EXCLUSIVE: Key witness who testified for Phil Spector in his murder trial still believes he was innocent, claiming her friend Lana Clarkson was in a 'suicidal' state in the days before her death and confessed she was going to 'blow her brains out'

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The best friend of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson - the woman Phil Spector was convicted of shooting dead almost 18 years ago - believes the music producer could be innocent of the heinous crime.

In a bombshell interview Punkin Laughlin, who was the key witness for the defense at Spector's first trial which ended with a hung jury, maintains that Clarkson was in a 'fragile' and 'suicidal' state in the days before her death.

And repeating what she told a Los Angeles jury in 2007, she told DailyMail.com: 'Two days before she died Lana called me and was crying her eyes out for an hour. She said, 'I'm going to get a f**king gun and blow my f**king brains out. I don't want to live anymore. And two days later she's dead with a gunshot wound to the mouth.'

In court proceedings former club promoter Laughlin, known to friends as Punkin Pie, was recorded as saying Clarkson said: 'I don't want to live anymore. I don't want to live in this town. I want to end it. Pie I can't take any more…I'm done, done, done.'

Laughlin added: 'So even after all these years, I believe Lana put the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger. I really do. I have taken a lot of flack for this view, but all I have ever wanted is to get to the truth of what happened to my best friend. 

'I knew her better than anyone and she was fragile and depressed and close to the edge when she died. I love her. She's my best friend, but I wanted to get to the truth.'

Punkin Laughlin, the best friend of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson - the woman Phil Spector was convicted of shooting dead almost 18 years ago - believes he could be innocent of the heinous crime. Pictured: Laughlin and Clarkson celebrating the New Year in 2002

Spector (pictured in 2009) died from COVID-19 related complications on Saturday at the age of 81 He was serving a 19 years-to-life sentence for the 2003 murder of Lana Clarkson

In a bombshell interview Laughlin (pictured), who was the key witness for the defense at Spector's first trial which ended with a hung jury, maintains that Clarkson was in a 'fragile' and 'suicidal' state in the days before her death

Other witnesses also reported that Clarkson was despondent about her financial troubles, career difficulties, and lack of a stable relationship.

After the 2007 mistrial Spector was released on $1 million bail and retried for murder in the second degree the following year.

But this time Laughlin, who had been key to the defense's case that Clarkson's death was an accidental suicide, didn't take the stand.

Emotionally battered and her reputation in tatters after being eviscerated by the media, Laughlin decided she couldn't face giving evidence.

'I went to the lawyer's office and I just fell on the floor crying. And I said, 'I can't do it, I won't take that stand again'.

'And they said, well, we're not going to do it to you Pie because we've seen what this case has done to you, it's ruined your life.'

The case went to the jury in March, 2009, and after 18 days of deliberation, on April 13, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

Spector was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

After serving 12 years of his sentence Spector died in prison from COVID-19 related complications at the age of 81 last Saturday.

Laughlin says she never met Spector, never had any sympathy for him and didn't much like him, but she was desperate to get to the truth behind her best friend's death.

In court proceedings former club promoter Laughlin, known to friends as Punkin Pie, was recorded as saying Clarkson said: 'I don't want to live anymore. I don't want to live in this town. I want to end it. Pie I can't take any more…I'm done, done, done'

Other witnesses also reported that Clarkson (right with a friend) was despondent about her financial troubles, career difficulties, and lack of a stable relationship

Laughlin says initially, on the advice of Clarkson's lawyer, she kept quiet about the suicidal phone call. But when called to the stand she knew she had to tell the whole truth. Pictured: Clarkson on a promo poster 

'I was subpoenaed to tell the truth and I had grown up with Perry, Mason, I thought that's what we do - you tell the truth and then the truth gets found.

'When I heard Lana had died, honestly the first thing I thought of was that she slipped and hit her head doing the splits over somebody in a hot tub, that was kind of her calling card.

'But I was petrified because of what she had told me two days before. So I was like, 'Oh God, did she do this, what's happened?'

Laughlin says initially, on the advice of Clarkson's lawyer, she kept quiet about the suicidal phone call.

But when called to the stand she knew she had to tell the whole truth.

