Autopsy of Blake’s Slain Wife Is Sealed

The preliminary results of an autopsy performed on actor Robert Blake’s wife were sealed Monday at the request of Los Angeles police because her killer remains at large, a spokesman for the county coroner’s office said.

Police were concerned that their investigation would be hurt if the autopsy results became public, said Scott Carrier, the coroner’s spokesman.

On Monday afternoon, investigators cordoned off a construction site a few yards from where Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, was fatally shot and combed through the property. A bag was removed from the site.

Also on Monday, one of Blake’s lawyers and a private investigator said a mysterious man began appearing outside of Blake’s Studio City home about two months ago. The lawyer said Blake told police about the man after Bakley’s shooting.

Bakley was found shot in the head Friday night in the actor’s car, which was parked near Vitello’s, a Studio City restaurant. The couple had finished dinner at the restaurant a little earlier.

The motive for the shooting remained unknown and there were no suspects, authorities said.

It was unclear what police hoped to find in the nearly vacant lot in the 400 block of Kraft Street.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on that aspect of the investigation,” said Lt. Horace Frank, spokesman for the Police Department. “It would not be uncommon for the investigators to be out there at the scene of the crime to reach some sort of finality with the investigation.”

Detectives, who arrived at the scene about 2 p.m. Monday, spent much of their time focusing on a trench near a stand-alone garage. An investigator was seen dusting for fingerprints on a blue recycling can.

Bakley married Blake, the star of the 1970s television series “Baretta,” after the two had a daughter.

Blake’s lawyers characterized the couple’s relationship as odd. The couple married after DNA tests revealed that the actor was the child’s father. Bakley lived in a small house behind Blake’s home.

Blake lawyer Harland W. Braun said the couple had considered a prenuptial agreement saying that Bakley, who had a string of legal run-ins, could not engage in any criminal activity. But neither Blake nor Bakley signed it, Braun said. The lawyers also said Bakley had been so fearful for her life in the last weeks that she had rarely gone outside without her husband.

Bakley’s relatives described her over the weekend as a woman who sought relationships with wealthy, well-known men. They also said she was known to spin tales of her relationships with stars. One man she frequently talked about, singer Frankie Valli, said Monday that he had never met Bakley and hadn’t heard of her until the weekend.

About two months ago, Blake’s representatives said, a mysterious man began appearing outside of Blake’s home. Blake first saw the man, described as being in his early 20s with a crew cut, watching the property from a black four-door pickup.

For about two weeks, Blake and one of his best friends occasionally saw the man outside the home, said Scott Ross, a private investigator hired by Blake’s legal team.

On one occasion, Ross said, the man was seen in his truck outside the home at night. Another time, Ross said, Blake and his friend chased the man through the actor’s neighborhood, but they were not able to catch him.

Ross said Blake told police about the stranger on the night of the slaying. The actor was interviewed for about an hour that night.

Ross also said Blake went through a gunpowder residue test that evening at the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division. He said police found no residue. Police declined to comment.

Blake’s investigator said Bakley asked Blake, who was licensed by Culver City to carry a concealed weapon, to have his gun with him when they went outside.

On Friday night, Blake told police he found his wife shot in the head in the front passenger seat of their car, which was parked in a quiet residential area about a block from the restaurant.

Blake told police that he had walked with his wife to the car, but left her alone after he realized he had forgotten his handgun at the restaurant. When he came back to the car, the actor found his wife mortally wounded, he told police.

Over the next few minutes, Blake told investigators, he first ran across the street to have a neighbor call 911, then went to Vitello’s a second time to ask for a doctor.

One of the restaurant’s owners, Joe Restivo, said he saw Blake come back to the restaurant only once, and that when he did the actor said his wife had been shot. Blake asked for a glass of water, he said.