When Alhambra police arrived, Spector did not follow orders, and officers shot him with electric Taser darts. Inside, officers found Clarkson's corpse upright in a white chair, her legs stretched out in front of her in a red-carpeted foyer.
On the floor beneath her left leg was the .38-caliber weapon that killed her, one of several firearms in the house.
Medical examiner Louis Pena, who performed Clarkson's autopsy, told the grand jury that his findings could support either a suicide or homicide. The revolver was in her mouth when it was fired -- traces of her tooth material were on the barrel. Pena said bruising on her hands could be from a struggle, but he also said the finding was inconclusive. The coroner concluded that the death was a homicide, based on "history, circumstances, law enforcement police reports and autopsy."
In the hours after the shooting, during a tape-recorded interrogation, Spector rambled profanely, saying, "The gun went off accidentally.... It was a mistake."
In pretrial skirmishing, Spector's lawyers suggested that he was confused during the conversation by his medication and the effects of the stun gun. Although attorneys have not introduced a mental defense, Spector on several occasions has claimed a history of instability. In a July 2005 deposition, Spector testified that he had been on medication for manic depression for eight years.
"No sleep, depression, mood changes, mood swings, hard to live with, hard to concentrate, hard -- just hard -- a hard time getting through life," he offered. "I've been called a genius, and I think a genius is not there all the time and has borderline insanity."
A fall from grace
Since Clarkson's death four years ago, Spector has been free on bail, a bitter topic for family and friends of the actress.
Spector has kept a low profile, although last fall he married actress-model Rachelle Short, 26, in Los Angeles. His history is still very much a part of the music industry present, however -- albeit an awkward part.
Last Monday night, the Ronettes, the girl group that Spector shaped, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group's lead singer, Ronnie Spector, is the producer's ex-wife and has long accused him of abuse and tyrannical behavior.
She pointedly did not mention him during her acceptance speech.
Afterward, musician Paul Shaffer read a letter from Spector to the industry crowd, which greeted the proxy speech with tepid applause and plenty of rolling eyes.
Hal Blaine, who played drums on many of Spector's classic hits, said it's hard for music fans today to understand the singular figure Spector cut in the heady days of the 1960s.
"I remember Brian Wilson coming by just to watch and to try learn about this magic dust that Phil seemed to sprinkle on his hits," Blaine said. "I remember a kid named David Geffen hanging around a lot, too. Everyone loved Phil, and everyone wanted to know his secrets."
Blaine, now a retiree in Palm Desert, still answers questions about his old maestro, but the topic now is murder, not music. "I spent three hours talking to the L.A. detectives; they came out here. They wanted to know about Phil and, you know, his history with guns."
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geoff.boucher@latimes.com
peter.hong@latimes.com
Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this report.
