BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Spector 'fearing for his safety'Spector 'fearing for his safety'
Spector was sentenced to 19 years in prison in MayConvicted US music producer Phil Spector has said he fears for his safety while in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.
In a letter to a friend, Spector, 69, wrote of his distress at being in the same prison as murderer Charles Manson.
He added he was working on being transferred to "a better prison with people more like myself in it,".
Spector is currently residing in a medical facility at the Corcoran State Prison, central California.
In the note, Spector said he was hoping for the transfer during the appeal process so that he would not be with "all these lowlife scumbags, gangsters and Manson types" who would "kill you here for a 39-cent (24p) bag of soup".
He added his spirits were up because his wife, Rachelle, 29, had been visiting him two days a week at the prison, driving 400 miles (644 km) each way from their Alhambra home.
"She's a real trouper - all in all, it's like a dream come true having her by my side again," he said.
Spector also said his wife brought him packaged food so that he would not have to go the dining hall with other inmates.
"I know it is a chance to get out of my cell going to the dining room but the less I see of the inmates, the better and safer I feel," he said.
The producer's letters were released by Hal Lifson, a publicist working for Spector and his wife.
Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in April, two years after the jury in his initial trial failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
He was sentenced to 19 years to life in May.