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CNN Larry King Live

Robert Blake is Arrested For the Murder of His Wife

Aired April 18, 2002 - 21:00   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.
LARRY KING, HOST: As you know, we have circumvented all other programming, scheduled to stay on top of this breaking news story. Let's go to Charles Feldman in New York who had this first earlier today, that the accused killer, Robert Blake, the actor accused of killing his wife is under arrest, will be arraigned on Monday in Van Nuys, California.

How did you learn of this, Charles? When did this break to you?

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, this is something, Larry, that we've been following for a couple of days now. This is a case, as you know, that has been going on for quite some time. But in recent days, it has sort of reached a fevered pitch. And it was my understanding a couple of days ago that all that was required was that the district attorney in Los Angeles give the approval.

Now, normally, I should add, the police don't need the approval of the district attorney to arrest somebody on a murder charge. But because this is a very high profile case and you're dealing with a high profile individual and because they do not and did not want to repeat the debacle of the O.J. Simpson case, the police did not want to make a move until the DA said that they were confident that this was a case that they could successfully prosecute in a court of law.

About a day or two ago, it's my understanding, the police were given a free hand. They were told, go do what you got to do. Then it became, Larry, a logistical problem, the biggest problem being, as I'm sure you know, there's a little child involved in all of this. This is Rosie (ph). This is the child that Robert Blake had with his deceased wife. She's three years old. She lives in the house. It's actually Mr. Blake's sister's home, but he now lives there, having given up his own home a few months ago because of, I guess, all of the press, all of us pestering him all the time.

So he moved in with his sister, took the kid with him. And this was a really big consideration in what to do. One of the things that the cops didn't want to do was make some kind of move that would in any way traumatize a 3-year-old child. And so a lot of planning went into how to go about this arrest.

KING: Charles, with the picture we're seeing now is of his sister's house?

FELDMAN: That is correct.

KING: He has not been removed from that house yet?

FELDMAN: I actually don't know. I'm watching this picture from afar. I'm actually here in New York.

KING: I think -- hold on a second, Charles. Thelma Gutierrez, stay right with us. Our CNN reporter is on the scene. Thelma, can you hear me?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can, Larry. And from this particular vantage point, we're right outside of the gate of Hidden Hills. We are not right in front of his home. We have not seen police come back through this area. We do not know if Mr. Blake has actually been taken out of his home at this point. I understand, earlier, Aaron was watching the home from the chopper shots from our affiliates.

KING: Yes. That's what we're seeing now, Thelma.

GUTIERREZ: Larry.

KING: Yes, you hang there, we'll be getting back to you.

Charles, we can't verify that he has been taken out of the house. Apparently at this point, he has not. Do you know the particulars of the indictment, what they're saying, what happened?

FELDMAN: Actually, Larry, there's no indictment in this case.

KING: Of the arrest. Do they have to give a reason? They have to list, here's what happened.

FELDMAN: My understanding is -- and this is just sort of background information -- is that the theory of this case is that Mr. Blake tried to hire a hitman to kill his wife, was apparently unsuccessful in that attempt. And it is the theory of the police that he ended up pulling the trigger himself and killing his wife.

There's another individual involved in this who is also either going to be arrested or is arrested as we speak. And this is somebody who I'm told was not actually in Los Angeles on the night of the murder, but in some fashion played a role in this whole affair. But it is the theory that Mr. Blake was the one who actually pulled the trigger.

KING: What took so long between the occurrence and now to gather this information?

FELDMAN: Well, I think a lot of the information was gathered fairly early on. But you know, as you know, Larry, most murder cases are actually circumstantial. You very rarely, except in movies, have an eyewitness to a homicide. And when you have a circumstantial case, you really have to go about very meticulously trying to build it so that when you eventually go in before a jury, you can convince them beyond a reasonable doubt that the case that you are laying out is, in fact, what happened. And the stakes in a murder case are as high as you could get.

One of the reasons it took this long, frankly, is that nobody wanted to make a mistake. You know, the police wanted to be sure that they had the man or the men that they think are involved, keeping in mind, of course, that Mr. Blake does enjoy the protection of being considered innocent until proven otherwise.

KING: I got you.

FELDMAN: The police, of course, have their theory, and the police's theory had to be gathered very carefully. They had to convince the district attorney because in high profile cases, the police will not make a move without the DA saying, yes, you know, you got it and we'll back you on this.

KING: This did occur May 4. So it is almost a year ago. By the way, we have a tape we're going to show you through our affiliate KABC, another affiliate in Los Angeles, of the bodyguard apparently being arrested. And if they'll throw that up now, we'll look at that.

Apparently the bodyguard we see on the ground there. And this is, as we said, through KABC. And this is happening live now. Charles, can you see this, too?

FELDMAN: Yes, I can, Larry. Yes.

KING: We're showing a tape. The graphic says live, but we're showing you tape of the live scene. And there is the bodyguard. Now, his connection, Charles, as we understand it, is what? The police think he did what?

FELDMAN: It's a little bit murky. But it is not believed, as I understand it, that he was physically in Los Angeles on the night of the murder, but in some fashion had something to do with what amounts to a conspiracy to commit murder. It is unclear in my mind whether that means he was the one that tried to procure a hitman or whether he in some way aided or abetted Mr. Blake. That won't come out until either a news conference, which I presume will be happening shortly, that the police will give. And certainly will come out, I believe, at the arraignment which is now scheduled for Monday, I believe, in Van Nuys.

KING: Charles, you know the L.A. area. You know the coverage. You know the police work. What appears to be taking so long to arrest someone?

FELDMAN: Well, you mean in terms of why it took so many months to make this arrest?

KING: No, no, no. This scene now. I mean, we've been seeing this scene -- we see it on television. Usually they go in and say, here are your rights, come into the car.

FELDMAN: Right. On TV, right, Columbo moves in and makes the arrest and everybody -- it is all concluded before the commercial break. But in reality, what happens is it's a long process. They have to give the defendant his or her Miranda rights. They have to make them aware that they're entitled to an attorney, all those things that you, I'm sure, remember from countless detective and crime shows. All that has to be done.

And then there's the consideration, as I mentioned before, there's a child here. Mr. Blake lives with that 3-year-old daughter that he had with his dead wife, Rosie. And, you know, the cops are very aware of that. It doesn't make much to traumatize a 3-year-old child and they have to be very careful that they don't do that. So what's going on inside the house, of course, is impossible for me to say. But I'm sure that that's one of the very important considerations that's making this seem as if it's happening in slow time, but that really is kind of the way it does happen.

