Biography
American news figure and homicide victim, the wife of actor Robert
Blake, shot to death on 5/04/2001, Studio City, CA. Bonnie was found to
have an involved past, a grifter who played on the sympathies of men with
confidence games to elicit money. In the prior decade, she had a drug
arrest in Tennessee, was jailed in Arkansas and sold nude photos of
herself and other women by mail, according to family members and court
records. In 1998, she was caught in Arkansas with seven driver's licenses
and five Social Security cards, all registered in different names.
A "groupie," one who followed avidly the trail of men in the
entertainment media, she spun tales to her family and friends of her
intimate relationships with celebrities such as Jerry Lee Lewis and
Frankie Valli. Her stated goal was to marry a music or movie star.
"She liked to live on the edge, that's for sure," said her
mother, Marjorie Carlyon of Tennessee, in an interview. "I always
worried about her."
In 2000, she finally landed the Hollywood husband she had always hoped
for, Robert Blake, after managing to get pregnant with his baby, Rose
Lenore Sophia Blake.
When Bonnie was found fatally shot, her body slumped over in the front
passenger seat of Blake's car, the actor, star of the '70s television
series "Baretta," told detectives he found his wife in the car
after he went back to the restaurant to get his gun. He had been carrying
a pistol because his wife feared for her safety. On the following day,
police said that Blake was not a suspect; however, that status changed
within a few days as he came under investigation. Lawyers for Blake
insisted Sunday that Bonnie led a risky life-style that could have created
many enemies. In response, Bonnie's family raised questions about Blake's
demeanor before the murder and said her past had nothing to do with the
crime.
Born in Morristown, NJ, Bonnie Lee Bakley was the eldest of four kids
in a working-class family. Her late father, Edward J. Bakley, was a tree
surgeon. Her three siblings have lived relatively routine lives; Margerry
is a secretary in Dover, NJ; brother Joey is in construction in San Diego;
and Peter Carlyon, her half-brother, does landscaping in Tennessee.
Because of problems at home, as a teenager she moved in with her
grandmother before graduating from high school and pursuing a modeling and
acting career in New York. Her mother said Bonnie told her that she was
studying with famous acting coach Lee Strasberg, but the scope and variety
of her stories from youth soon began to stretch credibility. A pretty
girl, she set her sights on either becoming a movie star or marrying one
– or both. Her "career" started when she was 17 by sending
nude and suggestive photographs to certain magazines.
Bonnie met her first husband in New Jersey, 27-year-old Paul Gawron,
and they were married in 1977, having two kids, Holly and Glen. She
obtained a Mexican divorce in 1982. She was married to truck driver Robert
Moon from 1984 to 1987; William Webber in Florida in 1993; John Ray from
1996 to 1998. She also became the 26th wife of Glynn H. Wolfe, the
"world's most-married man." By several accounts Bonnie was
married nine times – and investigators are looking into the fact that
she may have been married up to a hundred times, and that basically
none of these marriages may have been valid at all. According to family
stories, while her first husband stayed home and took care of the kids,
she spent time traveling and starting several small mail order businesses.
Her goal was now to be a female Donald Trump, her idol of the
moment.
Using the name Leebonny Bakley, she told family members that she had
earned a Screen Actors Guild card and appeared briefly in the film "9
1/2 Weeks;" however a SAG spokesman was unable to confirm that
information. Like so many of her stories, her tale of a movie debut was
apparently unsubstantial. Bonnie moved to Tennessee to be close to singer
Jerry Lee Lewis, whom she pursued with fervor. She was arrested for drug
possession in 1989 and told police in Tennessee she was holding the drugs
for a celebrity and got off with a small fine. In 1991, Jerry Lee Lewis'
sister, Linda Gail Lewis, and Bonnie were co-plaintiffs in a federal libel
suit against a London tabloid that had alleged they trafficked in
pornography, according to court records and published reports at the
time.
Attending rock concerts and cozying up to male celebrities, Bonnie made
dozens of well-connected friends. She named her third child Jeri Lee
Lewis, born on 7/28/1993, Desoto County, MS, claiming that Jerry Lee Lewis
was the child's father.
Her siblings sometimes made fun of her dalliances, but they also
marveled at her generosity. When Margerry Bakley's phone was shut off
because of $500 in unpaid bills, Bonnie took care of it. "She would
help the family out, no matter what," said her sister. Family members
said Bonnie made her living by investing in real estate, running a dating
service and selling nude photographs to lonely hearts by mail. In 1997,
Bonnie was prosecuted in federal court in Little Rock, AR for possessing
several fake identifications. With a plea bargain, she was given three
years probation and $1,050 in fines.
Bonnie met Robert Blake at a Hollywood party in 1999. Blake had made a
name for himself playing tough guys, including the TV series "Baretta."
His career had generally been up-and-down and he has battled depression
and alcoholism. When Bonnie became pregnant in September 1999, she
believed that Christian Brando was the father, according to Blake's
lawyers. But after the baby was born on 6/02/2000, a DNA test confirmed
that the child was Blake's and Bonnie claimed the conception had happened
on 9/03/1999, the date of her first sexual encounter with Blake. They
married on 11/19/2000, even as Blake hired investigators to look into
Bonnie's background. Family and lawyers both concede that it was a
difficult relationship. Margerry Bakley said the two often argued and
there was tension over who would care for the child and Bonnie and Rose
lived in a bungalow behind Blake's home.
For the time-line of the crime scene: On 5/04/2001, at 8:30 PM, Robert
Blake and wife Bonnie Lee Bakley arrived for dinner at Vitello's in Studio
City, CA. He parked a block and a half from the Italian restaurant, behind
a large dumpster and under a burned-out street light. Blake was dressed in
black. At 9:15 PM, after his meal, Blake went to the rest room at
Vitello's and vomited into a trash can. At 9:30 PM, Blake and Bakley
walked out of Vitello's to his car, a Dodge Stealth. At 9:35-9:40 PM,
Blake claims he returned to Vitello's to pick up a gun he left behind on
the seat of his booth. No one saw him return. During this time, Bakley was
shot once in the back of the head. The killer dropped the gun into the
dumpster in front of the car.
At 9:43 PM, Sean Stanek, who lives adjacent to the murder scene, heard
Blake frantically pounding on his door and called 911. At 9:45 PM, Blake
went back to Vitello's where he told staff members that "something
has happened" to Bakley and asked for a glass of water. At 9:50 PM,
Blake returned to the murder scene, but did not go near Bakley as
paramedics tried in vain to revive her.
On April 18, 2002, Los Angeles police investigators arrested Robert
Blake for the murder of Bonnie Bakley. Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard
Parks said he anticipates Blake will be charged with two counts of
solicitation of murder and one count of murder with special circumstances
– a charge that could lead to the death penalty. Blake's handyman and
bodyguard for the last two years, Earle Caldwell, was also arrested
"for conspiracy to commit murder of Ms. Bakley," Parks said.
Following an extensive investigation, police said they obtained arrest
warrants against Blake and Caldwell on the morning of 04/18/2002. Both men
were taken into custody – Blake at his sister's home in the gated Hidden
Hills community, Caldwell in Burbank – around 6 PM (9 PM EDT).
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