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Interview with Lorenzo Benet on Robert Blake Murder Case

Aired April 25, 2002 - 11:13   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: Well we go from Italy to California, the Robert Blake case. The actor's attorney is flatly denying that Blake tried to hire a pair of Hollywood stuntmen to kill his wife. Harland Braun says that Blake knows the two men casually. One published report says that they worked together on Blake's "Baretta" television series, but attorney Braun suggests the stuntmen are making up their story to get a piece of the limelight. Blake is charged with killing his wife, Bonny Bakley, outside a Los Angeles-area restaurant a year ago. He pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Lorenzo Benet is covering the Blake case for "People" magazine. The Hollywood murder mystery is the cover story of the up-and-coming issue of "People," which will hit newsstands tomorrow. Lorenzo Benet joins us from Los Angeles with insight on the stuntmen and their shocking allegations.

Lorenzo, good morning, thanks for joining us.

LORENZO BENET, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

KAGAN: Looking through your article, it looks like you were on to the stuntmen before Harland Braun kind of came out and scooped you guys and by announcing it. But you have a lot of details in the article about them so what can you tell us about these two guys?

BENET: Well that's true. Gary McClaugherty (ph) is a very well known stuntman from Hollywood. He met...

KAGAN: Kind of a colorful figure, isn't he.

BENET: Yes. Well he met Blake on a movie, "Coast to Coast," he worked with him on "Baretta." He also did the "Twilight Zone" movie in which he testified for the prosecution in the subsequent murder trial and he was labeled a hostile witness for the prosecution. So it remains to be seen if he's going to be a big witness in this forthcoming Blake trial how cooperative he might actually be.

KAGAN: But didn't you have a chance to talk to his son -- I think "People" magazine did?

BENET: Yes, we did. Yes, one of my colleagues actually spoke to Cole, his son. And Cole told us that he confirmed that Gary, his father, did meet with Blake. They met at a restaurant in the San Fernando Valley. And he did admit that he -- that Blake approached him, offering money to do -- quote -- "something" -- unquote -- to Bonny. Now Gary left that meeting just basically feeling -- didn't really believe what was happening. And he also just told his son, Cole, that he just felt Blake was acting crazy.

KAGAN: So when would this meeting allegedly have taken place?

BENET: We believe it happened in March prior to the death of Bonny Bakley.

KAGAN: So a few months before that would have taken place?

BENET: That's right.

KAGAN: A couple of other nuggets that I found in the article that I hadn't seen anywhere else. First of all, the special treatment that Robert Blake gets as a celebrity. He -- you report that he received 15 minutes warning before police came to arrest him and that he was able to make special provisions for his little daughter to be taken care of. I don't imagine the average murder suspect in L.A. County would get that kind of treatment?

BENET: Well that's true. Mr. Braun was called by the Police Detective Ito (ph) just prior to the time they moved in on Mr. Blake. And when they arrived, Delina (ph) was in his -- I'm sorry, correction, not Delina. Rosie (ph) was in...

KAGAN: Rosie is the little 2-year-old?

BENET: Right.

KAGAN: Right.

BENET: Rosie was in his care along with -- the nanny was there, too. But they couldn't leave Rosie alone with the nanny because the nanny wasn't a legal guardian. Delina had to come. And so Blake asked them to wait, and they waited for a good half hour until Delina showed up. And they reached Delina by cell phone, I believe, and she came over. And once Delina was there, they took Blake downtown.

KAGAN: And that's who the 2-year-old remains with right now his grown daughter from a previous marriage?

BENET: That's right.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, he's being kept in L.A. County jail, but he's not with the general population.

BENET: Right, he's staying in the -- what they call the Hospital Ward. It's a celebrity arrangement that they do for high-profile inmates. They don't put them in with the general population because they fear, you know, they might get hurt. It's the same place where Eric Menendez stayed and other celebrities like Kelsey Grammer who had done their time over there, too.

KAGAN: Just real, real quickly, I -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first person -- place I learned that there was gunpowder testing on Robert Blake on the night of the murder last May 4.

BENET: Right. Yes, Mr. Braun reported that. And it's really no surprise. It's very standard. When a gun is used in a crime and they have a potential suspect, they'll test their hands for gunpowder and their clothing and things like that. Mr. Braun is discounting that for a couple of reasons. One, Blake admits to handling a gun that night. He handled -- he says he handled his own gun. He was -- in fact he went back to the restaurant supposedly to get his gun which he had left in the booth where they had dinner at Vitello's.

KAGAN: That's true.

BENET: And when he returned, he found -- he says he found his wife dead.

KAGAN: So that could discount how those tests turn out.

Lorenzo Benet from "People" magazine, we'll be looking for that cover story. Thank you so much.

BENET: Thank you.

KAGAN: Hitting the stands tomorrow.

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