KING: Thelma Gutierrez, on the scene, what can you tell us from your vantage point, what are you seeing with regard to the media approach, traffic and the like? This is shades of O.J. Simpson.

GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, Larry, we see three helicopters -- actually four or five now that I look up into the air. More have joined us out here outside of Hidden Hills. If you take a look, right behind me, you can see there is just a lot of media here. Many people coming home, going through this gate, learning what has happened. They've asked questions about what is going on.

We don't have any word yet as to whether or not Mr. Blake has actually been led out of this area by police. We understand that there are three entrances to this community. So it's anyone's guess exactly when they'll escort him out and also, Larry, which entrance they'll end up coming through.

KING: How many policemen have you seen?

GUTIERREZ: I saw a sheriff's car go through, several unmarked detective vehicles and three LAPD vehicles come through. There were a couple of unmarked cars here about an hour ago that had blocked off all incoming traffic to Hidden Hills. As soon as the LAPD went through, those vehicles continued to allow the residents to come back into the community -- Larry.

KING: Now, Charles, this is -- thank you, Thelma, stay right there -- Charles, this is, as you say, this is the valley, is it not?

FELDMAN: This is the valley. That is correct.

KING: So what police are handling this? Is this L.A. police? Is it Van Nuys police, sheriffs, who?

FELDMAN: Well, I believe that we saw -- and maybe that's what we're looking at the live picture we have up, that might actually be a sheriff's car. It is hard for me to make out the markings from where I'm sitting. But as you know, L.A. is -- L.A. County is kind of a patchwork. Parts of it is the city of Los Angeles, and you've got other little cities weaving in and out. And in some places, the jurisdiction is actually with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. In a case such as this, if Mr. Blake's house is actually within the sheriff's jurisdiction, they of course would take part in the arrest. But the LAPD, of course, would be there since it is their case.

KING: A little background. On May 4 of last year -- by the way, if you're just joining us, you're watching a special edition of LARRY KING LIVE as we're on top of a breaking news story right here in our backyard in Los Angeles. We have Charles Feldman in New York. We have Thelma Gutierrez on the scene and we'll be checking in with others shortly.

On May 4 of last year, Robert Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was found shot in the actor's car outside an Italian restaurant in Studio City. She was 44. They had been married just six months. Bonnie Lee was the mother of Blake's youngest child, Rose, who was 11 months old at the time. So she is now approaching her second year.

Blake said he had left Bakley alone in the car while he returned to the restaurant to retrieve his gun. Almost from the beginning, some members of Bakley's family pointed the finger of accusation at the actor. Blake consistently denied any involvement in his wife's death. Blake's attorney repeatedly pointed to Bonny Lee's own checkered past and suggested that it had caught up to her with fatal results.

And what you're watching on your screen now is the scene at the home of what we're told is Robert Blake's sister, where he and his daughter Rose have been residing, where apparently an arrest is imminent. We have seen a tape of his bodyguard, who apparently his co-conspirator in this, as we understand it. He's charged directly -- will be charged directly with the killing. And the bodyguard has been already placed under arrest. And we already know, Charles, apparently there will be an arraignment Monday, we know this?

FELDMAN: Well, that's what I was told, that if the arrest goes down today, this was of course earlier, that the likely arraignment date would be on Monday because it takes a certain number of days usually for the police to file their case with the district attorney. Having said that, things sometimes do change and sometimes the schedule can be accelerated. I suppose it is possible that something might happen tomorrow. But my guess is based on my discussions earlier in the day, it would be Monday.

KING: How much of this is because -- this scene here, the time it's taking, the people gathered out front, is because it's Robert Blake? If this were John Jones accused of killing Thelma Jones, would this be the scene, without the press?

FELDMAN: No, no. Larry, if this were Joe Schmoe, no, this scene would not be like this and I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you and you wouldn't care about it at all, I'm sure. In a normal arrest for a homicide, you will have a number of police cars, of course, on the scene but usually it goes much quicker.

KING: Charles, let me cut into you a second, Charles. And by the way, you can join in on this. Harland Braun, who is the attorney for Robert Blake, is with us by phone from his automobile. He's on the way to Parker Center, the main police center. Can you hear me, Harland?

HARLAND BRAUN, ROBERT BLAKE'S ATTORNEY: Yes, I can hear you, Larry.

KING: I will tell you that I know Harlan Brown pretty well. We've breakfasted together. It's always good to see you. What do you make of this, Harlan? Are you shocked?

BRAUN: I'm really surprised. I got a call from the police just before they got to his house to have me call Robert and alert him that they were coming. I am surprised. I would have always expected them to come back and ask to interview Robert again, based on their 11- month investigation, to see what his explanation would be to anything that they turned up. So that's what did surprise me. But we're on our way down there and we'll see Robert in a few minutes.

KING: What did he say to you when he called him?

BRAUN: Well, he was shocked, but I said just remain calm and (AUDIO GAP) come on out and cooperate in every way. He said, of course, I will. He was a little concerned because he just had his shorts on. He wanted to get dressed. So I told him to wait until the police got there to get dressed because I didn't want any delay.

KING: Now, you're going right to Parker Center. We're looking at the scene in front of his sister's house. He's not come out yet. Do you know what the reason for this delay is, because you're going to be there well before him?

BRAUN: Possibly they may have a search warrant for his house. And they may also be making arrangements for his daughter, Rosie. They have a nanny there, but there has to be someone to take care of Rosie. Robert's daughter, Dellie (ph), is on her way over there to help take care of the child.

KING: Is the charge going to be first-degree murder?

BRAUN: We have no idea. I assume it involves a murder charge. I'm not sure of the details of it yet.

KING: Do you know what the bodyguard was arrested for?

BRAUN: No, we don't. Just heard a report on the TV that he was arrested. We don't have any idea what he was arrested for.

KING: So, Mr. Blake, when he is -- he's being arrested in the house now, right?

BRAUN: That's right. Yes. So, he should be to court at -- see, tomorrow is Friday -- he'll be in court at least by Monday.

KING: Right. He will be detained, will he not? Is there a bail hearing immediately? BRAUN: Normally not. They have to bring him before a judge within 48 hours of court time. So that means he's got to be before a judge by Monday.

KING: Is this the kind of case, Harland, where it will be very difficult to get bail?

