LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Detective writer Mickey Spillane's ex-wife testified Thursday that he took her to a Jehovah's Witness meeting to banish 'demons' he believed were causing her extramarital affair with entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.
Sherrie Spillane made the disclosure during her second day of testimony in a civil suit accusing the square-jawed writer of concealing assets during the couple's 1983 divorce.
The former Mrs. Spillane, who posed nearly nude for the jacket covers of several books Spillane wrote in the 1960s featuring his fictional detective Mike Hammer, was married to the writer for 19 years.
Under direct examination by her counsel and brother Martin Malinou, she recounted some of Spillane's visits with her at her Los Angeles apartment during the marriage. Spillane spent at least half of his time away from her, at his residence in South Carolina near Myrtle Beach, she said.
But on one visit to Los Angeles, 'He took me to a Jehovah's Witness meeting to have the demons beat out of me because I was under the spell of Sammy Davis Jr.,' she testified.
She had a continuing relationship with Davis and other men throughout her marriage with Spillane, she said. Most of her extramarital affairs were conducted with Spillane's approval, she said. However, 'he was upset about the affair with Sammy Davis Jr.'
The former Mrs. Spillane contended that at the time of her divorce, Spillane concealed negotiations under way for a Mike Hammer television series.
Under cross-examination by Spillane's attorney, Chuck Thompson, she said she tried to get the network to cut her in for a share of the revenues two years ago.
Thompson introduced a letter sent by her brother to the network contending she had one-half ownership of Spillane's fictional private detective.
'At the time of the July 14, 1984, letter did you have any information or documents or court order that gave you ownership in the Mike Hammer character,' Thompson asked?
'I had no court order,' she said, 'I don't know what you mean by documents. I had nothing written down.'
In April of 1983 a full-length TV movie 'Murder me, Murder you,' featuring the Mike Hammer character was aired. A 'Mike Hammer' weekly TV series was launched a short time later.
Spillane has said he had no contract signed for the series until after the divorce.
Sherry Spillane, now married to Michael Standing, a Southern California writer, received a one-time payment of $18,000 plus $2,000 for medical insurance coverage at the time of the divorce.
