Denise Richards broke down in court as she testified about her estranged husband Aaron Phypers's alleged abuse on Monday. Phypers filed for divorce from the Wild Things actress after nearly seven years of marriage in July, and she subsequently filed a restraining order request in which she accused him of domestic violence. They both appeared in a Los Angeles court on Monday for a hearing over Richards's request to make her temporary restraining order permanent amid their ongoing divorce. During her testimony, the 54-year-old actress was overcome with emotion as she recounted several alleged incidents of abuse. "(He) would often threaten to throw me through the windows and off balconies (of hotels)," she said, reports People, before tearfully stating, "He's almost killed me so many damn times." She also explained why she asked the 53-year-old actor to leave their shared townhouse on the day of their separation on 4 July. "He got very angry at me and volatile, he got very close to me," Richards claimed. "I had just recovered from a full facelift and I still had stitches behind my ears, and I felt extremely vulnerable." She added, "Emotionally, it was hard for me to understand... And it just made me feel vulnerable, it made me feel scared, it made me feel sad. It made me feel intimidated by him. He's very big." During the hearing, Phypers's cousin Kathleen McAllister backed up Richards's abuse claims. McAllister alleged that she witnessed him giving The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star a black eye in January 2022. "I saw Aaron hit Denise and immediately she had a really bad black eye. I'm literally in shock now to this day about it," she said in her virtual testimony, before alleging that she witnessed other "horrific" acts of abuse. Phypers has denied all abuse allegations, branding them "completely false and deeply hurtful". The court hearing is expected to last until Wednesday.