hang back in silence for a longer time. The third time, Gilliam said, he thought Spector might have had a seizure.
Then, with an expression Gilliam described to the grand jury as a "half-slanted smile," Spector said, calmly: "Nobody takes a gun from me."
Dead Within Seconds
Forensic experts testified the bullet that killed Lana Clarkson severed her upper spinal cord and lodged in the back of her skull.
It instantly immobilized her, and she died within seconds.
The 2-inch-long barrel of the Colt Cobra had been inside her mouth. The path of the Smith & Wesson .38 Special Plus-P high-velocity bullet indicated the muzzle had been just behind her upper front teeth.
When the Cobra recoiled after firing, the muzzle popped the crowns on the front teeth and hurled them across the foyer.
If Clarkson had shot herself, one expert testified, the recoil should have sent the gun hurtling in the same direction as the tooth crowns. Instead it was found on the floor beneath her legs.
The gun was not registered to Spector and bore no detectable fingerprints. It appeared to have been wiped with a cloth. A cotton diaper stained with Clarkson's blood was found in a washroom next to the foyer.
More smears were discovered on a lock on the back door, and on the banister of the stairwell.
It also appeared that Clarkson's face had been wiped with a rag, and her head had been moved from right to left.
Smears of her blood were also found on the white jacket Spector had worn that night. Sprays of blood were found on a sleeve of the jacket, which placed it within 3 feet of the gun's discharge. They would have landed there whether Spector had fired the weapon or had attempted to stop Clarkson from doing so.
In her death pose, Clarkson wore her leopard-skin print purse around her right shoulder, its straps twisted as it hung near her side. Adriano De Souza was waiting outside. She apparently was ready to leave, a prosecutor told jurors.
She'd planned to visit a friend in Arizona in February or April and was the first to RSVP to a March ceremony of friends renewing their marriage vows.
On Feb. 2, 2003, her last full day, she sent an e-mail accepting a birthday party invitation: "Can't wait. XOXO Lana."
Around 4 p.m. that day, while shopping with her mother, Clarkson bumped into a friend, Dianne Bennett, at Nordstrom in the Grove shopping center. Bennett, a former columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, runs "Beautiful Women Successful Men," a matchmaking service.
Bennett had asked Clarkson over the years to send in her picture, but Clarkson had always said she wanted to concentrate on acting. Now her priorities had changed.
"I'm finally ready to get married and have a family," she told Bennett.
"I have the perfect man for you," Bennett responded. She told Clarkson about a good-looking, successful, 40-year-old entrepreneur who lived in Malibu.
Bennett promised to get in touch the following week.
"Be sure and give me a call," Clarkson said as she waved goodbye.
'It Went Like This, Bang!'
While police searchers were turning up 10 handguns at the mansion -- in addition to the one that killed Clarkson -- Spector was in the booking area of the Alhambra police station. He refused to give jailers his name and address. His speech was slurred and his breath stank of alcohol.
Derek Gilliam, an officer for 3 1/2 years, was assigned to sit with Spector until he calmed down enough for the booking to proceed.
Gilliam told the grand jury that he sat with the producer for about an hour while Spector rambled about the music business and the "dead girl in my house."
Spector told Gilliam that the girl took a gun from him and, waving it lariat-style above her head, began singing "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," two of the producer's pop hits from the 1960s.
Spector said he told her to put the gun down, but instead she placed it against her right temple and pulled the trigger. Then he demonstrated, placing the index finger of his right hand to his head, and dropping his thumb as though it were the hammer of a gun.
"It went like this, bang!" he said.
Then Spector hung his head straight back and stared silently at the ceiling for five seconds, as though he were dead.
Twice more he demonstrated, each time letting his head hang back in silence for a longer time. The third time, Gilliam said, he thought Spector might have had a seizure.
Then, with an expression Gilliam described to the grand jury as a "half-slanted smile," Spector said, calmly: "Nobody takes a gun from me."
Dead Within Seconds
Forensic experts testified the bullet that killed Lana Clarkson severed her upper spinal cord and lodged in the back of her skull.
It instantly immobilized her, and she died within seconds.
The 2-inch-long barrel of the Colt Cobra had been inside her mouth. The path of the Smith & Wesson .38 Special Plus-P high-velocity bullet indicated the muzzle had been just behind her upper front teeth.
When the Cobra recoiled after firing, the muzzle popped the crowns on the front teeth and hurled them across the foyer.
If Clarkson had shot herself, one expert testified, the recoil should have sent the gun hurtling in the same direction as the tooth crowns. Instead it was found on the floor beneath her legs.
The gun was not registered to Spector and bore no detectable fingerprints. It appeared to have been wiped with a cloth. A cotton diaper stained with Clarkson's blood was found in a washroom next to the foyer.
More smears were discovered on a lock on the back door, and on the banister of the stairwell.
It also appeared that Clarkson's face had been wiped with a rag, and her head had been moved from right to left.
Smears of her blood were also found on the white jacket Spector had worn that night. Sprays of blood were found on a sleeve of the jacket, which placed it within 3 feet of the gun's discharge. They would have landed there whether Spector had fired the weapon or had attempted to stop Clarkson from doing so.
In her death pose, Clarkson wore her leopard-skin print purse around her right shoulder, its straps twisted as it hung near her side. Adriano De Souza was waiting outside. She apparently was ready to leave, a prosecutor told jurors.
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