US:The man considered to be the star witness in the Phil Spector murder trial has taken the stand and described the morning when actress Lana Clarkson died, saying he saw Spector leave his home with blood on his hand, carrying a gun.
"Spector then said, 'I think I killed somebody'," Adriano DeSouza, the chauffeur, testified moments before the murder trial recessed for the day on Tuesday.
For almost two hours Mr DeSouza described the night of partying that began on February 2nd, 2003, and ended around 5am on February 3rd. He left the nine-man, three-woman jury with the image of Spector leaving his Alhambra home, weapon in hand and saying the five words that the prosecution views as a confession.
Spector (67) is accused of killing Clarkson, whose body was found in the foyer of Spector's home, known as "The Castle". The defence maintains Clarkson accidentally shot herself.
Mr DeSouza, who said he worked for Spector 13 or 14 times, described taking him to pick up a friend, Rommie Davis, and the pair had dinner in Beverly Hills. Then he drove Mr Davis home to Studio City, he said. It was then back to the restaurant to pick up Kathy Sullivan, a waitress; the couple eventually ended up at the West Hollywood House of Blues where Spector met Clarkson (40) for the first time.
As the night went on, Mr DeSouza said, Spector began to smell of alcohol and walked differently. The defence, in its cross-examination of the women, stressed that Spector did not appear drunk.
The jury again saw the security footage of Spector leaving the House of Blues with Clarkson, who worked there as a hostess in the VIP area. Mr DeSouza testified that Clarkson said she would go home with Spector for one drink. They picked up her car from a garage and she parked it on the street. Then the trio - the driver in the front seat and Spector and Clarkson in the back - went to Alhambra. Mr DeSouza said he was in the car, a Mercedes owned by Spector, when he heard a sound - which he said sounded like a pow or pop - at about 5am. "Did that startle you?" asked Alan Jackson, the deputy district attorney. "Yes," Mr DeSouza replied. "I opened the door and tried to find where the noise came from," he said.
There is a large fountain in the yard, and the defence is expected to argue that the noise of the water affected what Mr DeSouza heard. He said he got in the car and a minute or so later he saw Spector open the back door. "At that time, he had a gun in his hand," Mr DeSouza said.
"What kind of gun?" Mr Jackson asked. "A revolver," Mr DeSouza said firmly, saying he recognised the weapon because of his years in the Brazilian military. He said he saw a little bit of blood on Spector's right index finger and insisted he saw and heard clearly when Spector said, "I think I killed somebody." "What happened, sir?" Mr DeSouza said he asked Spector.
Then, miming Spector's reaction, Mr DeSouza moved his shoulders up in a shrug. Mr DeSouza said he went to the door and saw Clarkson's legs.
"I saw the blood on her face.