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Secret Police Files: ‘Baretta’ Star Robert Blake Turned His Back On Dying Wife Bonny Lee Bakley

robert blake tested guns wife bonny lee bakley murder
Source: BSA/ZOJ/MANDATORY CREDIT: WENN/NEWSCOM/THE MEGA AGENCY

Mar. 10 2023, Published 5:15 p.m. ET

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The day Bonny Lee Bakley, the wife of Baretta star Robert Blake, was found shot dead, the actor was heard test-firing a gun at their home, according to evidence obtained in the case.

Blake died on March 9 at his home from heart disease.

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After Bakley's death, her sister, Margerry Bakley, claimed she was on the phone with her sister while Blake was testing his gun.

"She even cried out in terror as she told me, 'He's coming to kill me,'" Margery recalled.

The situation grew even more strained when gunshots “set off the burglar alarm,” Margerry said. “As the alarm was loudly wailing, Bonny was running around her guesthouse, in the back of Blake's property, frantically locking all the doors so he couldn't come in and shoot her.”

According to Margerry, Blake was out “testing his gun to make sure it was working properly" and she thought "he didn't want it to misfire when he put it to Bonny's head in the car where she was killed."

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The day Bonny was murdered, Margery said she believed Blake wanted to send her sister a message.

"When Bonny went downstairs in her guesthouse, there was a sleeping bag neatly laid out at the bottom of the stairs. Robert had unrolled it. He knew she was familiar with all his films and knew of a scene in a TV movie he did, Judgment Day: The John List Story. In the movie, Blake executed his mother, his wife, and his three children — then placed them in sleeping bags," Margery explained. "I believe Blake knew Bonny would get the message: 'Back off on trying to take my daughter from me, or I'll kill you.'"

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Margerry admitted she was “still terrified" of the actor, who went on trial for murder last year.

Following a three-month trial, Blake was acquitted of murder and found not guilty of one of the two counts of solicitation of murder. The second solicitation of murder charge was later dropped.

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