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Bakley estate sues Blake, bodyguard

Blake at his April 22 arraignment.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The administrator of Bonny Lee Bakley's estate filed a wrongful death suit Monday against actor Robert Blake and his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, alleging they were responsible for her murder last year.

The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Bakley's four children, including Rose, the toddler daughter she had with Blake.

While Blake, as Bakley's husband, would normally be an heir to her estate, the suit says he should be "precluded from any recovery because he may not profit from his own intentional, willful ... wrongdoing."

Blake, 68, is being held without bond on murder and conspiracy charges stemming from the slaying of Bakley, 44, who was shot to death outside Vitello's Restaurant in Studio City on May 4, 2001. The couple had been married six months.

Blake was also charged with twice trying to hire someone to kill Bakley. A court hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday to discuss bail and to set a date for a preliminary hearing.

Caldwell, charged with conspiring with Blake to kill Bakley, was released last week on $1 million bond posted by Blake.

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The suit was filed by Blanchard Tual, who was appointed as administrator of Bakley's estate by a court in Memphis, Tennessee, where her will is being probated. Her other children are Glenn Paul Gawron, Holly Lee Gawron and Jeri Lee Lewis.

An attorney for Bakley's sister, Margerry Bakley, said last week she also planned to file a wrongful death suit this week. Under California law, the suits have to be filed before the first anniversary of Bakley's death, which is Saturday.

Tual's suit alleges, as have prosecutors, that Blake shot Bakley. He and Caldwell were "engaged in a joint venture and common enterprise," the suit contends.

The lawsuit is also structured so that additional defendants can be added if more conspirators in Bakley's murder are later identified.

Blake began his career as a child actor in the "Our Gang" and "Red Ryder" serials. He starred in the 1970s television detective series "Baretta" and played one of the killers in the movie rendition of Truman Capote's classic nonfiction book "In Cold Blood."

On the night Bakley died, she and Blake dined at Vitello's. Blake told police he left her in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he had accidentally left inside. When he returned to the car, he found she had been shot by an unknown assailant, according to Blake.

Prosecutors allege Blake killed Bakley after "lying in wait" -- a special circumstance that can carry a death sentence under California law -- but they have decided to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole, if Blake is convicted.