LOS ANGELES, May 17 (UPI) -- Actor Robert Blake praised his lawyers and the jury the acquitted him of murder, but scorned "pig-face bags of rat guts" who fed the media stories.
In an hour-long interview with CNN, the 72-year-old actor recounted the anguish he went through during the trial on charges of shooting his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.
Since being acquitted in March, the star of "Baretta" and "In Cold Blood" said he is now broke, owes large amounts of back taxes and faces a civil suit from Bakley's family.
He also criticized the media's appetite for gossip.
"There's a whole litter of lunatics out there, pig-face bags of rat guts that are telling all kinds of lies, and the media's soaking it up," Blake said.
Blake married Bakley in November 2000 after DNA tests indicated he was the father of her child. He said his daughter Rosie, now 4, is being raised by his other daughter and her family.
"I will always be sorry and deeply saddened for what happened to Bonny," Blake said.
