Coroner Rules on Death at Spector House

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday September 23, 2003 03:36 PM EDT

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After an eight-month investigation, Los Angeles coroner's officials ruled on Monday that the shooting death of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson at legendary music producer Phil Spector's suburban castle last Feb. 3 was a homicide, reports Reuters.

The announcement contradicts claims by Spector, 62, that Clarkson, 40, whom he allegedly met earlier that night at Hollywood's House of Blues, committed a bizarre suicide in his 33-room manse after "kissing" the gun, as he told a writer for Esquire magazine.

Spector then went on to tell Esquire: "I never knew her, I never even saw her before that night ... I have no idea who she was or what her agenda was."

Prosecutors are now weighing possible charges against Spector, who is usually described as a reclusive genius in profiles of him.

"The manner of death was homicide and the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and neck," said Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman David Campbell. "How the injury occurred was she was shot by another person."

To date, there has been no evidence reported that any other person besides Clarkson and Spector was in the house at the time of the shooting.

Campbell added that coroner's officials based their decision on an autopsy of Clarkson's body, as well as a long investigation by police.

Spector's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.