PHIL SPECTOR CONFESSED TO CHAUFFEUR

Lana Clarkson and legend Phil Spector

Legendary music producer Phil Spector confessed to his chauffeur he had"killed somebody", a court was told yesterday. On the first day of Spector's murder trial over the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003 the court heard the defendant had told driver Adriano DeSouza "I think I killed somebody" shortly after DeSouza heard a gunshot from inside Spector's mansion. Prosecutor Alan Jackson said: "Phillip Spector emerged from the door. In his right hand a pistol. Between his fingers ran blood."Phillip Spector looked directly at Adriano DeSouza from about four or five feet away and confessed, 'I think I killed somebody.' "Jackson said the evidence would paint a picture of Spector as a man with a"very rich history of violence", who could turn "sinister and deadly" when confronted with the "right circumstances". Jackson told the nine-man, three-woman jury: "Lana Clarkson was simply the last in a long line of women who fell victim to Phillip Spector over the years."He put a loaded pistol in Lana Clarkson's mouth and he shot her to death."Jackson claims he can call on four women who would testify Spector had threatened them with a gun when they tried to leave his home after a night of heavy drinking.The producer - famed for his Wall of Sound production technique pioneered in the 60s - arrived at the Los Angeles court sporting a blond page-boy wig and wearing a cream suit and purple shirt. Spector, 67, denies murdering Clarkson in his Los Angeles hill top home on February 3, 2003, and insists she accidentally committed suicide. Lead defence attorney Bruce Cutler told the court he could prove Clarkson,40, was holding the gun when it went off. He said: "A self-inflicted gunshot wound can be an accidental suicide and the evidence will show you that's the case."At the time of the discharge of the gun, Phillip Spector was not holding that gun. We will prove that to you. She was."The musical genius will face life in prison if he is convicted of killing Clarkson.The trial, which is being televised live, is expected to last for up to three months.

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PHIL SPECTOR MURDER TRIAL TO BEGIN

Murder And Bad Hair Day For Phil Spector

Jury selection is set to begin in Los Angeles in the murder trial of legendary music producer Phil Spector, accused of shooting a woman in his home. The Los Angeles Times said Saturday that the producer's well known propensity for mixing an alcohol-fueled rage with weapons could seriously hurt him and his "not guilty" plea. Larry Levine, the recording engineer who worked closely with Spector in the studio for years told the Times: "He always had that habit of showing off guns when he was drinking; it's what he did, it was his thing." After an evening of drinking at Hollywood's hotspots, in the predawn hours of Feb. 3, 2003, Spector ended up at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip where 40-year-old Lana Clarkson was a hostess in the VIP area of the Foundation Room. He apparently talked her into going home with him "for just one drink." Spector's defense is that Clarkson shot herself in the mouth. A pretrial ruling will allow testimony of prior incidents involving Spector, a woman and a gun, the Times said.

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LARRY BIRKHEAD ATTORNEY DEBRA OPRI CALLS HOWARD K. STERN MURDERER

Daniel Smith-Anna Nicole Smith-Murder Suspect Howard K. Stern

Anna Nicole Smith was murdered by her lover Howard K. Stern, lawyers claimed. The accusation was made during a Florida court hearing to determine where the former Playboy Playmate will be buried. Stern, Anna Nicole's former lover Larry Birkhead and the late model's mother, Virgie Arthur, attended the hearing which descended into chaos when Stern's lawyer Krista Barth accused Birkhead's attorney Debra Opri (left) of claiming her client had killed Anna Nicole. Barth fumed: "Miss Opri just made a statement to my client that he actually killed Miss Smith. I have to protect him."Judge Larry Seidlin cut dead the accusation, saying the matter of her burial needed to be resolved as Anna Nicole's remains were decomposing faster than expected. After taking a phone call from Joshua Perper, the county's chief medical examiner, Seidlin said: "Time is of the essence. I'm running out of clock."He demanded a clean legal fight from all sides and said he intends to reach a decision by Friday regarding her resting place. The custody battle for the model's body is between Stern - who claims she wanted to be buried in the Bahamas - and Arthur, who wants her daughter to be laid to rest in Texas. Judge Seidlin offered to take over jurisdiction of the on going paternity case between Stern and Birkhead, who both claim to be father to Anna Nicole's five-month-old daughter Dannielynn. He said it would help with the burial issue if he knew who the father was. His offer was declined. Meanwhile, evidence has emerged that Anna Nicole's will - which left everything to her dead son Daniel - was faxed at 2.18am on 03.02.07, six days before she died. It lists a phone number with the initials RAR - believed to be Ron A. Rale, Stern's lawyer.

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