On this day, April 4, in 1958, Hollywood queen Lana Turner and her boyfriend engaged in a struggle that ended in his stabbing death.
Turner had a taste for the bad boys and Los Angeles hoodlum Johnny Stompanato fit the bill. But when Turner tried to break it off, Stompanato became jealously violent. He once appeared at a filming in London with a knife. Co-star Sean Connery punched punch him in the jaw and disarmed him.
On this night, 52 years ago, Stompanato and Turner engaged in a ferocious argument at her Beverly Hills home. Turner’s daughter, 14, ended up fatally stabbing Stompanato.
The coroner’s inquest was one of the most sensational legal hearings Hollywood has ever seen.
A judge said the killing was justifiable.
— Scott McCabe