BRAUN: It's hard to say right now. Usually with murder charges, if that's what it is, bail is relatively difficult, although Robert's 68 years old, no criminal record. He's remained around for a long time. I would think they should set a bail -- probably the bail schedule calls for a $1 million bail. He could post that if they set it at that.

KING: When you called him, would you say he was shocked?

BRAUN: Because he just sounded shocked from knowing him for almost a year now. He sounded very shocked that they were coming to arrest him. But he seemed calm. So I'll know better when I talk to him this evening.

KING: Had he had expressed to you, Harland, a theory of the case?

BRAUN: No. He's been working with us on various theories. There's an awful lot of people in Bonny's past that would have a motive. Recently, the police asked us for a hitman letter which we had where someone threatened her with a hitman. They also were investigating another robber in the area. So we really don't -- we had a number of different theories. There was, unfortunately, because of her background, there were just too many theories to prove anything positively.

KING: Do you think all this attention will hurt or help your client from a standpoint of a fair trial?

BRAUN: It is hard really to know. It is hard to know. I mean, I hope he can get a fair trial. But everyone's been following the case. I could give you a better opinion when I have an idea what their case consists of. We'll probably know that within the next week or so, what evidence they claim they have.

KING: They have to turn it all over to you, don't they? Disclosure.

BRAUN: Essentially, they have to give us any evidence that they have. But like I said, I was very surprised that they didn't -- you know, Robert talked to them for four hours the night of the murder. I'm surprised they didn't ask to re-interview him so they could at least get his explanation before they arrested him.

KING: In other words, does this bring you a fear then that they have some pretty strong evidence if they didn't re-interview him, they just came out with an arrest?

BRAUN: Not really. I just thought it would have been a better police technique, one way or the other, because if they had great evidence, then they should confront him with it and see what he has to say, maybe they would catch him in something and they at least get his explanation ahead of time. So that's why that surprised me.

KING: Where are you right now?

BRAUN: I'm on the Santa Monica Freeway, probably a couple miles from downtown Los Angeles.

KING: And when you get to Parker Center, you will go where?

BRAUN: I'll probably go to the front lobby and find out where the -- probably go to the homicide, robbery/homicide division and wait for Robert.

KING: Now, we were informed there would be an arraignment Monday in Van Nuys. Why Van Nuys?

BRAUN: I'm surprised. I would have thought it would be downtown. It is a -- her killing occurred in that district, so maybe they want to try it in Van Nuys rather than downtown Los Angeles.

KING: Charles Feldman, Harland, who I know you know, is with us. He's in our New York studios. Charles, do you have any questions for Harland Braun? If you just joined us, on the phone is Harland Braun. He's Robert Blake's attorney. He's on the way to Parker Center, that's police headquarters in Los Angeles, where it is expected that Robert Blake will be brought, charged with the murder of his wife. His bodyguard already under arrest. Do you have any questions, Charles, for Harland?

FELDMAN: Yes. Harland, how are you?

BRAUN: How are you, Charles?

FELDMAN: Fine. I'm surprised though when you say that you were surprised by the arrest. We've spoken, as you know, many, many times over the past few months. You've told me on many, many occasions that you were convinced that from the get-go, Robert Blake was the only suspect that the police had.

And while a couple of weeks ago, I know you did say that you thought the police had moved on and were now convinced or were convinced that he was not responsible for the death, you quickly followed that up, as I recall, by saying that nonetheless, you thought that they were going after him. So can you really be as shocked by all this as you're claiming now?

BRAUN: I am. I am because he was the only person they were focusing on, but there were so many other possibilities. And as I said to Larry, I would have thought that the police would have called me before this arrest.

KING: Let me interrupt you a second, Harland, Charles. Someone, apparently Mr. Blake, handcuffed, has been put into that sheriff's car, police car there. Can you see anything from your vantage point, Thelma?

GUTIERREZ: No, Larry, I can't. All of the scene is about a quarter mile away from where I am standing, which is right side of the gate of hidden hills. But I understand that all the helicopters are moving in that direction, and someone had said that they thought that Mr. Blake was coming out of his home.

KING: Well, apparently, Harland, your client is under arrest officially now, and has been, we're going to assume, a handcuffed person -- we can't positively identify, but it must be Robert Blake -- has been placed in this sheriff's car and will be brought to Parker Center. That's quite a distance away at this time of night. You will be there well before him, won't you, Harland?

BRAUN: I will be there in about 10 minutes.

KING: Charles, as you make it out, we haven't got a closer picture, is that what it appears to you, that Robert Blake is now handcuffed and in that car?

FELDMAN: I wish my eyesight was a lot better, Larry, but I have to admit that it's really hard to see on the screen that I'm looking at.

KING: What his daughter, Harland, who will take -- how will Rose be taken care of?

BRAUN: Well, Robert's got an adult daughter, Delly (ph), that has bonded with the child and taken care of her for a long, long time, so Delly (ph) will take care of Rosie. And assuming that Robert can make bail, he'll be out, again, sharing those duties now with Delly (ph).

KING: If bail is at all granted. We remember in Simpson's case there was no bail. We're now reshowing the walk-out, the arrest of a handcuffed person that we're saying is Robert Blake. We can't positively tell you that, but who else could it be?

FELDMAN: Harland?

BRAUN: Yes.

FELDMAN: This is Charles again. I'm curious, under what circumstances, if any, could this become a capital case? Could they go for the death penalty on this in California?

BRAUN: I don't really want to speculate on that. That's up to the prosecution. There's a number of different theories. This is the kind of...

KING: By the way, Harland, just before you complete the answer, the car is now pulling out and backing out. Now it's getting on the main street. And there goes, we assume, the sheriff's car, some police vehicle with Mr. Blake inside, we assume heading out now and heading, we assume, for Parker Center. Go ahead. You want to continue about the question of capital punishment. BRAUN: Yeah. It depends on the DA's evaluation. There are a number of different theories. I tend to doubt that this would be that type of a case, given his lack of background and the fact that their theory is that it's sort of a domestic, emotional situation.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Hold on one second, Charles. Thelma, has the car passed you?

GUTIERREZ: No, Larry. The car has not passed me. In fact, someone had told me that they believe that the car was heading in an opposite direction from this particular gate that I'm standing at.

KING: Obviously, it did, because...

(CROSSTALK)

GUTIERREZ: ... turn around and come this way here.

