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As the inquest concluded, a mysterious man jumped up from the
gallery and shouted that he needed to testify. As he was escorted from
the room, he shouted, "Lies! All lies! This mother and daughter
were both in love with Stompanato! Johnny was a gentleman!"
Whether the man was a nutcase, a publicity hound or a Cohen plant was
never determined, but regardless, he was taken away and disappeared.
The jurors retreated to deliberate and took less than a half-hour
to decide that John Stompanato's death was justifiable homicide.
Acting out of fear for her life and for her mother's life, Cheryl
Crane was justified in using deadly force to stop Johnny, they ruled.
The decision was not unanimous, nor did it have to be.
The inquest verdict was not binding on the prosecutor, but the next
day McKesson decided not to pursue charges. He did, however, initiate
court proceedings to determine Lana's fitness as a parent.
Mickey Cohen was outraged at the coroner's verdict and immediately
went to the press. "It's the first time in my life I've ever seen
a dead man convicted of his own murder," he said. "So far as
that jury's concerned, Johnny just walked too close to that
knife."
Johnny Stompanato's family brought a wrongful death lawsuit against
Lana Turner and Stephan Crane. The case was settled out of court.
In 1962, Mickey Cohen was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison
for income tax violations. He was released in 1972 and began a
campaign for prison reform. In 1974, Mickey made headlines again when
he said he had had contact with people holding Patty Hearst for
ransom. He died in 1976 of natural causes.
Cheryl Crane eventually went to live with her grandmother, Lana's
mother. There were many years of hardship ahead for this young woman,
including more alienation from her mother, but overcoming those
obstacles, Cheryl went into the restaurant business with her father.
Today Cheryl is a successful businesswoman. She recently helped
produce a Lana Turner retrospective on cable television.
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| Lana Turner in 1985, 10
years before her death (AP) |
Lana Turner's career, which hit a plateau before Johnny's death,
was rejuvenated in 1958. She went on to make many more movies and
starred on television in "Falcon Crest." Lana and Cheryl
mended fences and reconciled long before her death in 1995.
Well-respected and honored until the end, the “Sweater Girl”
proved to be a survivor who had more than enough mettle to stand up to
the curse of the Hollywood bombshell.
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