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American Morning

Interview with James Ellroy, 'GQ' Writer-at-Large

Aired April 22, 2002 - 08:49   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Actor Robert Blake expected to be arraigned today in Los Angeles. He is charged with murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, almost a year ago. Depending on the eventual charges, and the outcome of the trial, the former TV star and film actor could ultimately face the death penalty. Crime writer James Ellroy, the author of "L.A. Confidential," offered his own insights into the crime in a piece that he wrote for the March issue of "GQ," where he is writer-at-large.

I spoke to him a little earlier this morning from Kansas City, Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAFFERTY: Mr. Ellroy, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's nice to have you with us.

What makes you so certain that Blake's the guy here?

JAMES ELLROY, AUTHOR: I'm not entirely certain that Blake's the guy, but I'll tell you this -- Steve Cooley, the demon D.A. of Los Angeles County is. My friend Ron Ito (ph) on LAPD is, that's good enough for me.

CAFFERTY: Is this a case where because it has taken almost a year to bring these charges, the LAPD was a little shell-shocked after the OJ Simpson thing, they wanted to make sure all the "T"'s were crossed, the "I"'s dotted before they made a move against Blake for fear that they couldn't take two high profile mistakes in a row here?

ELLROY: Yes. This is a big case. It's going to get a hell of a lot of attention. They want to make damn sure that they win.

CAFFERTY: What makes you think they're going to win? I mean, not -- why do you think they are going to be able to lock the jailhouse door behind Robert Blake on this?

ELLROY: First of all, Robert Blake is white. His alleged victim is white. There's no race card to play. They've taken eleven and half months to put this case together. All the "I"'s are dotted, all the "T"'s are crossed. Robert Blake's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is grass, and the LAPD and the LA DA's office is the lawn mower.

CAFFERTY: You know, Blake's attorney has gone out of his way to suggest that there might be other people out there who had reason to dislike Bonny Bakley, or worse, that she had other enemies, that she was involved in activities that would have created certain ill feelings in certain quarters. If this thing comes to trial, do they put her on trial, based on her past, is that the strategy to try to maybe get to that reasonable doubt?

ELLROY: Of course they will. Yes. Mr. Braun has already said Robert Blake is not responsible for this crime. That may be a disingenuous way of stating that he's a whack, he's a ding, he's a 51- 50. Bonny Lee Bakley, who has gone to her heavenly, or hellish, reward will be put on trial as well.

CAFFERTY: What kind of things are they going to try to suggest, as far as she's concerned?

ELLROY: That she's promiscuous, that she is a celebrity stalker, that she is a scam artist. And she may well have been all those things. Too bad, murder 1-8-7, California penal code, it's still against the law.

CAFFERTY: All right. Robert Blake agreed to marry Bonny Lee Bakley following a DNA test that established that he was the father of Bakley's little girl. We've got a piece of tape from Bonny Bakley's answering machine where she's talking to a gentleman on the phone about the child and about Blake's possible reaction to his paternity. Let's listen to the tape and get your reaction to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONNY LEE BAKLEY, VICTIM: I don't know if the baby is going to work for me or against me, you know. Sometimes they are a pain to have around, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it is his baby, right?

BAKLEY: Yes, but you know, like, he still may not like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAFFERTY: Was he perhaps feeling trapped by this child and...

ELLROY: My first reaction is it's unconscionable to have children if you don't want to take care of the little so and sos until they're 18 years old...

CAFFERTY: Well, I understand, but not every child...

ELLROY: ...if the damn woman had gone out and gotten an abortion we wouldn't be in this position right now. It's tragic.

CAFFERTY: Well, I'm not so sure she's a "damn woman." I mean, you know, that's not a judgment, maybe, we ought to be making on this TV program, but, you know, not every child that is born in this country...

ELLROY: I think it's one that we can. I think it's one that we can. She was a scam artist. She was promiscuous. She was a celebrity stalker, and she did get pregnant deliberately to ensnare Robert Blake. That doesn't justify her murder.

CAFFERTY: Never the less, not every child born in this country is a planned event. Sometimes babies arrive, and the parents are called on to make the best of the circumstance they hadn't counted on.

ELLROY: Yes, that's true.

CAFFERTY: Well, what's wrong with that? I mean, isn't there a moral obligation to step in and do the right thing?

ELLROY: Listen to the subtext. Listen to the subtext right there. She's talking about the baby as a ploy, she's not talking about loving, caring for a child, the pros and cons there. It's a ploy.

CAFFERTY: All right. You refer to this as a mid-sized celebrity murder, as opposed to, I guess, a jumbo size. What do you mean by that?

ELLROY: It's a low-rent TV actor. The victim was not an attractive woman by Hollywood standards. We did OJ once, we're not going to do it again. Steve Cooley's not going to let it happen.

CAFFERTY: All right, Mr. Ellroy, we're going to have to leave it there, appreciate you visiting with us this morning. Nice to have you here.

ELLROY: Good to be here.

CAFFERTY: James Ellroy, writer-at-large and author.

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