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I'm innocent, says Blake
23/04/2002 10:03 - (SA)
Dan Whitcomb
California - Actor Robert Blake pleaded not guilty on Monday to shooting his wife to death with a World War II era German pistol as part of a murder plot that at one point allegedly included two hit men, his bodyguard and graves dug in the desert.
Clad in a tweed jacket, white shirt and tie, the stone-faced Baretta star spoke only to answer a judge after charges of murder, conspiracy and solicitation of murder were formally lodged against him by prosecutors.
"Not guilty, your honour," Blake said from his seat in a courtroom in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys that was packed with reporters and curious members of the public. Earle Caldwell, the actor's 46-year-old bodyguard, pleaded innocent to one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Blake (68) who starred in the hit cop drama Baretta during the mid-1970s, also faces a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, which means prosecutors could seek the death penalty against him if he is convicted. He was ordered to return to court on May 8.
Prosecutors, in a criminal complaint filed against Blake and Caldwell shortly before the arraignment, spelled out an alleged murder plot against the actor's 44-year-old wife of less than a year, Bonny Lee Bakley.
Bakley, a New Jersey native portrayed by Blake's attorney as a lifelong grifter with a penchant for latching onto famous men, was shot twice - once in the head - on May 4, 2001 as she sat in the passenger seat his black sportscar near his favourite Italian restaurant, Vitello's.
Linked to murder weapon?
Reports in the media have said that police detectives were able to link Blake to the rare gun, though its serial number had been removed.
Blake's attorney, Harland Braun, said after the court hearing that his client was innocent and that prosecutors appeared to be relying heavily on "hearsay" from the victim's sister, Margerry, to prove the murder plot.
Braun also dismissed reports that police would get Caldwell to testify against Blake in exchange for leniency in his own case, saying that the bodyguard had already been repeatedly interviewed by authorities and had not implicated the actor.
"Mr Blake wants Earle Caldwell to testify and tell the truth," Braun said. "But remember, the prosecution will only help you if you help their case."
Blake has said he dined with Bakley at Vitello's on the night of her death and left her sitting in his car while he went back to the Italian eatery to retrieve something he had left behind: his gun.
He said he returned to the car to find her dead in the passenger seat, apparently shot at close range by an unknown gunman who then fled into the night, never to be found.
- Reuters
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South Africa
