Driver's Recollection Of Phil Spector Saying 'I Think I Killed Somebody' May Have Implications For The Defense
Of the many key pieces of evidence to click into place in the Phil Spector murder trial, none was more anticipated than the testimony of Spector's driver, Adriano DeSouza. On the fateful night, DeSouza ferried Spector to various WeHo watering holes before eventually bringing his boss and House of Blues hostess Lana Clarkson back to the castle "for one drink." Two hours later, he was startled by "a pow," followed soon thereafter by Spector emerging from the residence holding a gun in his bloodied hand:
"He said, 'I think I killed somebody,'" driver Adriano DeSouza said at the legendary music producer's murder trial. [...]
The defense has said the chauffeur did not speak English well enough to quote Spector accurately. Lead defense attorney Bruce Cutler suggested in his opening statement that the driver actually heard Spector say, "I think somebody is killed."
DeSouza, a Brazilian expatriot working in the U.S. illegally, was ordered by the defense to return to court today with all his immigration paperwork; should he end up giving their client a one-way ticket to the big house, the defense can now at least reciprocate by gifting the witness with one back to his homeland. Based on his televised testimony, however, DeSouza appeared to be more than capable of differentiating between his wording and the defense's, rendering his testimony only slightly less damning than if he had described his boss in a "I just shot Lana Clarkson in the mouth and all I got was this lousy, blood-splattered T-shirt!" souvenir garment in the days after the tragic incident.