Actress killed herself, pathologist tells Spector trial
Actress Lana Clarkson shot and killed herself, a forensic pathologist told Phil Spector's murder trial today.
Dr Werner Spitz, appearing for the defence, also suggested that a Los Angeles County deputy medical examiner jumped to an improper and hasty conclusion in ruling Clarkson's death a homicide.
"I think she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Spitz told the LA court.
Spitz did not immediately go into detail to support his conclusions. But he said he looked at post mortem records and indicated he surveyed accounts of Clarkson's life.
"I'd never met Lana Clarkson, so I don't really know her at all. So I have to base my opinion on what other people say about her - people who knew her, people who knew her well, people who knew her less well, and people like physicians who had seen her."
Clarkson, 40, died of a gunshot fired inside her mouth on February 3, 2003. Her body was found in a chair in the foyer of Spector's mansion, where she had gone earlier that morning after meeting the music producer at her job as a nightclub hostess.
Her most famous acting role was in the 1985 film 'Barbarian Queen'.
Spector's defence is seeking to show Clarkson shot herself out of despair over her career and personal life.
Spector, 67, was a top producer of hit records decades ago and was famous for his "wall of sound" recording technique.
