Spector made 'a demon' by alcohol

Spector, 68, has always denied murdering Lana Clarkson in 2003

A woman who dated Phil Spector for four years has told the jury at his murder retrial that alcohol transformed the music legend into "a demon".

Dorothy Melvin, who dated the wall of sound producer for four years, said Mr Spector was "a charmer" when he was "outside of these maniacal episodes".

"But when he's drinking, he loses it and becomes a demon," she told Los Angeles Superior Court.

Mr Spector denies shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion in 2003.

Ms Melvin, who manages comedian Joan Rivers, is the second prosecution witness to testify.

Security guard Vincent Tannazzo earlier told jurors that Ms Melvin had summoned him to eject Spector from two of Rivers' Christmas parties after he brandished a gun.

On one occasion, Mr Spector turned toward a woman leaving a party and said: "I ought to put a bullet in her head right now," Mr Tannazzo said.

'Be very careful'

Ms Melvin added that, in 1993, Spector had chased a group of young people with a gun because they mistook him for actor Dudley Moore.

Lawyers for the prosecution also played phone messages which Mr Spector has left for Ms Melvin in which he apologised for striking her with a gun and chasing her while brandishing a shotgun.

In the message, he warned: "Be very careful what you say to me, because nothing you say is worth your life."

Ms Melvin said, that following the incident, "I didn't want to be alone with Phil again".

"I thought he was dangerous," she added.

Jurors failed to reach a decision in Mr Spector's first trial, which ended in September 2007.

The producer, who worked with The Beatles and the Righteous Brothers, faces a minimum of 15 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of second degree murder.

The new trial is expected to last four months.