The couple had been married less than six months when Bakley was killed. When Los Angeles police arrested Blake, they said his motive was to end a bad relationship and keep his daughter.
Bakley was shot to death after she and Blake ate dinner at Vitello's in Studio City. She sat alone in the car while Blake went back inside the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he carried for personal protection, which he said he left at their table.
After hearing the verdict, actor Robert Blake appeared overcome with emotion.
(Pool Photo Nick Ut)
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No one witnessed the killing. There was no physical evidence to tie Blake to the crime, no blood spatters and no gun residue.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Shellie L. Samuels relied on two former stuntmen, Gary "Whiz Kid" McLarty and Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, who told jurors that Blake offered them thousands of dollars to "whack" and "snuff" Bakley. Blake floated several scenarios, they said, including a plan to have his wife killed while she waited in the car near Vitello's.
But family and friends testified that the two were heavy drug users and suffered from delusions.
Jury foreman Nicholson said Hambleton was a "prolific liar" who "couldn't get the story straight if you set it in front of him" and said McLarty's testimony was "disjointed" and "irregular."
Blake began his acting career as a child playing Little Mickey in the "Our Gang" series. He later played a killer who was executed in the movie version of Truman Capote's real-life thriller "In Cold Blood." But he is best known for his portrayal of a police detective in the 1970s television show "Baretta" and his appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, wisecracking with lines such as "And that's the name of that tune."
The actor has had little work in recent years. His wavy hair has gone white and is closely cropped.
But he remained a character. During the course of his case, he gave jailhouse interviews to The Washington Post and Walters. Once out on bail, he greeted the spectators outside the courthouse, spouting poetry and playing a guitar. He went through a series of lawyers before settling on M. Gerald Schwartzbach. Blake said after the verdict that his lawyer "saved Rosie's daddy's life."
Blake said the trial left him broke and he needs work, but for now he is going "cowboying" -- driving off into the desert to "just let the air blow in your hair" and shooting one-handed pool in a bar in the middle of nowhere.