KING: We don't know, because it's gone well beyond a quarter of a mile. Charles?

FELDMAN: Yes. What I was saying, Harland, is going back to the potential for it being a capital offense case, if the theory is that this wasn't a crime of passion, something that happened at the spur of the moment but was premeditated, that he may have tried to hire a hitman, that this was well thought out and well planned, would that not under California law, in your view, be the extenuating circumstances that might qualify this as a capital offense?

BRAUN: It might. But the DA here normally looks at the totality of the circumstances, including the man's background, whether the victim in any way brought -- what type of a victim it was, whether in any way she contributed to it, what her motive was. So we have to wait and see what the DA's evaluation is of the case.

FELDMAN: Are you going to try to ...

KING: I'm sorry. Harland, in the Simpson case, the prosecutors made the decision to hold that trial downtown. They could have held it in Santa Monica. Do you have any idea where they would hold this trial? Could it be held in Van Nuys?

BRAUN: Well, because of the Simpson case, the court rules have changed, so that this case would be held in Van Nuys, not downtown Los Angeles. The case would have to be tried in the part of the county that they occur. So that's why it would be in Van Nuys.

KING: Charles, you were going to ask Harland another question?

FELDMAN: Actually, I was just going to finish up on the issue of whether or not you would move as his lawyer to try to get the case out of either -- out of Southern California. Do you think that it would be worth your while to take it somewhere outside of the state? Can you do that? BRAUN: You cannot go outside the state, but this is a large county, so I tend to doubt that it would be much of a benefit. This case is of interest across the country. So I'd have to evaluate that, but I tend to doubt that we'd be able to move this case out of Los Angeles.

FELDMAN: So how hard is it going to be, Harland, to find a jury that is going to approach this with fresh eyes?

BRAUN: It's hard to know, but the question is would a jury somewhere else in some other part of the country have less knowledge of it? I tend to doubt it. But you know, that's sort of premature to be discussing that.

KING: If you've just joined us, you're watching, this is a special edition of LARRY KING LIVE following a breaking news story. Actor Robert Blake -- his bodyguard already placed under arrest. He is being arrested now. He's in that car, handcuffed and being taken, we understand, to Parker Center. That's the main police headquarters. We have with us on the phone his attorney, Harland Braun, who is on his way there myself. You must be almost there, Harland.

BRAUN: Yeah, but I'm going to have to get off the phone right now, Larry. I've got some people I've got to call.

KING: OK.

BRAUN: So I'll talk to you later.

KING: Thank you, thank you for giving us the time, Harland Braun. Is Cary Goldstein on the phone?

CARY GOLDSTEIN, BAKLEY'S ATTORNEY: Yes, I am.

KING: Now, Cary, you are the attorney for the late Mrs. Bakley, right?

GOLDSTEIN: That's correct. And I also currently represent many family members.

KING: What do you make of this?

GOLDSTEIN: What do I make of this? I think that after thousands and thousands of hours of investigation by the LAPD, they have concluded that Robert Blake and Earl Caldwell are responsible for the death of Bonnie Bakley.

KING: Earl Caldwell was the bodyguard we've already seen arrested?

GOLDSTEIN: Yes.

KING: And what is the scenario, as you understand it? Do you know their case?

GOLDSTEIN: No, I honestly don't know their case. But what I can say is that this is what Bonnie was telling her sister Marjorie and myself was going to happen. And Marjorie has been telling this to the police; the police followed the lead. Apparently, it all fell into place. They have the evidence with which to do this.

Larry, I can tell you that because of the public scrutiny of this case that absolutely they're going to put on a thorough, competent case, because they're not going to risk losing this after what happened with prior trials.

KING: Cary, you remain with us on the phone.

Joining us here in Los Angeles is Mark Geragos, the well-known criminal attorney who has been on with us on many occasions. And joining us from Washington is Julian Epstein, former counsel for the Judiciary Committee, now in private practice in Washington. We'll start with you, Mark, are you shocked at this?

MARK GERAGOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Not really. You know, the rumors have been for the last four months that there was going to be arrests. There was also a rumor about a grand jury. Actually, it wasn't a rumor. They had convened a grand jury, about three or four months ago, and then canceled it at the last minute.

I think that what they were doing is that Harland had, I think, put out so many different possible alternatives that the LAPD's feeling was and the DA's office was that they were going to go and explore and run down all of those before they ever made an arrest in this case.

KING: Julian Epstein, from your vantage point of being some 2,200 miles away, what do you make? This car looks like it's following traffic rules. It's not going very fast as it brings Mr. Blake to be formally arrested at Parker Center. Julian, what's your read?

JULIAN EPSTEIN, FORMER COUNSEL TO HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You know, Larry, just a very preliminary read is that the parallels to the O.J. case are just uncanny.

KING: I know. I feel like I'm in deja vu.

EPSTEIN: You feel like you're watching O.J. right there as you're looking at a white vehicle traveling down the Los Angeles freeways.

But I think the analogy goes beyond just what you see on your television screen. I think what the police are very, very conscious of here is not having an O.J. redux. And the sense amongst the L.A. police for sure is that O.J. got away. I think the L.A. police were very, very careful during the course of the last, what, 11 months -- I think May 4 was the date that the killing took place. I think they were very careful to nail everything down before they went through what is now going to be the next kind of celebrity legal murder case.

So I think that the case has probably got to be pretty strong against him at this point, or the police -- and they know that this is going to be on LARRY KING LIVE and on every other network right now in simulcast. I think that they understand the public dimensions, the public relations dimensions of this. I think they would have been very careful to make sure they had everything nailed down before they took this action.

KING: Is this, Mark Geragos, the kind of case that they will have telecast?

GERAGOS: I think it's all going to depend on which judge they put in front of. You had indicated before that they're releasing information that it's going to be in Van Nuys. If it's going to be in van nuys, you have to read the tea leaves here, what that probably means is that they have not gotten a grand jury indictment. If they had a grand jury indictment, traditionally that means the arraignment would be in department 100 downtown, which means you would not have a televised preliminary hearing under any circumstances because they went in front of the grand jury.

KING: Why are they bringing him downtown now?

GERAGOS: They are bringing him downtown now I think for security purposes because the Van Nuys jail, although it's a large jail, generally that's where they take the men. Parker center is much better equipped for the media onslaught.

KING: Cary Goldstein on the phone, the attorney for the family of the diseased. Are you happy about the event?

