LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Explosive testimony from a woman who claims Phil Spector once pointed a loaded gun at her head will be allowed at the legendary music producer’s murder trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said the testimony of Devra Robitaille, a former employee of Warner Bros. Records, could provide evidence of a possible motive in the murder of Lana Clarkson.

The statuesque blonde former B-movie actress was found shot dead at Spector’s mock-castle in Los Angeles on February 3, 2003. Spector, 67, denies murder, claiming Clarkson committed suicide.

Prosecutors say Spector, famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner and The Ronettes, killed Clarkson after meeting her for the first time only hours earlier at the Hollywood nightclub where she worked as a hostess.

Prosecutors last week filed a motion seeking to include Robitaille’s testimony to show Spector has a history of violent behavior against women whenever they try to leave him.

According to court documents, the gun ordeal happened when Spector tried to prevent Robitaille from leaving his home after a party.

“She heard something, turned and suddenly Spector was holding a large shotgun, or rifle, using both hands,” prosecutor Alan Jackson wrote in a court document lodged last week.

“He placed the gun against her forehead. Spector, who was drunk, made some sort of joke and then said, ‘Just so you know, I’ll blow your (expletive) head off’ or ‘If you try to leave, I’ll blow your (expletive) brains out.’”

Robitaille told Spector to “knock that off and put that away,” the court papers said, and she was eventually allowed to leave.

She alleged a similar incident occurred in the mid-1980s, when Spector again put a gun to her head in the foyer of his home.

Prosecutors have already said they will present testimony from four other women who claim Spector threatened them with a gun.

A member of Spector’s legal team, Roger Rosen, said he was dismayed at the decision to allow testimony from the women, describing it as “salacious” and “a major hurdle” for the defense.

The judge however did deny a prosecution motion to include witness evidence from a retired New York police officer expected to testify that Spector had drunkenly declared “all women deserve a bullet in the (expletive) head” while being ejected from a party during the 1990s.

Fidler said the testimony would be “highly inflammatory” and not allowed to be used in the prosecution’s case.

Jury selection for Spector’s trial is to continue on April 16 with opening prosecution statements expected around the end of the month.

Spector is regarded as one of the most influential figures in rock music history. In the early 1960s he was responsible for hits including “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby, Baby” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin.”

Spector, who a few weeks before the shooting described himself as “relatively insane” and tortured by “devils inside me,” told Esquire magazine in 2003 that Clarkson shot herself.

“She kissed the gun,” Spector told the magazine.

Clarkson starred in movies such as 1987’s “Amazon Women on the Moon” and 1991’s “The Haunting of Morella” but her career had stalled at the time of her death.