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CNN Live Today
Actor Robert Blake Charged With Wife's Murder
Aired April 19, 2002 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first hour on CNN, Robert Blake, the actor, is in custody this morning in Los Angeles. Prosecutors plan to charge him with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Bakley.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is watching this developing story from Los Angeles -- Thelma, good morning.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Daryn. Actor Robert Blake was moved from LAPD headquarters, where we are standing right now. He was taken to the men's central jail just a few hours ago. He is being housed in the hospital ward. We understand the actor is in good condition, but that is very common for high- profile people to be held there. Among other high-profile people who have been in the hospital ward in the past, Robert Downey, Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones or actually -- I'm sorry -- Tommy Lee.
Now, the murder happened nearly one year ago, but yesterday evening the 68-year-old actor was taken into custody. Police say that when they arrived at his million dollar estate in the gated community of Hidden Hills where he lives with his two daughters, Blake opened the door and surrendered. They say he was passive and friendly with detectives. Blake was led away in handcuffs and taken to Parker Center where he was processed.
Chief Bernard Parks says no other investigation in the history of the LAPD has required such extensive travel. Detectives covered 20 states and talked with more than 150 witnesses. They say that they have significant evidence against the actor to charge him with the murder of his wife, 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF BERNARD PARKS: We believe the motive is that Robert Blake had contempt for Bonny Bakley. He was in a -- he felt that he was trapped in a marriage that he wanted no part of, and quite frankly, the entire situation was not one of his liking at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: There was a second arrest yesterday. Earle Caldwell, who is Robert Blake's bodyguard and his one-time handyman, was taken into custody just after he left Blake's home. Caldwell is accused of conspiracy to commit murder. Police would not elaborate, but they said Caldwell was not in town at the time of the murder.
Blake's attorney, Harland Braun, held a news conference and said the killer may be someone from Bakley's past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLAND BRAUN, ROBERT BLAKE'S ATTORNEY: The women had an extensive history, and there are people in her past who have made threats to her. There are people with motives. In that sense, it's a very unusual case. Most people do not have a lot of people out there who would want to do them harm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Robert Blake is expected to be arraigned in Van Nuys on Monday. He will be charged with one count of murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait, and that could make him eligible for the death penalty.
There was another concern -- a big concern that he had. He told detectives yesterday he was concerned about his two-year-old daughter, Rose. She is now in the care of his adult daughter by his first marriage -- Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Thelma Gutierrez in Los Angeles -- Thelma, thank you so much.
Let's bring in Andrew Blankstein. He has been the lead reporter on this Blake story for the "L.A. Times," and he joins us from Los Angeles this morning to talk more about the case -- Andrew, good morning.
The No. 1 question is: Why now almost a year after Bonny Lee Bakley was killed? Why make this arrest?
ANDREW BLANKSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, it's interesting. I mean, if you look at a lot of the cases that the LAPD investigates, there are immediate solutions to it, but there are also cases that take years. I wrote about a case about two months ago, where it took four years to make an arrest.
And so while people are focused on this particular case, obviously because it's a celebrity involved, it's not unusual.
KAGAN: Right. And you know the case, they are going to think about -- be thinking about O.J. Simpson and those shots that we saw going down the freeway yesterday with the white car...
BLANKSTEIN: They always...
KAGAN: Yes.
BLANKSTEIN: They always do, and I think that's because, obviously, the attention, and if there's negative attention, that is perceived as bad for the department of the D.A.'s office. But the fact of the matter is that there are many of these cases, where they do this every day. You know, there were more than 500 murders in the city of Los Angeles last year. And so people tend to focus, obviously, on these.
KAGAN: Tell me more about the bodyguard.
BLANKSTEIN: Well, they are not saying a lot, other than the fact that he was involved in the conspiracy at this point. But I think there are two other people, who were supposedly solicited for murder, and so I think we'll learn more about that. I mean, he was a handyman, a bodyguard, but we don't -- and the other thing that detectives said that he was out of town during the murders. But right now they are not commenting directly on his role.
And it will be interesting to see what happens in terms of the trial. Will he end up testifying against his friend. That's going to be something that's going have to be answered in the coming months.
KAGAN: So the allegation here is that Robert Blake pulled the trigger himself on his own wife.
BLANKSTEIN: That's the allegation. And in fact, we did a story shortly after the murder of Bonny Bakley, where the gun was pulled out of the dumpster in a Sun Valley dump. And there was a truck driver on that route, who witnessed the gun being pulled from the dumpster.
KAGAN: And a very unusual gun, the murder weapon?
BLANKSTEIN: Yes. A German-made World War II era handgun.
KAGAN: Huh.
BLANKSTEIN: So it will be interesting. Now, you know, one of the other things that people focused on was the .38 caliber weapon that he went back to Betellows (ph) and had left. Apparently that's not something that's going to play a role in this case.
KAGAN: And real quickly, various physical and strong circumstantial evidence against Robert Blake is what we are hearing. What do they have?
BLANKSTEIN: Well, they are not saying specifically in terms of the physical evidence, but as I said, I mean, they have a murder weapon. They believe Blake was the trigger man. In terms of the circumstantial evidence, I am sure in terms of bank records and phone records and other financial data has been reviewed, and that's going to come out in trial, I believe.
KAGAN: And there are apparently special circumstances here. So do you think this is going to be a death penalty case?
BLANKSTEIN: You know, it's really hard to say. And I think one of the other interesting things will be where they try this. Do they try this downtown or in the Van Nuys courthouse, which is closer to where the murder took place? You know, during the O.J. Simpson trial, obviously there was a lot of...
KAGAN: There was a concern about a jury of his peers. I don't know if that would be a problem in the Robert Blake case.
BLANKSTEIN: Yes, but the...
KAGAN: He could find peers in the valley, couldn't he?
BLANKSTEIN: In terms of Santa Monica, I mean, people said, well, there was, in terms of a conservative jury vs. possibly a jury that would be more sympathetic to the defendant, downtown become an issue, after -- you know after everybody was kind of dissecting the case. And it will be interesting, I think, going forward whether they choose that location or they do it downtown.
KAGAN: I know you will be watching it, and so will we.
BLANKSTEIN: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Andrew Blankstein from the "L.A. Times". We would love to have you back as the case unfolds
BLANKSTEIN: Thank you very much -- thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Thank you so much.
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