GOLDSTEIN: The proof will be in the pudding. We'll need to see a conviction. I assure you the family will be pleased that there's been resolution in the matter.

I will say this -- I compliment the P.D. and the d.a.'s office for doing some what apparently has been really devoted, thorough work. I noticed right away that Harland was resuming the bashing of Bonnie. And, you know, saying something to the effect that they're going to look to see whether she contributed to the murder.

That's nonsense. This woman was shot to death in a car. What did she do to possibly contribute to her death? And of course, this is going to be a capital crime case. This is a case that was premeditated. This was thought out. There's a lot of history to this case, a lot of history in the relationship.

GERAGOS: That doesn't necessarily mean Cary, that it is going to be a capital case. Even charging a premeditated and deliberate as a first degree, you still, there's the difference between whether or not there's going to be special circumstances here in California. The difference is if there is special circumstance, he's not entitled to bail. If there's no special circumstance, the bail schedule calls for $1 million.

KING: We have joining us as well now -- we've got everybody going -- Charles Feldman is on the scene in New York, Julian Epstein in Washington, Cary Goldstein, the attorney for the deceased on the phone, we have spoken already with Harland Braun. He's heading into Parker Center, he is the attorney for Mr. Blake. You're watching the car with Mr. Blake in it on the way to Parker Center. Garagos is here in the studios with us. And we're joined by Cynthia Alksne, the former prosecutor, now been a regular commentator for CNN and what is your read on this?

CYNTHIA ALKSNE, FORMER PROSECUTOR: One of the interesting things that so far I hadn't heard you talk about is that there also is the arrest of the bodyguard. Now, the question is what happens with his case? Will there be a deal -- is there a deal in the works? Will there be a deal? Will he testify? Are the police going to want to do it? Maybe they want to have both go to trial so they can point fingers at each other. That would be an interesting twist and is different from the O.J. case because there is a second perpetrator according to the police.

KING: As a prosecutor, Cynthia, and since this is almost a year ago, would you gather that they now have solid information coming from some other source since they have nothing for all this time, and then suddenly these arrests of these two people, that somebody had to bring some information to them?

ALKSNE: I'm sure they have a solid case or they wouldn't have waited so long. Sounds like they have been careful about making sure that they don't relive the O.J. debacle. And of course they have the two people who could be pointing fingers at each other. If they have statements from each of these guys that are contradictory in and of themselves and contradictory with each other, that helps their case. They may have some forensic evidence that they haven't shared with us.

KING: Charles Feldman, I don't want to read anything into voice language, Harland Braun didn't sound very confident, did he?

FELDMAN: He's a wonderful attorney.

KING: He is.

FELDMAN: He's done cases maybe not quite like this but very publicized cases before. He knows how the game is played. But I do know that I've had a number of conversations with him. I can tell you that he's thought from day one, even though he's been spinning other stuff that it has been someone from her past.

He's always said that he thought the police, from the get-go, thought that Robert Blake was the person who committed the crime and that they were going to build their case. Now, of course, he was saying that in a negative way by trying to say that the police made up their mind early on and were, therefore, excluding the possibility of other suspects.

There was some speculation about whether there was or is a grand jury indictment. I can tell you that there is actually none. This arrest is being made without an indictment. They didn't need one, they felt in this particular case.

GERAGOS: Which is why they've got the case going to Van Nuys for arraignment and not downtown L.A. KING: Cary Goldstein, did you have a question on the phone for us or a statement? I'm sorry.

GOLDSTEIN: It might have passed me, Larry. That's OK.

KING: They said go to you, I thought you had a question. Julian Epstein, would it appear that Harland Braun and his clients are up against it?

EPSTEIN: It is difficult to say at this point because the police have done a pretty good job in not leaking any of the material related to the investigation at this point. Look, this is going to be a very very interesting case. I don't know given that the problems we're having in the international war against terrorism you'll get the same type of interest you did in the O.J. case.

But both of these characters lived lives that you would almost -- I hate to draw silly analogies that looked like they came out of a "Baretta" script. They both lived in a sordid underworld with all kinds of contacts with interesting characters. I can imagine the defense that the -- the case that the defense is going to put on and the prosecution is going to put on, I mean it is going to be a -- there's a lot of characters that are involved in here.

I think Mark's point that the fact that they're going to Van Nuys is very significant. They didn't do that, remember, in the O.J. case. They're going to Van Nuys in this case which I think indicates a degree of confidence in the fact that fact that the prosecution at this point feels like they can go for broke.

GERAGOS: It also -- the selection of Van Nuys, besides the fact that the rules call for it, because that's the judicial district, you also get a completely different jury pool than you do downtown L.A. That's a significant difference.

KING: If you just joined us, you're watching the car with Robert Blake in it being arrested, being taken to Parker Center. Why no siren on this car and why are they occasionally slowing down for traffic?

GERAGOS: The bigger question is why did they arrest him in the middle of rush hour in L.A. This could have been done at 12:30. And it would have been done in 18 minutes. As it is right now, this is the fastest I've ever seen any traffic move in L.A.

GOLDSTEIN: This is Cary, I've always been curious as to why Earl was lawyered up from the very outset of this case. That was something I asked them about on your show when the story first broke. If this was just an innocent witness who had no information, he didn't require a lawyer.

KING: Cynthia, do the prosecutors now, with your knowledge of this, do they know the full case or is this more the police have more knowledge than them at this point?

ALKSNE: Boy, I sure hope so. Ordinarily, what would happen is that the police and the prosecutor would work closely together. While the police take a lead role, obviously, because they're in the investigation process, since it is such a high profile case and since there is so much interest and it is a murder case where there is going to be an arrest and a lot of scrutiny, the prosecutor should be intimately involved in all the decision making, whether it is coming to warrants, which witnesses are going to come in and talk to the police, how they're going to structure those interviews.

What are the contradictory statements, how is the forensic evidence being handled? Is the DNA going to this lab or that lab and who are the people assigned to do the interviews. All those things should have been done in cooperation with the D.A.'s office.

KING: Hold it. Mark, can we assume that there's no questioning of Mr. Blake going on in that car right now?

GERAGOS: I think that's a good assumption. I think both Scott Ross, who is the private investigator for Harland, and Harland probably drummed it into his brain, absolutely if this happens, you don't say a word, you don't say anything. He's also, you know, he obviously has communicated with the D.A. in this case. The D.A. who is assigned to this case is one of the best and brightest in the D.A.'s office. He is a young man named Greg Dohee (ph), and he's got a...

