After the paternity test, Blake and Bakley married in November
2000, but not before signing a custody agreement stipulating
Bakley would have to give up her "business." Blake and Bakley
are seen here on vacation at Sequoia National Park.
On May 4, 2001, Blake and Bakley went to dinner at Vitello's, an
Italian restaurant Blake frequented several times a week. After
dinner, Blake said he went back inside the restaurant alone to
retrieve a gun, but that when he returned to his car he
discovered Bakley had been shot.
Paramedics arrived at the scene to try to save Bakley, who was
still breathing. An ambulance
rushed her to a Burbank hospital,
but she died less than an hour later.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Blake's lawyer at the time,
Harland Braun, publicly discussed Bakley's checkered history and
said there were many people from her past who could have wanted
her dead.
The victim's family has spoken out against Blake in the media.
Half-brother Peter Carlyon said in an interview that Blake told
Bakley there was a "bullet with her name on it." Brother Joseph
Bakley (pictured) appeared on ABC's "20/20" to talk about his
slain sister, but was arrested on a fugitive warrant stemming
from a parole violation in Florida.
At her funeral, Blake thanked Bakley for bringing Rosie into the
world. Bakley's family
boycotted the service, saying they
believed Blake was responsible.
Blake claims he hired bodyguard Earle Caldwell to protect Bakley,
alleging a mysterious man with a buzz cut had been stalking her.
Caldwell is facing conspiracy charges in her death and is free
on $1 million bail paid by Blake.
On April 19, 2002 — eleven months after Bakley's shooting —
Robert Blake was arrested
at his Studio City, Calif., ranch and
charged with murder.
The jailed actor finally got to tell his side of the story on
national television to ABC's Barbara Walters. The interview,
however, came after two of Blake's lawyers quit representing him
when the actor refused to listen to orders to stay silent about
the case.
Robert Blake, known for playing stony, tough-talking types as an
actor, strayed from type when
the "not guilty" verdict was
announced March 16, 2005, in his murder trial.