Rachelle Spector arrived for lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel with one French-manicured hand gripping a hot pink BlackBerry. "I never know when he is going to be allowed to call," she said as she laid the mobile device carefully on a velvety banquette. "Whenever he calls, I answer."
Ten miles east of the swank restaurant's cloth napkins and chopped salad, her husband, Phil Spector, the record producer and, as of six weeks ago, convicted murderer, was in L.A. County Jail, the first leg of a 19-years-to-life sentence.
"He's locked in a 5-by-9 cell, 23 1/2 hours a day," Rachelle Spector said. "They treat people worse than animals. I want that known."
During Spector's criminal trials, his 28-year-old wife was a constant and colorful presence, striding the courthouse halls in stiletto heels and engaging in a series of public spats with perceived enemies, including the trial judge. But a gag order barred her from speaking to the media and she remained a mystery, her unwavering attendance at the proceedings raising the daily question: Why would a pretty young woman tie her fate to a much older man accused of murder?
With Spector's sentencing last week, the gag order vanished and Rachelle Spector stepped forward to talk about her marriage and her new roles as a spokeswoman for his cause, coordinator of his appeals and chief financial officer of his multimillion-dollar music businesses.
Former waitress
They are perhaps unlikely responsibilities for a former waitress who admits that she was not familiar with Spector, 69, or his music when they met six years ago in a West Hollywood restaurant. She knows their 41-year age difference and the fact that he married her while under indictment make many doubt the sincerity of their relationship.
"Younger woman, older man, gold digger, whatever," she said with a little laugh. "I don't take anything from my husband, and I never have. I'm a good person, but people don't see any of that or know how hard I work."
Some parts of Rachelle Spector do scream "trophy wife." She is a thin blond with a fondness for flawless makeup and close-fitting clothes. She wears a 9-carat diamond ring whose mere mention brings a joy to her face that other women might display when speaking of their children. "We designed it together," she squealed. Her background in modeling and her current aspiration to a singing career seem cliche for a decades-younger wife.