KING: You know him.

GERAGOS: ... has a supervisor out of major crimes named Pat Dixon...

KING: When he gets to Parker Center he will be finger printed?

GERAGOS: They'll put him through the booking process.

KING: When does he meet his lawyer?

GERAGOS: Probably within an hour of being booked. Harland will be down there, he'll meet him there, he'll go through all of this. The other interesting thing is they have set an arraignment for Monday in Van Nuys. But conceivably the police could set the bail right now on the arrest at $1 million. If they do that, Harland conceivable could have him bailed out prior to Monday. If that's the case, the arraignment would be postponed three weeks.

KING: Police can set bail?

GERAGOS: Yes, police can set bail according to the schedule, or no bail.

KING: For those just tuning in, we'll recap for you. Robert Blake is being charged with the murder of his wife. He and his bodyguard were both arrested, the bodyguard before him earlier. This is the arrest you are seeing now in front of his sister's house of Robert Blake.

We've talked already with his attorney Harland Braun. You're watching a tape now of his arrest, being taken into the car. He'll be taken down to Parker Center, which is the car we're following live. His bodyguard has already been arrested and we presume taken to Parker Center as well.

GERAGOS: I would assume so. The only other logical spot would be the Van Nuys jail.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: There is the tape of the arrest of the bodyguard. We don't know the specific charge that deals with the bodyguard with Mr. Blake.

And with us -- Harland Braun was with us all the way on his drive from his office to Parker Center, where he'll be meeting his client. Cary Goldstein is on the phone with us. He's the attorney for Bonnie Lee Bakley, the late Bonnie Lee Bakley, who was now being charged, by the way, as having been killed by Robert Blake. Again, this is all charges, nothing, no trial yet, nothing proven.

What you're seeing now is a picture of the late Mrs. Bakley and their daughter. Cary Goldstein, the attorney for her, is on the phone, and with us is Charles Feldman. He is at our studios in New York. Julian Epstein and Cynthia Alksne are in Washington. Mark Geragos is here in Los Angeles. Thelma Gutierrez was with us earlier on the scene. And she's left, and is probably heading for Parker Center as this car now gets involved in traffic.

Now, the process. Give us the process, Mark, that will take place. He gets fingerprinted. He gets...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: He's going to see his lawyer right away?

GERAGOS: He's going to see his lawyer as soon as they have fingerprinted and as soon as they have taken a picture of him and they've itemized whatever property he may have, they'll then take him to an attorney/client area in Parker Center that's got kind of the chicken wire caging. Harland will meet him. They'll talk through the caged area.

At that point, he will, you know, they'll go through a discussion. They'll see whether or not the police have set a bail. And if they have set a bail, I'm sure it will be posted very quickly. If they have not set a bail, then what Harland will do at that point is try to make arrangements to take care of that on Monday morning.

KING: Is this common, Cynthia -- what you're watching now is Robert Blake at the funeral of his wife, with his child and sister and daughter from a previous marriage. Is this common, Julian, to have police set bail?

EPSTEIN: It varies from state to state. In California, Mark would know this better than anyone, it's certainly legal. It certainly happens in a number of cases. I doubt that in this case, Mark, the prosecutors will allow the police to make that determination.

GERAGOS: Well, I would guarantee you, Julian, that Dohey (ph) and Dixon (ph) have already made that decision and dictated it.

EPSTEIN: That's right. I think that's probably...

GERAGOS: In a normal case situation, the police would set the bail until there's an arraignment.

EPSTEIN: Right. And I think...

KING: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) does not get bail?

ALKSNE: I would bet he does not get bail.

GERAGOS: The other option is if they went and got an arrest warrant and it's not the product of a grand jury indictment, which by all appearances -- we're reading tea leaves -- it's not. Then the arrest warrant would have the bail that's set by the magistrate who signed the arrest warrant.

KING: Charles, will you guess for me, or the Los Angeles veteran here, why this isn't a siren taking him in? And why aren't they clearing lanes?

FELDMAN: Oh, I don't know. I think what they're trying to do -- and this is going to sound silly -- but I think they're trying to keep this as low profile as possible. I know there's helicopters flying around and everyone is glued to their sets watching this car, but I think that they're trying to avoid a kind of circus atmosphere, and I guess they figured there's no great rush, they've got him in custody. They can take their time.

If I can, Larry, let me mention something -- there was some discussion before about how closely the district attorney's office may have worked with the LAPD on this case. And I could tell you that it was a very close relationship, because of the concern after O.J. Simpson that something might go wrong because it's such a high-profile case.

I've been told for months now that the LAPD early on, relatively early on, thought they had a good enough case to go for an arrest. They went repeatedly, I'm told, to the district attorney's office, and it was the DA's office, working in conjunction with the LAPD, I'm told, who kept saying, go back, get more, dot those I's, cross those T's.

KING: Hold it, fellows. Let me go to the L.A. Police Department where Frank Buckley of CNN is on hand. Frank, where are you?

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Larry, I'm right in front of Parker Center, where we've been stationed throughout the late afternoon and now into the early evening hours here. Police do say that Robert Blake, as you've been reporting, is headed down here to Parker Center for processing. They also say that there will be a press conference this evening. We're expecting the chief himself, Bernard Parks, to speak at that press conference.

And interesting, Larry, as you have been talking about the whole sense of the O.J. case once again, I just want to give you a quick sense of what's happening with the media here in Los Angeles. As we pan over, and you can get a sense of the people who are here. Once again, the reporters and cameras are here.

And I want to introduce you to a face that I know you're familiar with, someone who was here for the O.J. Simpson case, Linda Deutsch, the special correspondent for the Associated Press. Here we are again.

LINDA DEUTSCH, AP CORRESPONDENT: Here we are again. I can't believe it. Looks like we're in for another marathon case.

BUCKLEY: And strangely enough, you were telling me that this morning you actually talked to O.J. Simpson?

DEUTSCH: That's right. On a totally unrelated matter, about somebody who is suing him for legal bills. He's down in Florida. We had a little conversation on the phone this morning.

BUCKLEY: Anything about Blake come up in that conversation?

DEUTSCH: No, because I had no idea that this was going to happen today, nor did anybody else.

BUCKLEY: You have covered any number of high-profile cases throughout your career. That is what you're known for. What's your sense of what will happen next here? This is day one. But what happens now?

