Blake claims he left a pistol in the restaurant and went back inside to retrieve it.
The restaurant’s owner/greeter/barman said all Blake did was drink 2 glasses of water; he saw no pistol.
CNN reports the cops confiscated 2 pistols at Blake’s home but makes no mention of the restaurant pistol.
Where is this mystery pistol? Why isn’t its absence the lead of every story on the murder? The husband of the murdered women tells a story that has not been confirmed, a story that has in fact been contradicted, a story that seems to lack the most elementary supporting evidence, and all we hear is ‘Blake is not a suspect’. I know people who pay lots of taxes get lots of service from public officials, but if I had told such a story to the cops I would expect them to sweat me, and repeatedly.
From the Los Angeles Times articles of the past few days:
[ul]
[li]Steve Restivo (co-owner of the restaurant, Vitello’s) said that the couple seemed happy and relaxed during dinner. Could be a good job of acting.[/li][li]Robert Blake (R.B.) loves pasta with sauteed spinach and tomato sauce. Adding these ingredients to a dish is called “Robert Blaking” by the staff. Tomato sauce for blood, and green for envy? Another clue.[/li][li]R.B.'s car (used on the night of the murder) is a Dodge Stealth. That sounds suspicious to me.[/li][li]R.B. left the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve his handgun. Upon his return to the car, he found his wife shot in the head (once) and ran across the street to ask someone to call 911.[/li][li]The person living across the street, director Sean Stanek, calls 911. Sean Stanek gets dressed (why wasn’t he dressed? hmmmm) and runs out to R.B.'s car. R.B. returns to restaurant to find doctor or nurse.[/li][li]Police/paramedics arrive in seven minutes and are unable to revive Bonny Bakley (B.B.) Her body is loaded in an ambulance and leave. Police question R.B. who vomits in the street (a commentary on the quality of the food at Vitello’s?)[/li][li]Joe Restivo, brother of Steve Restivo (see above) does not remember R.B. coming back for the gun but remembers the second trip (R.B. looking for a doctor, see above). Joe Restivo says R.B. is very agitated and asks for a glass of water.[/li][li]R.B.'s attorney says that police took the actor’s gun.[/li][li]R.B. has many guns in his house and a permit for a concealed weapon.[/li][li]Highlights from R.B.'s past - played in MGM’s “Our Gang” comedies, Red Ryder’s Indian sidekick “Little Beaver”, murderer Perry Smith in Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”, Tony Baretta, John List (a NJ man who killed his family). R.B. said that it wasn’t difficult to “get under List’s skin”. Has been known to be too fond of the bottle.[/li][li]B.B.'s past seems troubled, according to family and court records. She moved to Tennessee to be close to Jerry Lee Lewis. B.B.'s sister says that B.B. pursued Jerry Lee Lewis. Arrested in Tennessee for drug possession in 1989. In 1991 B.B. and Jerry Lee Lewis’s sister were co-plaintiffs in a suit against a London tabloid that sayed that they trafficked in pornography. B.B. made a living with real estate investments, a dating service, and the sale of nude photographs (of herself and others) to “lonely hearts”. Prosecuted in federal court in Little Rock (AK) for possessing several fake IDs. Met R.B. after travelling to LA and left Christian Brando for R.B. B.B. had originally given her child the last name of Brando, but after DNA test proved R.B. was the father, R.B. married her but also hired detectives to check her background. B.B. and R.B. often argued. R.B.'s attorney says that R.B. and B.B. had considered a pre-nup stating that B.B. could not engage in criminal activity, but (again according to R.B.'s attorney) neither signed the pre-nup.[/li][li]R.B.'s lawyer describes B.B. as being fearful for her life in the past few weeks (the reason R.B. had a gun with him on their trip to the restaurant).[/li][li]Autopsy results have been sealed.[/li][li]A construction site near the parking spot of the car was cordoned off by the police and searched. A bag was removed from the site and an investigator was seen dusting for fingerprints on a recycling can. (Even murderers recycle in LA).[/li][li]A P.I. hired by R.B. has said that R.B. and a friend saw several times in the past weeks a man (early 20’s with a crew-cut) watching R.B.'s house from a black pickup or from outside the house. R.B. and friend once chased the man through the neighbourhood but failed to catch him. The P.I. also says that the police checked R.B. for gunpowder residue but found nothing. (Police refused to comment).[/li][/ul]
Whew! Many clues, but no clear pattern. I think they’ll have to call in Peter Falk and his cigar.
C3 - I almost like your idea of the hired gun. But it’s not much of an alibi. He returns to the car with a gun and says “my wife was shot, but by someone else?” Not too convincing.
wring - We don’t know what the parking situation was. It’s very possible that the car was closer to the neighbour’s house than the entrance to the restaurant. As far as hiring a P.I., it might be that R.B. thought the police were not taking his story of the “mysterious stranger” seriously. Also the LA times found info about the victim’s past from her family and court records, so it’s not all coming from R.B.'s attorney.
