Shooting of actor Blake's wife treated as homicide

Robert Blake departs his home on Saturday

LOS ANGELES, California -- The shooting of actor Robert Blake's wife is being treated as a homicide, officials have said, with the home of the 1970s television star being searched.

Bonnie Bakley was found dead in the front seat of her husband's car Friday night.

Lt. Horace Frank, a spokesman for Los Angeles Police Department, told CNN that the search of his home was part of an "ongoing investigation."

"The investigation is still in its preliminary stages and the investigators are looking at all angles in an effort to solve the crime."

Earlier police spokesman Guillermo Campos said no weapon had been recovered.

An LAPD statement said no suspect or suspects had yet been identified.

Blake's lawyer, Harland Braun, said Bakley had "an interesting past" that "seems to have caught up with her" and that the actor had only married her because she was pregnant with his child.

Paramedics were unable to revive Bonnie Bakley and she was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital

Blake, 67, began his career as a child actor in the "Our Gang" comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. His career took off with "In Cold Blood," a 1967 film account of the Clutter family killings in Kansas. He later starred in the television series "Baretta."

Blake, who has high blood pressure, spent Saturday night as a patient at a nearby hospital, Braun said.

Blake told police he and his wife had left Vitello's, an Italian restaurant, in Studio City northwest of Hollywood at 9:40 p.m. (12:40 EDT) and were in their car before he realized he had left something behind and returned to get it, said police spokesman Guillermo Campos.

"Mr. Blake realized he had left some property in the restaurant and retrieved that property and upon his return to the vehicle he discovered the injury to his wife," said LAPD Lt. Don Hartwell.

Actor appeared flustered, witness says

When Blake returned to the restaurant, Vitello's, co-owner Joe Restivo told CNN that the actor appeared flustered and asked for two glasses of water, then drank them and left. It did not appear that Blake retrieved anything, he said.

Braun said Blake actually went back to the restaurant to get his gun, which he had dropped.

Braun said Bakley believed someone had been stalking her and had asked the actor to carry the weapon, which is registered to him.

Blake told police that after he discovered his wounded wife, he walked to the house of Sean Stanek, across the street from the restaurant parking lot.

Stanek, a film director, said he heard a knock on his door around 9:50 p.m. When he answered the door, he said Blake told him his wife had been hurt. Stanek said he grabbed a phone, called 911, and both men ran across the street.

Stanek said when they got to the car, Blake's wife was still alive, but there was blood everywhere. He said paramedics arrived almost immediately.

Blake's wife was found shot dead outside this restaurant in Los Angeles Friday night

CPR was administered at the scene, but she was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

Restivo's brother Steve, told CNN that Blake had been a regular at the restaurant for 20 years -- often eating there two times a week -- sometimes with his wife, sometimes with friends.

He was such a regular fixture that a section of the menu was devoted to him, with anything ordered "a la Robert Blake" coming with spinach, one of his favorite foods.

Blake, a native of Nutley, New Jersey, was born Mickey Gubitosi. In 1940, he took the stage name Bobby Blake and began playing child roles in a wide range of films.

Blake continued to use his real name as the name of his character in the "Our Gang" comedy series.

During talk show appearances in the 1970s, Blake discussed his anger over his treatment by his family and the studio as a child and his bouts with drug abuse.

Wife of actor Robert Blake shot dead in Los Angeles
May 5, 2001

E! Online - Credits - Robert Blake
The Los Angeles Police Department
Harland W. Braun Professional Corporation
FindLaw: Searches and Seizures Pursuant to Warrant

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