4. The Dramatic Conclusion of This Stormy Relationship Shocked Even a Jaded Hollywood
Lana Turner’s and mobster Johnny Stompanato’s stormy affair came to a dramatic end on the evening of April 4th, 1958. The hoodlum boyfriend arrived at Turner’s Beverly Hills home, and as was their wont, the duo began to argue. Turner’s fourteen-year-old daughter Cheryl Crane stood outside the bedroom and eavesdropped. When at some point Stompanato threatened to kill Turner, her daughter, and her mother, Cheryl ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. As Turner tried to push Stompanato out of her bedroom, Cheryl buried the knife in his stomach.
The resultant scandal became a media sensation. Hundreds of journalists crowded into a jury inquest over the mobster’s death. After four hours of testimony and twenty-five minutes of deliberations, the jury decided that it was a justifiable homicide. Cheryl was kept as a ward of the court for over two weeks. After a juvenile court judge expressed concern over the lack of “personal parental supervision”, Cheryl was released into the custody of her grandmother, with court-ordered visits to a psychiatrist alongside her parents.
