# The Late Mrs. Blake—Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 7, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656 "2001-05-07T15:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/61 "2001-05-14T15:21:52Z")
don’t have answers to \*\*Arnold’s \*\* questions, but [they’ve found the gun](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/blake_010514.html) which also notes, per the busboy > [@](#): > > Blake’s alibi that he want back to the restaurant to retrieve his pistol was contradicted by a busboy, who told police he cleared the table where the couple ate before the actor returned, and found no gun there, Wright reported. which implies that he didn’t ‘check’ the gun at a counter or whatever. (implies is not the same thing of course, as ‘we know this’ but…) thanks, **Arnold** too for pointing out what Mr. Blakes attorney is doing - from the moment the woman was shot, he’s kept up a never ending dribble of ‘info’ to the press. Even if it’s all true, she certainly didn’t deserve what she got. Wish one of these newstories would include a map with things marked off like 'where’s the restaurant, where was the car etc etc.) another little nit pick - he drank 2 glasses of water when he went back into the restaurant. Now, even if he chugged them, that takes some time - why would you do this if you’re coming back to get the gun to protect your wife for whom you’re in fear for her life? ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/62 "2001-05-14T17:05:07Z")
**["Police Find Gun Near Bakley Slay Site"](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20010514/ts/blake_010514_1.html)** **"Los Angeles police found the gun they believe was used to kill actor Robert Blake’s wife in a dumpster a block and a half away from where the shooting took place… The gun, a Walther pistol described as a collector’s item, matched the two bullets wife…"** For those of you who don’t know guns, a Walther is a well made, expensive, uncommon gun with an uncommon caliber – .30 or .32 caliber typically. Wheras your run-of-the-mill killer would probably use a cheap, no-name 9mm handgun they could toss in the river without thinking twice (any law enforcement folks want to back me up on that?). Also, didn’t I hear that Blake was a gun collector? **"Wright reported that police found Blake’s house in disarray after the shooting, and there was writing on the walls saying "I’m not going down for this."** Yeesh! ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2001, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/63 "2001-05-14T18:53:33Z")
[lawyer notes gunshot residue test results](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20010509/en/blake_murder_mystery_deepens_1.html) I knew I’d seen it, thought it was probably from the lawyer. What I suspect is that his hands were tested, lawyer may be reporting accurately about that, but I know they also took his clothes and have sent them off to be tested as well, that may be what the cops are waiting for. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/64 "2001-05-14T23:33:22Z")
Something Inky’s linked story left out… [http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010514/ts/crime\_blake\_dc\_12.html](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010514/ts/crime_blake_dc_12.html) > [@](#): > > ABC added that police allegedly also found a box of ammunition of the same brand used in the gun in a search at Blake’s home. Three bullets were allegedly missing from the box, ABC said. Either he did it, or it was planted… Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/65 "2001-05-15T00:38:09Z")
Hey, something just occured to me. A baretta is .30 caliber too! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/66 "2001-05-15T04:14:04Z")
A few nights ago, Jay Leno did this bit. He showed videotape of “police removing items” from Blake’s house. Two cops carried out a couch on which Kato was sleeping. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/67 "2001-05-15T10:03:42Z")
Uuuhhh, the gunpowder residue test? Did they just check his hands, or did they check his clothes too? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/68 "2001-05-15T12:01:08Z")
**spoje** they tested his hands, and sent his clothes elsewhere (or that’s what I recall). The bullets were the same brand but the coating or something was different (according to one of the many links) ABC seems to have the latest breaking stuff on this one. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/69 "2001-05-15T13:14:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sir Rhosis \* > \*\*A few nights ago, Jay Leno did this bit. He showed videotape of “police removing items” from Blake’s house. Two cops carried out a couch on which Kato was sleeping. > Sir Rhosis \*\* Oh, I wish I had seen that. Well, maybe not. I probably would have laughed so hard I would have wet the bed. 😉 😃 Totally off-topic: When the whole OJ preliminary hearings were going on (would have been July '94), we had gone on vacation with some friends and it rained a lot, so we ended up inside, watching some of this crap on TV. This was our (the public’s) first real look at Kato Kaelin, and I can clearly remember sitting there mocking the guy. “Who is this guy again?” “He looks like and over-the-hill surfer dude.” “Is he on drugs?” “He lives in the guest house?” “Why was he there?” It was my first exposure to guest houses and the unemployed bums who live in them. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/70 "2001-05-15T13:30:35Z")
This is something I don’t understand. The weapon used to kill Mrs. Blake was found in a dumpster a couple of blocks away? What does this imply about the trigger man? If I were going to commit a murder with a gun, I’d hold on to it afterwards; a murder weapon is an evidence bonanza second only to the corpse itself. You don’t want the cops to get their hands on it even if you kept your prints off it. But at the same time, if I’m stopped by the authorities for any reason, I don’t want them to find the gun on me. So immediately after fleeing the scene of the crime I’d drive (the speed limit) far out of town, find a seldom-visited patch of wilderness and bury it as deep as I can. That’s what _I’d_ do. Of course I’m not a professional killer; I’m sure such would have more sophisticated methods of hiding himself and the evidence. He for sure wouldn’t leave his weapon in a dumpster near the scene of the crime. That Mrs. Blake’s killer apparently did, suggests to me two possibilities: 1. An inexperienced or very dumb murderer. 2. Someone who needed to remain at the scene of the crime (or in the area at least) for some reason, and therefore needed to separate himself from the weapon. Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/71 "2001-05-15T17:35:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Inky- \* > > * * * > > \*\* > > For those of you who don’t know guns, a Walther is a well made, expensive, uncommon gun with an uncommon caliber – .30 or .32 caliber typically. Wheras your run-of-the-mill killer would probably use a cheap, no-name 9mm handgun they could toss in the river without thinking twice (any law enforcement folks want to back me up on that?). > > \*\* While the Walther in question was noted as a “collector’s item”, I have to clarify something there, as I did not notice the caliber of the piece being identified in the story. Walther used to make a .32 (not sure if they still do or not), but their most popular model by far is the .380. Walthers are a pretty common choice for people who carry concealed in that they’re light, very reliable and carry the most widely available of the “minor” calibers - that being .380, which is almost as easy to find as 9mm, if significantly less powerful. Heck, the Walther .380 is the handgun of choice for James Bond. Does anyone know where Sean Connery was during all of this? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/72 "2001-05-15T18:08:05Z")
I’m betting whoever shot Mrs. Blake also pushed Mrs. Shatner in. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/73 "2001-05-16T21:46:50Z")
How else to explain his continuing, despite pleas from the police to [smear the victim](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20010516_185.html) in the press? this time by claiming that “Gary Busey was her next planned victim”, by noting that she’d written to Busey’s mom. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > “She targeted Gary Busey,” Braun told Reuters in an interview. “She had a list of people she was going to go after and his name was down for March 30, 2001.” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656/74 "2001-07-10T15:05:20Z")
Just to update: [http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010707/us/lawyer\_dead\_1.html](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010707/us/lawyer_dead_1.html) > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES (AP) - High-profile criminal attorney Barry Levin, who helped handle Erik Menendez’ murder defense and more recently represented actor Robert Blake, was found dead Saturday at a veterans cemetery, officials said. Apparently he commited suicide. Curiouser and curiouser… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-mrs-blake-mysteriouser-and-mysteriouser/64656.md?page=3)