Music producer Phil Spector found guilty in slaying

Apr 13, 2009, 23:16 GMT

Los Angeles - Legendary music producer Phil Spector was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in a case in which he was accused of shooting a B-movie actress in his home after a night of heavy drinking.

The verdict by the 12-person jury could see Spector, 69, serve 18 years to life in jail. He was jailed immediately following the verdict after Judge Larry Fidler denied a defence lawyer's request for Spector to remain free on bail until sentencing.

Until he hit the headlines for the 2003 killing of Lana Clarkson in his Los Angeles mansion, Spector had been best remembered for his pioneering 'Wall of Sound' recording techniques in the 1960s that had seen him work with The Beatles and produce tracks like You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' for the Righteous Brothers' and the Ronettes' classic Be My Baby.

Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

He hit the headlines after meeting Clarkson at a Los Angeles nightclub in February 2003. He was charged in her slaying after she was shot in the mouth with one of his revolvers in the foyer of his castle-like retreat.

Spector's lawyers had claimed she had killed herself in a fit of despondency, and his first case was declared a mistrial when the jury failed to agree on a verdict in 2007.

Prosecutors in both trials portrayed Spector as a wildly violent drunk with a long history of threatening women with guns when they rebuffed his advances.

Spector exhibited no reaction to the verdict, but his young wife, Rachelle, sobbed as the decision was announced. Sentencing was set for May 29.