DEUTSCH: Now we're going to see him arraigned, and we're going to see a lot of pre-trial motions. And it's going to be a long process. I would expect his lawyer to try to get it to trial quickly. And we'll have a trial.

BUCKLEY: There has been some discussion about whether or not a -- I'm sorry, Harland Braun has just showed up, Linda.

DEUTSCH: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just arrived.

BUCKLEY: Let's see if we can get Mr. Braun to come over here. And he's declining. But Harland, we're on with Larry, can we get one word with you?

BRAUN: No, let me go in there first.

BUCKLEY: OK. All right. Understandably, a little busy there.

And Harland Braun heading up to go into Parker Center. There has been some discussion about whether or not the jury pool downtown or in Van Nuys, where it's believed Blake will be taken, is a better scenario. It's very early.

DEUTSCH: Hard to tell at this point. The jury pool downtown is very diverse. In the Valley, it may be a little less diverse, I'm not sure. But the crime occurred in the San Fernando Valley. And so normally it would be taken to the Van Nuys court, which can try it.

The last really big trial that we covered in Van Nuys was the Menendez brothers, who were tried out there. And you know, they've had big trials. They can handle them.

BUCKLEY: You've seen Harland Braun in action. He's well known here in the city. What's your sense of what kind of opponent he will be for the prosecution?

DEUTSCH: Well, he's one of the best defense attorneys in town, and he's certainly been aggressive since the Blake event happened. He's been saying his client is not guilty. And he will continue to say that.

BUCKLEY: OK. Thanks, Linda Deutsch from the Associated Press. Larry, we're going to throw it back to you.

KING: Thank you, Frank. This continuing matter, and CNN, of course, will be following this. This is no small matter. A very famous actor for a long time in America charged with murdering his wife. It does seem like deja vu.

I cannot tell, I've gotten to learn Los Angeles pretty well in the last four years, do you know, Mark, where they are now?

GERAGOS: Looks like they're getting to the four-level down at the Hollywood freeway, down there.

KING: Does that tell you they're close to Parker?

GERAGOS: Yeah, I think they're close. Looks to me like they're somewhere around Vermont.

KING: Charles, can you tell?

FELDMAN: No. I've lived in L.A. for eight years, and I can't tell the difference between the 405 and the 10. So I wouldn't know.

KING: Cynthia, I know you've spent a lot of time here.

ALKSNE: I've driven with Mark Geragos. He would have gotten there a lot more quickly.

GERAGOS: Yes. Cynthia, we were -- I think we were riding right in that very area there last time I saw you.

EPSTEIN: And I can't get over the eerie reminders, the eerie similarity to the O.J. case, as we're looking at a white vehicle traveling down the street.

KING: This is...

GERAGOS: It's interesting, though, don't you think? I was joking before about when they arrested him. But the idea that he's being arrested at 6:00 and driven at the 6:00 hour, prime-time hour here for the news, and as a sidelight, a day or two chief of police here lost his bid to get a second term. I mean, there is going to be all kinds of speculation about that as well in the coming days. You're going to hear a lot about that.

KING: Are you implying that this is all somehow contrived?

GERAGOS: I'm implying that it seems to be a little orchestrated here.

KING: Cynthia, are you surprised that they're doing this at rush hour when every local channel and the national channels in the East, this is prime-time, is focusing?

ALKSNE: Well, the easiest time to do it is at about 5:00 in the morning. That's when I like to have my arrests happen, because there's no hassles, everybody's surprised, there's never a danger, there's never any traffic, and the whole thing's over, and everybody's processed to start the arraignment right at 9:00 a.m. sharp. That's the way I would have done it.

EPSTEIN: Where is Janet Reno when we need her, Larry?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Is PR involved here?

EPSTEIN: I beg your pardon?

KING: Do you think there's PR involved here?

EPSTEIN: No, I actually don't. Here is my theory on why they're doing it at 6:00 at night. I think they probably planned to do exactly what Mark suggested that they do, which is to do it around mid-day. And inevitably, as we all know, whenever you're involved in some major high-profile drama event, inevitably something goes wrong and things don't go off according to plan precisely the way you wanted it. I think something must have occurred.

But look, during the O.J. case, the L.A. police looked like the Keystone Cops. And more than anything, they want this case to be handled as the template for law enforcement, the template for prosecutors. So I think that you can be sure they are doing everything they can right now to lower the profile of this thing as much as they can and to be sure that they're doing everything, every single thing by the books.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: You're watching a special edition of LARRY KING LIVE, the arrest of Robert Blake. Joining us here in the studios, a very well known figure on the national scene, Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight." What's your read on this?

JANN CARL, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": You know, I think there's been a cloud of suspicion from day one. I mean, I don't think there's any doubt about that. I think that Bonny's family has also made it their mission to make sure that no one has forgotten about this. So in some ways, it's not a surprise.

It's not a surprise that you know that the DA's office and the police department certainly was going to be very careful about this arrest after, as you've been saying all through this hour, after the O.J. case. But I think one thing that's very interesting you may not know is that I know that Bonny's family has been in touch with several psychics and mediums. In fact, Monday night on ABC, there was a primetime special scheduled, my assumption of course that it will go on as planned and it'll get huge ratings. But I know they spoke with George Anderson, who claims to have made contact with Bonny. So I think that's -- again, that was the family's attempt to keep the story alive, to try to find the killer.

KING: And did George Anderson say, Bonny said?

CARL: Well, you know, ABC's not going to tell us that. They're going to make us tune in to watch...

KING: Well, wouldn't you gather that Bonny said...

CARL: At some point, yes, you know, he said that he did make contact with her. And that I know they revealed at least to us when we had discussions with them, that she felt something was coming. Now, they're not going to tell us whether or not...

KING: Is this a bigger story than entertainment?

CARL: I would think tomorrow it is. You know, you never know what's going to come the next day, as you know, Larry, in news. But I think for "Entertainment Tonight," it was a huge story when it occurred. I know that we covered the story for weeks and weeks.

And I think the interesting thing for me, as, obviously, a correspondent for E.T. as well as your average viewer is that we have the advantage of 20 years of interviews with Robert Blake. And we had, you know, hours and tapes and tapes of him talking about himself, about his career but also his own personality and his own quirks and his own psyche. And we ran those a year ago. And I'm sure we're going to take another look at those again now that the arrest has occurred.

