Beatles-man on murder rap

Rock producer Phil Spector, charged with the murder of a B-movie actress four years ago, will go on trial in January, said a United States judge on Friday.

Spector has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and is free on $1m bail.

He was not present at the Friday hearing before superior court judge Larry Paul Fidler.

Spector, 66, is best known for his work with the Beatles and his signature Wall of Sound recording technique.

The music impresario is accused of the fatal shooting of Lana Clarkson, 40, in the foyer of his Los Angeles-area mock castle in February 2003.

A postmortem report found that Clarkson, the star of Barbarian Queen and Amazon Women on the Moon, died because a revolver was placed into her mouth and fired.

Spector's lawyers are expected to argue that Clarkson committed suicide, echoing claims the producer made to police shortly after they arrived on the scene.
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