Photo:Sourcebooks; Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty

A Murder in Hollywood, Lana Turner

Sourcebooks; Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman

Sourcebooks

“I think that their relationship ebbed and flowed, like many relationships between parents and their children,” Sherman says. “Although this sensational story was kind of hanging around their necks, so to speak.” Both Turner and Crane later published memoirs which touched upon the incident.

Lana Turner (left) with daughter Cheryl Crane in 1952.Bob Beerman/Hulton Archive/Getty

1952: American actor Lana Turner, wearing a period costume with a feather headdress, sits with her daughter, Cheryl Crane, on the set of director Curtis Bernhardt’s film, ‘The Merry Widow’.

Bob Beerman/Hulton Archive/Getty

Despite the official verdict, Sherman, who views Turner as a “feminist icon” and early pioneer to the #MeToo movement, has his own perspective on the case.“I strongly believe Lana Turner killed Johnny Stompanato, but I think she did so in the ultimate attempts to protect her family, her mother and her daughter,” he says. “I think when Johnny Stompanato threatened to kill Cheryl, as you read about in the book, and kill Mildred, Lana was painted into a corner and Lana had to fight back.”Read an exclusive excerpt fromA Murder in Hollywoodbelow.

“Lana, please be quiet,” Chief Anderson ordered. “I want to hear it from her.”

Lana Turner.Silver Screen Collection/Getty

Lana Turner (1921-1995), US actress, wearing a sleeveless white dress and holding a white parasol in studio portrait, circa 1950.

Silver Screen Collection/Getty

Giesler nodded to Cheryl. The teenager repeated what her attorney had told investigators at the scene. Both Lana and Giesler were impressed with Cheryl’s soliloquy.“I thought he was going to get her,” the girl told Chief Anderson. “I ran downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed the first big knife I could find and raced back upstairs.” Cheryl went on to say that as Stompanato turned to attack Lana, “I plunged the knife into his stomach with all my might.”Lana jumped in. “I didn’t know what was happening,” she claimed. “I thought she was poking Johnny with her finger.” She then told the police chief that she had been trying to break off the relationship with Stompanato since Christmas and that she was afraid of him.Jerry Giesler butted in and declared that the killing was a case of justifiable homicide. The lawyer knew that even if Cheryl was put on trial, the state of California prohibited the death penalty for minors. That would not be the case if Lana herself was charged with the crime.A police matron was called to Anderson’s office to retrieve the teenager.

Cheryl Crane (left) and Lana Turner in 1958.Bettmann/Getty

Cheryl Crane (Left) talks with her mother, Lana Turner,in the office of attorney William Pollack where depositions are being taken by Pollack in the $705,000 damage suit being brought in behalf of John Stompanato III. The suit is the result of the stabbing of Johnny Stompanato in April. Defendants are Miss Turner, her daughter, and stephen Crane, Cheryl’s father. In background is attorney Jerry Giesler, who is acting for Miss Turner.

Bettmann/Getty

“Cheryl, go with her,” Chief Anderson said quietly. “You’ll be spending the night here.”“No!” Lana screamed. “Let me go with her!”This was not how it was supposed to go, Lana thought. Giesler had not prepared her for the possibility that Cheryl would go to jail.The fourteen-­year-­old was taken out of the office and placed in a cell. Lana was allowed to see her a short time later. Her heart sank when she saw Cheryl behind bars.“Will you open the door, please?” Lana asked the police matron, who stared back with a blank expression on her face. 10 “Open that door!” Lana screamed.The female guard obliged, and Lana rushed into the small cell, grabbing hold of Cheryl and squeezing hard. The two collapsed on a jail cot, and Lana wept.

Cheryl Crane (left) and Lana Turner in 1958.Bettmann Archive/Getty

Cheryl Crane (left), daughter of Steve Crane and actress Lana Turner, is escorted from the jail here to juvenile hall in Los Angeles

Bettmann Archive/Getty

source: people.com