KING: And by running them again, Cynthia, do they affect the fairness of the trial?

ALKSNE: Well, I'll tell you what, that is a big issue that we really need to think about a lot. It's going to be difficult to pick a jury in this case because of the coverage, and especially now that he will have been charged. We all need to be careful about what we say, you know, me included, so that we can get a jury. It is my experience though that once you actually sit the jury down, they make every effort to put everything they know out of the way. But it's a concern in a high-profile case like this.

KING: Mark? GERAGOS: Of course. Here, though, I think that's probably why they're aiming for this case in Van Nuys. I mean, normally a case like this that's high profile, they bring it downtown. They do it by way of grand jury indictment. Here, you're going to get the preliminary hearing, presumably. They're going to get to put on the witnesses. That's going to be covered from wall to wall in terms of the coverage. So when you do that, you're going to have at the same time a jury pool that has been conditioned at least somehow to what the prosecution's evidence is.

KING: By the way, do you agree they'll be no bail? Do you agree with Cynthia?

GERAGOS: My guess is is that it would be shocking if there was a $1 million bail.

KING: Julian, do you agree, there will be no bail here?

EPSTEIN: It is probably my guess. Cynthia and I were just talking about it. Generally, the rules are a risk to the community or a risk of flight. They could argue that there is no such -- either of those two risks here. But I think in this case, the chances are probably against it. I think Mark is also right. The reason they're going to Van Nuys is exactly because of the jury pool. And remember, we've talked about this before, mere exposure, Mark, of the jury pool to the preliminary hearing doesn't in any way disqualify...

GERAGOS: Oh, I know that's what they're doing. But in terms of the bail...

EPSTEIN: Well, it won't disqualify that jury.

GERAGOS: Bail will be -- most probably be no bail right now. But once they get to court, he's got a very good chance of having a bail set.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSTEIN: I think one of the reasons you don't hear -- I mean, we still haven't heard police or the prosecutors speculate about or put evidence out, put information about facts, about motives, about all of these types of things, I think precisely because of the fact that they want to keep this case in Van Nuys. They don't want to have it removed to another venue. And they're doing as much as they can to avoid the prospect of that happening.

KING: Charles, are you going to head back to L.A. now?

FELDMAN: No. I'm actually not going back to L.A. until next week. But it's going to be a very interesting case. I think it is going to be a long one. I think it's difficult when you have two people involved in it. And I think it's going to be very interesting to see not just what -- we know what the defense is going to be pretty much from Mr. Blake's side. We don't know yet what the defense is going to be from Mr. Caldwell's side. It is going to be very interesting to see how the two cases play off against one another. KING: The truth, Jann, is we don't know what the police's scenario is, do we?

CARL: No, we don't.

KING: And they're going to be having a press conference tonight, which, of course, you'll see here on CNN, but we don't know what they're going to say, here's what happened?

CARL: No. No. And I suspect that they'll be, like we've said, extremely cautious and extremely careful because of past experiences that they've had. However, I think we will see huge coverage and again, whether or not that is fair of not, that's just the way that we work here.

KING: What do you make of the bodyguard angle?

CARL: Well, you know, it's interesting. If you've been reading any of the speculation that's been sort of coming around the last few weeks, there has been that speculation brought up that there was some sort of a hitman involved. That's been talked about moreso say in the last month or so, I've seen speculated, not necessarily in high- profile publications, but that's been bubbling up to the surface. And you have to wonder if that didn't come from a source somehow involved in the investigation.

KING: Does the defense attorney want to know the complete story from Robert Blake?

GERAGOS: No.

KING: No.

CARL: No.

KING: Does not want to.

GERAGOS: No.

KING: OK. Julian, do you agree with that? You don't want to know the complete story if you're his defense attorney?

EPSTEIN: I disagree with that. I think you want to know everything that you can. The last thing you want to do is you want to be surprised. And remember what the defense alibi will be. It's kind of a strange alibi. It's a double alibi. The alibi was that he went back into the restaurant to get his gun. So, it is an alibi for where he was and it's also an alibi for his gun.

I think if I remember correctly, again, we're going back to May 4 of last year. I think the bullet that was found -- I'm not sure about this, but I think if I remember correctly -- was not the bullet was from his gun, which is a lot of the reason behind this speculation that it was -- there was a hit person involved. But, look, this is going to be a case that is going to be rich with the most interesting fact witnesses from all parts of American subculture. I mean, this is really going to be a doozy in terms of these types of cases.

KING: Cynthia, you agree?

ALKSNE: Oh, I think it will be a doozy. I have to tell you, it has my experience with criminal defense attorneys that they don't want to know what actually happened because then, if they want to put somebody on the stand -- they can't put anybody on the stand who they know is lying. So, it's better not to know anything because then you don't know if they're lying and you can ethically go forward and produce a case.

So Julian is a wonderful man and I'm glad he would want to know, but your average runt in the street who is handling the robbery and the burglary and the drug case doesn't really want to know.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: Cynthia, I appreciate being that average runt in the street.

ALKSNE: You handle all kinds of stuff.

KING: OK. Let's recap. What you're watching is the vehicle carrying Robert Blake. His bodyguard also arrested as already been taken, we assume, to Parker Center. That's the car heading for Parker Center.

On May 4 of last year, Robert Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was found shot in the actor's car outside an Italian restaurant in Studio City where the couple had just dined. She was 44. They had been married just six months. Bonny Lee was the mother of Blake's youngest child, Rose, who was only 11-months-old at the time of the killing.

Blake said that he had left Bakley alone in the car while he returned to the restaurant to retrieve his gun. Almost from the beginning, some members of Bakley's family pointed the finger of accusation at the actor. Blake consistently denied any involvement in wife's death. Blake's attorney repeatedly pointed to Bonny Lee's checkered past, suggested it may have caught up with her with fatal results.

We have heard tonight on this special edition of LARRY KING LIVE from Harland Braun, the attorney for Robert Blake, on his way to meet his client at Parker Center, from Cary Goldstein (ph), the attorney for the late Mrs. Bakley.

We've also heard from Thelma Gutierrez on the scene, from Charles Feldman, our CNN journalist who is on the scene in New York, and from Julian Epstein, Cynthia Alksne, Mark Geragos and Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight."

This has been a special edition of LARRY KING LIVE, staying live with this breaking news story, the arrest of Robert Blake. We now turn it over to a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT" in New York. And to anchor it from there, here is Aaron Brown.

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