Kinsey - I am also confused by the alleged “forgetting” of the gun in the restaurant. A gun doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d forget on the table.
cazzle - The actions you describe happened on an alleged second visit to the restaurant, after the body had been found. (see my post above)
jcgmoi - R.B.'s attorney says the police took away the “restaurant” gun.
Reading the story in today’s paper, about Bonny’s brother accusing Robert Blake of being responsible. Brother claims Blake was violent towards Bonny during their “volitile” 12 month marriage.
This article claims police seized the handgun that had been left inside the restaurant as well as one from the actor’s home.
Blake’s lawyer is quoted as saying that Bonny Lee Bakley was a conwoman with many enemies, and that Blake was too upset to take a lie detector test.
Ms Bakley’s brother Peter Carlyon said his family was suspicious of Blake’s story, saying it was very “convenient” that Blake had to return to the restaurant. He said his sister often spoke of physical and verbal violence in the marriage.
Arnold Winkleried, I was quoting from the CNN story linked to by wring, which says:
According to that article, Blake retrieved nothing from the restaurant, but just seemed to kill some time in there (if you’ll pardon the expression).
I think he’s involved in the murder, but he doesn’t seem really bright. I’m most worried about his lawyer who is releasing all these statements saying “My client didn’t kill this woman, who was a con artist, a liar and who preyed on the elderly and the famous”. Grieving husbands don’t instruct their lawyers to tarnish their wife’s reputation.
My feeling is that the triggerman (not Blake, he went to too much trouble to establish an alibi) is already dead, or at least not talking.
But involved… the whole story is just too pat.
And he is a great actor!
Just too much shit from a con-artist extraordinare… how did she bed Christian Brando AND Robert Blake? She wasn’t even good looking!
Robert Blake made it to the age of 67 without ruffling too many feathers, can’t we just let the guy deal with his mistake in peace? This woman manipulated him, $ signs in her eyes, and now she’s gotten her due. Is anyone crying over her? I sure as shit ain’t.
Arnold I agree that we don’t know the parking situation, however:
You’ve got a choice of places to run for help. One is open to the public, you were just there, you know people are around, awake, have phones available etc, and you choose instead, a place where you have to knock, wait for the door to be answered, hoping some one’s there? (and apparently they had to wait while the guy got his clothes on??? and then Blake thinks gee, maybe there’s a doctor at the restaurant where I was just at???)
coupled with the 'oh, I know you’re in fear for your life my dear, but you know I musta left my gun at the restaurant, you just sit here all alone while I run back and get it ’ (again, if it was close enough that he ‘felt safe’ to leave her waiting there whilst he ran back & retrieved the slippery gun, why run to a neighbors instead when you need help?_
Vitello’s is in my neighborhood. Everything to the south of the resteraunt in residential. There is a small parking lot for the resteraunt, but sometimes it’s easier to park on the street in front of the houses. Depending on wher he parked, his car could have been a matter of 5 steps from someones front door.
I have walked passed Blake’s house many times. I didn’t realize it until I read this from the link above:
Has no one explored the Tahitian Mafia connections yet? Haven’t you seen the fall TV line up yet? Clearly the networks are aware of this evil lurking in our midsts. I think The Altos (about fat Tahitians in sunglasses and rumpled lava-lavas is scheduled on Showtime).
spooje did you notice that the article you linked was damned near totally full of ‘statements’ by Blakes attorney? It did a minor quote of her brother saying “she was afraid of Blake and begged him to not carry a gun”, following it up with another quote from the attorney that she ‘begged him to carry". There was very little from the police (tho’ one mention of ‘gee, it’s a shame somebody keeps dragging this murder victim’s name through the mud’ sort of thing’
I appreciate the info re: the parking situation - however, my objection still stands - either they parked really close to the restaurant (therefore leaving her in the car alone while he retrieved the gun makes sense) or they were so far from the restaurant that running to the house after the shooting makes sense (then why would she have been ‘safer’ in the car? if it was that far away, she didn’t want to walk back etc, then why not pull in front of the restaurant and run in, leaving the car double parked for those few seconds?) see none of it makes sense to me.
Well, I’ll bet all the waiters at Vitello’s are thanking their lucky stars Mrs. Blake didn’t call from her car cell phone and say she’d left her sunglasses at the table . . .
By the way, I saw an old (last year) interview with Rbt. Blake on teevee last night, and the guy is crazier than an outhouse rat.
Well, it’s plausible that he went to the house. Hell, the lights may have been on, the door open and groovy music coming out. This is LA after all. And it’s plausible that they drove to this restaraunt instead of taking the 5 minute walk from their house!
Personally, I think he had her shot. But thats just me.
