Mystery Shrouds Shooting Death of Actor Blake's Wife

May 8, 2001 -- Few details have emerged following the fatal shooting of actor Robert Blake's wife on Friday night. Though homicide detectives will not release the results of Bonny Lee Bakley's autopsy report, the dead woman's family has expressed concern over the couple's tumultuous relationship, while Blake and his attorney have emphasized the possibility of a stalker who was after Bakley.

Police officers found an undisclosed object of interest in a blue recycling container on a Studio City, Calif., construction site about a block away from where Bakley, 44, was found shot in the head in Blake's car.

Former TV star Blake, 67, told police he had left his wife alone to retrieve a gun he had left at a neighborhood Italian restaurant where they had just dined. The co-owner of the restaurant, Joe Restivo, told CNN that Blake did return to the eatery but appeared agitated and asked for two glasses of water. He left after drinking them but did not appear to be carrying anything, Restivo noted.

Asked why Blake left her alone in the car to retrieve the gun, the actor's attorney told ABC it was a split-second decision. "In hindsight, he wished he hadn't done that but he just reacted instantly," Harold W. Braun said. "He just knew that she had a generalized concern and maybe he thought she was a little paranoid."

Blake's lawyer said his client was carrying a gun because his wife, who sold nude photos of herself to lonely men, feared someone was after her. Scott Ross, the private investigator Blake retained to help find clues, told The Associated Press that a few weeks ago, a 20-something man with a crew cut began watching the couple's property. Police would not comment.

According to the AP, detectives ordered details about Bakley's autopsy to be sealed, coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier said Monday. Other test results were pending.

Braun said Blake was too emotionally upset to take a lie detector test. "It would be difficult to isolate the factors [that the test comprises] but it is something to be considered," he told ABC Radio.

Half Brother Alleges Death ThreatsMeanwhile, Bakley's half brother, Peter Carlyon, told Memphis, Tenn., TV station WMC that Blake had been threatening her, even saying that he "already had a bullet with her name on it."

Braun acknowledged that the couple had their troubles but said they had been getting along better.

Police have said that Blake is not a suspect in the case.

Blake, who portrayed a TV detective on the '70s series Baretta, married Bakley last November after DNA tests showed he was the father of Bakley's daughter, Rose. Bakley had initially believed the child was the daughter of Marlon Brando's son, Christian.

Braun said Rose, born June 2, was staying with relatives. Bakley has three other children, including a 7-year-old daughter named Jeri Lee Lewis. Her sister, Margerry Bakley, claims Bonny once moved to Tennessee because of her obsession with singer Jerry Lee Lewis, who lives there.

After Blake found his wife shot on Friday night, he ran to the nearby house of his friend, film director Sean Stanek, who called 911, according to Braun. Bakley lived in a separate house on the back of Blake's Studio City property.

Reuters contributed to this story.