Actor Robert Blake, famous for his tough-guy role on the hit police show Baretta, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of shooting to death his wife almost a year ago. A television helicopter recorded events as officers arrested 68-year-old Blake at his sister’s home in suburban Los Angeles.
Police are understood to be pushing for a charge of murder with special circumstance - which carries the death penalty. “We believe that Robert Blake had contempt for Bonny Bakley and he felt he was trapped in a marriage he wanted no part of…It’s a hit by a husband,” claimed Captain Jim Tatreau.
Bonny Lee Bakley was shot on May 4, 2001, as she sat in the actor’s car outside a restaurant in which the couple had just eaten. Blake says he left his gun - which he claims he kept to protect Bonny - in the restaurant. When he returned from collecting it, he discovered his wife dead in the passenger seat.
Blake has consistently maintained his innocence. The couple were married just five months before the murder after DNA tests revealed that Blake was the father of Bonny's daughter Rose.
Also arrested was the actor’s bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, who has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, despite being out of town on the night of Bonny's death.
Blake rose to stardom in the 1967 movie In Cold Blood and gained international recognition during the Seventies for his role in the TV show Baretta. More recently he appeared in David Lynch’s 1997 flick Lost Highway.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
