Police, Private Eye Report Blake Evidence

May 8, 2001 -- Four days after the shooting death of his wife, actor Robert Blake is still too distraught to take a lie detector test, according to his lawyer, and the dead woman's half-brother disputes the Baretta star's story that he carried a gun at his wife's request.

While police found new evidence in a construction site near the crime scene, The Associated Press reports that the private detective Blake hired to help solve the killing said that someone has been watching the actor's home for several weeks.

Police at the construction site were seen dusting a blue recycling bag for fingerprints.

The private detective, Scott Ross, said the man was in his early 20s, had a crewcut, and would watch Blake's Studio City home from a black four-door pickup.

Police have questioned Blake twice and searched his house, but said the star of the 1970s show Baretta, who became famous as the tough cop with a soft side and a pet cockatoo named Fred, is not considered a suspect in the homicide of his wife, Leebonny "Bonnie" Bakley, 45.

"They view him as a witness and say someone from her past was involved in this and hopefully they can figure out who it is," said Blake's attorney, Harland Braun.

Bakley was shot in the head Friday night as she sat in a car outside a restaurant, waiting for Blake, who said he had gone back to the restaurant to get a gun he had forgotten in the eatery.

Bakley's half-brother, Peter Carlyon, told the syndicated program Extra that his sister had asked Blake not to carry a gun, disputing the actor's statement that he carried the weapon because she was afraid of people out of her checkered past.

"I've heard all the things on the news about he was carrying a gun because his wife feared for her life," Carlyon said. "She didn't want him carrying the gun."

Carlyon also said that Bakley told him that Blake had recently threatened her, saying he "had a bullet with her name on it."

But Carlyon admitted that his half-sister was no angel. She sold nude photographs of herself over the Internet, solicited money from lonely hearts and went by at least 14 different aliases, he said.

‘A Celebrity Wife’

Blake and Bakley, who had been on probation after being convicted in Arkansas for carrying a fake ID, signed a prenuptial agreement in which she promised not to commit any more criminal acts.

The couple married after a DNA test proved that a girl born to Bakley was Blake's daughter, not the child of Christian Brando, as Blake first believed.

Blake's lawyer told The Associated Press that Bakley was someone who "got herself pregnant" to become "a celebrity wife," and in addition to having a baby with Blake had a daughter with rockabilly singer Jerry Lee Lewis.

The results of an autopsy on Bakley were expected to be released Monday, but they were sealed on the request of homicide detectives who feared that making the information public could interfere with the investigation.

Blake, 67, left his wife in the couple's car Friday night while he went back to Vitello's Restaurant, about a block away, to pick up his own handgun which, according to Blake, had slipped from his waistband, said police. When he returned to the car he found his wife slumped over in the passenger seat and shot once in the head, according to police. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Blake checked himself into a hospital Saturday night for treatment of high blood pressure. He was back at home Sunday morning.

Two Guns Confiscated From Blake’s Home

During a search of Blake's Studio City home, which has a sign outside which reads "Mata Hari Ranch," detectives spent several hours in the modest brick home and removed several items, but would not comment as to what all those items are.

The car in which Bakley was shot was impounded by police, as were two 9 mm handguns that were taken after the search of the couple's home.

Blake owns numerous weapons and has a permit to carry a concealed handgun. He told police he was carrying one Friday night because he feared for his wife's safety.

The couple have an 11-month-old daughter, Rose Lenore Sophia, was is now being cared for by Blake's relatives.

Blake began his acting career at age 5, appearing in MGM's OurGang series. Sometimes billed as Mickey Gubitosi, he appeared in a number of films, including The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here and In Cold Blood, but is best known for Baretta.

ABCNEWS' Steffan Tubbs contributed to this report.