LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Despite eight months of appearing to hit nothing by brick walls and dead ends, Los Angeles homicide detectives have finally declared that they have been making "significant progress" toward cracking the murder of the wife of actor Robert Blake, the Los Angeles Times said Sunday.
Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, was shot to death May 4, 2001 shortly after having dinner with Blake at his favorite Studio City restaurant, not far from his home. Although, the 68-year-old actor said he had left her alone for a brief period and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had accidentally left behind, he has not been named a suspect.
The case faded from the headlines as the investigation seemingly sputtered, however the head of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division said his officers have continued tracking down leads and examining evidence.
"Detectives have been working extremely hard and have made significant progress," Capt. Jim Tatreau told the Times. "Significant work has been devoted to the large amount of material turned over to the detectives."
Tatreau would not discuss specifics of the case, however the Times reported that the police have searched Blake's Studio City residence twice and have traveled to Arkansas, Tennessee, Montana and New Jersey as part of the investigation.
Blake and Bakley married in 2000 only after a paternity suit disclosed that he was the father of their infant daughter, Rose. They generally lived separate lives, which has led some of Bakley's relatives to speculate that Blake had a hand in her death because he wanted her out of his life.
Blake's lawyer, Harlan Braun, has offered the theory that Bakley was killed by someone from her past whom she may have swindled or otherwise angered.
Attorney Cary W. Goldstein, who represents the Bakley family, told the Times that while the slow pace of the investigation has been frustrating, the family understood that the LAPD had a difficult case on their hands.
"They have no eyewitness and little physical evidence," he said.
Law professor Laurie Levenson told the newspaper that a slow and low-key investigation was to be expected, particularly because of Blake's celebrity status. She said the O.J. Simpson acquittal -- based on Simpson's assertion that detectives ignored and mishandled critical evidence in their alleged "rush to judgment" -- had served as a major lesson to the LAPD.
"The post-O.J. syndrome is that the LAPD realizes that when you are dealing with celebrities, you better have all your ducks in a row and be ready to go the day you bring the charges," Levenson opined.
