Former music producer Phil Spector has reportedly remained mute for the past nine months in jail, as he battles an illness.
Spector is currently serving 19 years to life for the 2003 killing of actress Lana Clarkson.
Spector was famous for pioneering bands such as the Ronettes and the Crystals in the sixities, working with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon and the Ramones and producing the Beatles’ album Let It Be in 1970.
On February 3rd 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found dead in Spector’s mansion. Spector claimed her death was an “accidental suicide.” On March 26th 2009, his trial began for second degree murder and nineteen days later, on April 13th the jury found him guilty.
Spector apparently lost his voice after he was recently transferred from a Californian prison lock-up, into the prison system’s medical facility.
Spector’s lawyer Chuck Sevilla told the The Mirror, “He was moved within the last year to a new prison hospital in Stockton. He’s very frail. I believe he is able to walk, he’s lost a lot of weight, he’s been unable to speak for nine months due to polyps in his throat which they keep telling him they’re going perform surgery on, which they have not done. That’s just one of his many maladies. He’s in his 70s and he was not in the best condition going in.”
New mug-shot photos emerged last week of Spector and he didn’t look in the best of health.
“The prison won’t give information about his medical condition. We are trying to get his needs attended to. I will be writing the warden today to try and get that done. Can you imagine being in a prison and you need help and you can’t speak? It’s very dangerous.”
A spokesperson for the Californian state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said, “I cannot confirm or deny he even needs an operation, federal law keeps that confidential.”