And for Laughlin she believes Clarkson was capable of taking her own life because she was in such a fragile state of mind.

'She had problems with her finances, she couldn't find money to pay the rent, she was an actress and she'd broken her wrist the year before, and she couldn't work anymore,' she said.

'All the men had dried up that paid her way and she took the job at the House of Blues.'

Spector had met Clarkson at the famous Sunset Strip music venue that night, February 3, 2003.

Laughlin says her friend, who was the Green Room Manager, had been impressed when the iconic producer left a waitress a $500 tip and they struck up a conversation.

At the end of the night statuesque blond Clarkson left with 5ft 4' Spector and went to his huge nine-bed, 33-room Alhambra estate called the Pyrenees Castle.

After the 2007 mistrial Spector was released on $1 million bail and retried for murder in the second degree the following year. Spector in mugshots in 2017 (left) and 2019 (right)

The record producer was the creator of pop's 'wall of sound'

Laughlin says her friend, who was the Green Room Manager, had been impressed when the iconic producer left a waitress a $500 tip and they struck up a conversation. At the end of the night statuesque blond Clarkson left with 5ft 4' Spector and went to his huge nine-bed, 33-room Alhambra estate called the Pyrenees Castle (pictured) 

'She was so fragile, so depressed and liked to party. She drank champagne, tequila, brandy and snorted cocaine,' said Laughlin.

'She could get very aggressive and demonstrative and maybe he (Spector) didn't like that.'

Laughlin speculates that Spector - who was known for his vicious, vindictive personality - could have turned on Clarkson, degraded her and pushed her over the edge.

She added: 'Maybe he turned on her and the whole situation turned weird. I think she killed herself because of what he said to her. If he degraded her she could not have taken it another minute.

'And the problem with Lana is she's an Aries. She wouldn't have taken it. And if he degraded her, it would snap her like a twig.

'I didn't know him, only by reputation. I had heard the stories, like he had a Napoleon complex and that he'd like to wave guns around to show that he was the big man, but could he pull the trigger and shoot someone in the head?'

Laughlin's lone voice in defense of Spector has come under intense criticism over the years.

She was subject to frenzied attacks in the media during the two trials with claims she was paid off by Spector with a suitcase full of cash.

While the exact circumstances of Clarkson's death remain shrouded in mystery (Spector never took the stand to give his version of events), the music producer's second trial did prove conclusive, however.

The proceedings were dominated by one phrase: 'I think I killed someone.'

The record producer and creator of pop's 'wall of sound' was said to have uttered those words as he left his home in the early hours and spoke to his Brazilian chauffeur, Adriano de Souza.

During the trial Spector's lawyers claimed the shooting happened when Clarkson 'kissed the gun'. But the jury heard from several women who claimed Spector had threatened them with guns in the past when they had spurned his advances

Also the court heard how Clarkson (pictured) had bought multiple pairs of shoes in the days before her death, hardly the actions of someone with suicidal thoughts

Behind him lay the bloodied body of 40-year-old Clarkson, slumped in a fake Louis XIV chair.

During the trial Spector's lawyers claimed the shooting happened when Clarkson 'kissed the gun'.

But the jury heard from several women who claimed Spector had threatened them with guns in the past when they had spurned his advances.

Also the court heard how Clarkson had bought multiple pairs of shoes in the days before her death, hardly the actions of someone with suicidal thoughts.

According to expert testimony people rarely kill themselves on the spur of the moment, and almost never at the home of a stranger.

Laughlin said: 'I don't think it was suicide in the way they made it sound. I think it was a knee jerk reaction to the culmination of her life. And then that night it was lighter fluid and a match. She was just so depressed, she was at the end of her tether. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.'

The retired club promoter, 64, who lives in Redondo Beach, California, is currently writing a book chronicling her colorful life-story on Hollywood's music and club scene, including her connection to the Spector case.

She said she was as shocked as anyone to hear of Spector's death over the weekend.

'I'm floored because I've wanted to talk to him all these years,' she said.

'I wanted to know the truth. And I'm probably the only one that wanted to know the truth. Lana was my best friend for 10 years, the love of my life and she was the reason I had to testify for the defense, but now we may never know what happened for sure.'