Police Say Shooting Death Of Eagles Bassist Randy Meisner's Wife Was Accidental
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — The wife of former Eagles band member Randy Meisner was fatally shot after she moved a gun that accidentally discharged, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Lana Rae Meisner, 63, was pronounced dead at the couple's hilltop home in the 3700 block of Eureka Drive in Studio City at about 7:10 p.m. Sunday, said coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
On Sunday around 5:30 p.m., officers responded to a woman asking for help for a "possibly intoxicated male suspect" at the residence, police said. Officers took a domestic violence incident report and left.
Around 7 p.m., police returned to the house in response to a report of a shooting. That's when they found Lana Meisner suffering from a single gunshot wound, according to the LAPD.
The Los Angeles Fire Department pronounced Mrs. Meisner dead at the scene. Investigators determined the death was accidental. They said Mrs. Meisner was moving a rifle from a closet. As she lifted the rifle in a case, another item inside the case shifted and hit the trigger, causing the gun to discharge and strike her, police said.
"Mr. Meisner was cooperative throughout the investigation," police said. According to TMZ.com, during the earlier domestic violence call, Lana claimed her husband was waving a BB gun and "acting erratically." The website also reported that Randy made the second call to police.
Randy's children had tried to get a conservatorship based on his mental instability. According to court documents filed by Randy's three children, they painted a rocky relationship between the couple.
So they asked a judge to appoint a conservator for Randy last spring. Randy told TMZ.com: "They want me to die so they can get the money," Randy said.
"I think they want me out of the picture. So they're trying to make it look like I am doing something, I guess, to hurt Randy," Lana told TMZ.
In the conservatorship request, Randy's son, Dana, wrote: "My father is a severe alcoholic, I believe Lana enables his alcoholism so she can influence and manipulate him. She has said...My father is easy to control when he is drunk."
James Newton, a longtime friend of Meisner, petitioned for the conservatorship, noting that changes had been made to the Meisner family trust, giving Lana more authority than she previously had.
Newton claimed Lana had done little to help her spouse of nearly two decades battle addiction issues.
Meisner and his lawyers objected to the appointment of a temporary conservator.
Randy is best known for co-writing and singing one of the Eagle's biggest hits - "Take It to the Limit."
