LOS ANGELES — Authorities are investigating a message on Phil Spector's wife's Web page as a possible death threat against the judge presiding over the music legend's murder trial, a court official said Tuesday.

The probe by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department concerns a posting on Rachelle Spector's MySpace page last weekend apparently referencing Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler, who oversaw the five-month case now in the hands of a jury.

"I love Phil Spector ------!!!! The Evil Judge Should Die!!!!" read the message, which has since been removed.

The posting was signed "xoxo, Chelle" and appeared next to a picture of the 26-year-old wearing a shirt reading "Team Spector."

An attorney for Spector, however, said the aspiring singer said she was not the author and did not know how the words had appeared on her personal site.

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"She denies it. She said it wasn't her," defense lawyer Christopher Plourd said.

The judicial protection division of the sheriff's department, which investigates threats against judges, began looking into it Monday after being alerted by a court spokesman.

"This was taken as a threat on a judge," spokesman Allan Parachini said. He said that investigators were having difficulty verifying the origin of the post and were taking their work seriously.

"This is not trivial," he said.

Rachelle Spector, who worked as the pop producer's assistant before marrying him last year, clashed with the judge earlier this month after she was interviewed on Court TV. When the judge issued a gag order against her and Spector, she objected from her seat in the gallery, arguing with Fidler until a defense attorney shushed her.

Plourd suggested there was a history of people impersonating the courtroom players in Internet message boards throughout the trial.

"We'd hear, 'Did you know [prosecutor] Alan Jackson posted on a blog?' Well, of course he didn't," Plourd said. "People are doing all kinds of unusual things."

He said he supported an investigation.

"Someone should be punished," he said.

Fidler did not mention the issue when he briefly took the bench Tuesday morning to listen to arguments by civil lawyers for the family of Lana Clarkson. The attorneys for the actress shot to death in Spector's mansion are seeking a protective order against the release of her personal papers by the defense.

The judge did not rule on the order.

Jurors have been deliberating a second-degree murder count against Spector for 11 days.

If convicted, the 67-year-old faces 15 years to life in prison.