To be broadcast Tuesday, February 9, 2010  

New York, NY - Feb. 9, 2010 - Convicted murderer Phil Spector is serving a 19-years to life sentence for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.  But in a shocking development INSIDE EDITION can reveal Spector was secretly released from prison to visit his personal dentist.

A caravan transported Spector 170 miles from California's tough Corcoran State Prison to Los Angeles' quaint Toluca Lake District.

The secret unraveled after the dentist's office called KFI radio personality Sharen Bellio wanting to move her appointment an hour later in order to accommodate what they called an emergency.

When she arrived, Sharen says six off-duty prison guards were in the waiting room. 

Sharen Bellio: "My appointment got bumped for a convicted murderer...We were all baffled by it.  We just never heard of anything like that."

After five hours in the dentist's chair, Spector was rushed out a side door and into an unmarked car where they took off.

Sharen and a friend, Debi Dodge, followed the unmarked car containing Spector to a busy dry cleaners.  Then the women say guards let an unshackled Spector out of the car and placed him into a jail van.

Debi Dodge: "It's creepy to think that he could have gone anywhere.  They could have done anything with him or he could have escaped."

So why is a convicted murderer being let out for a day in the first place?  Because of prisoner lawsuits - California is the only state that allows inmates who can afford to pay for the extra security to visit their own personal doctor or dentist. This includes people like Charles Manson or death row inmates like Scott Peterson or the child killer who murdered Samantha Runnion.

Samantha's mom Erin Runnion is outraged that a killer could be let out for a doctor's visit. 

Citing privacy laws, prison officials wouldn't reveal who - or how many times - well-to-do inmates have been released for medical visits, but some estimates put the number in the thousands.

A spokesperson refused INSIDE EDITION's request for an on-camera interview and issued this statement: "Inmates are human beings and they have constitutional rights.  As long as they pay all costs in advance it is allowed - this way they can't stick it to the taxpayers."

But saving money at the risk to public safety just doesn't seem right to some.

Sharen Bellio: "It doesn't matter that you were convicted of murdering somebody you still get those privileges...it's just outrageous to me."

INSIDE EDITION is produced daily at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corp.

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