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The Washington Post
4/3/93
 

Police Call Actor's Death `Suspicious'

Author:   Phil McCombs

Police continued their investigation of the bizarre stage-set shooting death of actor Brandon Lee here today as his body, accompanied by relatives, his fiancee and top executives of his film production company, was flown to the West Coast for a funeral over the weekend.

Wilmington Police Chief Robert C. Wadman said in an interview that his detectives have not yet "crossed that threshold" of believing a crime was committed when another actor in the movie "The Crow" discharged a .44-caliber handgun at Lee, as called for during routine filming Wednesday.

Wadman termed the death "suspicious," however, and another source said ballistics tests on a .44-caliber bullet found in Lee's abdomen during an autopsy Thursday were being conducted today. There were 75 to 100 members of the cast and crew on the set at the time of the shooting.

In another interview, county medical examiner Leon Andrews, who has 15 years' experience in forensic medicine and who conducted the autopsy, confirmed that the round object he found inside Lee was a lead bullet and not some other projectile.

"It's a bullet that killed him," Andrews said.

Meanwhile at the Carolco Studios here on the edge of town, where the American flag continued to fly at half-staff today, the film's producers, director, cast and crew met in an effort to decide the future of "The Crow," an action-adventure movie that has been plagued by mishaps. They concluded it may be possible to finish the film, though production has been temporarily suspended.

"We're hoping we can finish it but we can't be sure," said production spokesman Jason Scott. "We're trying to proceed in that direction. We feel it would be appropriate if we could do it in a way that would honor Brandon."

In other cases in which stars have been killed, film companies have used body doubles or even footage from other movies featuring the same actor to complete the production. Another possibility is rewriting the script so that existing footage is adequate to finish the picture.

"Brandon had a number of scenes left," Scott said. "We've got to figure out how to complete those scenes or how to do without them."

Scott said the $14 million film faces tremendous logistical problems. Its financing had depended on a wrap date only eight days from the day of Lee's death. Now, Scott said, all that has to be juggled. Also, he said, "there are legal questions. The police have talked to a lot of people."

The producers and other top executives of the project are scheduled to meet with police here Tuesday.

Details of the funeral arrangements were not immediately released. Lee, 28, the son of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, is survived by his mother, Linda, and his sister, Shannon. He was to marry his fiancee, Eliza Hutton, later this month.

The mood of the crew and cast remaining here in Wilmington, according to an anonymous production source, is one of shock and horror, but "we don't believe he was murdered."

"Brandon was close to us," said Scott, "and he was a wonderful, wonderful person."

A veteran Hollywood prop man who has worked extensively with guns in film stunts but who is not associated with "The Crow" gave one scenario in which an accidental shooting could occur. When a crew is filming close-ups of a revolver, he said, the chamber is filled with dummy bullets so that the gun appears to be loaded. Those bullets have lead tips but contain no gunpowder, and it would not be possible for them to fire, he said. The dummy bullets normally would be removed and replaced with explosive blanks before filming a scene in which the gun was actually fired at an actor.

The gun expert - who asked that his name not be used - said the tip of a dummy bullet somehow could become lodged in the gun barrel. If the gun were then loaded with blanks, the explosive force of the blanks could propel the hollow bullet out of the gun just as if the bullet were live.

But the shooting reportedly did not occur on the first take - that is, the first effort to film the scene. That means the gun was fired once or twice without discharging a bullet.

The expert also said the person on the set who was responsible for the gun ought to have noticed when removing the dummies that the tip of one was missing. Alternately, the shooting could have resulted from a mix-up of two prop guns, he said. But he added that such mistakes would be highly unusual. "You have to check, double check, triple check and check again one more time," said the prop man.

"For this to happen would be {the result} of a whole lineup of bizarre circumstances," he said. "I mean, it would really take a lot."

Staff writer Kim Masters contributed to this report.ner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.