Hi. I'm Jason Wilson, creator and executive producer of The Gray Room's podcast,
and I wanted to once again tell you about another awesome audio experience brought
to you by Wondering the Execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley. Small town girl Bonnie
Lee Bakeley always dreamed of marrying a movie star. Her obsession with celebrities resulted
in nine divorces until Bonnie eventually married famous actor Robert Blake. However, Bonnie
learned being close to the spotlight comes with consequences. Within a year of her
marriage, her Hollywood dream came to her tragic end when she was found fatally
shot outside of a diner in North Hollywood. Bonnie's troubling past complicated detectives almost
a year long investigation into her murder, which had the lapd raking through Hollywood's
underbelly of gangsters, drug addicts, and would be hitman. Her husband,
Robert Blake, remained the prime suspect in her murder, but the media pointed
the finger back at Bonnie, saying she had it coming from one. The
Execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley is a thrilling new chapter and the hit Hollywood and
crime podcast series Robert Blake knew Bonnie spent most of her life as a con
artist who dreamed of being famous. But when Robert Blake reluctantly let Bonnie stay
in his guesthouse, it began the role he'd become most famous for, an
accused murderer. You're about to hear a preview of the execution of Bonnie Lee
Bakeley while you're listening. Follow the Execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley on Apple Podcasts,
Amazon Music, Spotify, or you can listen ad free by joining Wondery
Plus in the Wondery app. It's a little after nine to thirty pm on
May fourth, two thousand and one. Fireworks flash across the sky in Studio
City, just over the Hollywood Hills. Singo de Mayo has come a day
early this year. Inside a small yellow house on a quiet street, Sean
Stanik sits at a desk in his robe. He's spending Friday night hunched over
his keyboard writing a screenplay, hoping to become the next Quentin Tarantino. But
tonight Stanik won't write another word. Outside his door is a man he looks
familiar, about sixty something short. He's breathing hard. You have to help
my wife. She's bloody and she's been beaten. They beat her up.
Oh my god, Canine. Then it clicks, Jesus, it's Robert Blake,
the actor. Stani seen him around the neighborhood. Where is she?
Blake points across the street to a black Dodge parked in front of a dumpster.
Stani's confused. How did Blake's wife get into the car if she was
beaten? Was there a domestic squabble. Stanik racist to his bedroom, dials
nine on one, addressed emergency. Okay, so crap, we need a
woman with how old is she tonight? Cascious Robert, No, she's not
caustiously breathing? Is she breathing? The other coming? The operator tells Stanik
to get a dry towel to stop any bleeding. Shit, He's still in
his robe. He runs to the bedroom to change clothes, and here's Blake
yellow from the other room. I'm going back to the restaurant. What the
hell? Why isn't Blake going to the car to help his wife. Outside
there's a light fog, the street empty, it's dark, a soot.
Then he sees the car next to the dumpster and rushes over. He peers
in through the driver's window and spots the woman. Man, Oh my god,
okay, she breathing. I don't know. Are you okay? Man?
Are you okay? Stanik opens the door. The woman's hair is matted
with blood and he can hear her taking ragged breaths. He places a towel
around her head and applies pressure, and then he hears Blake calling from down
the block. What's wrong with her? What happened? Stani turns back to
the injured woman. He tilts up her face. His stomach jumps. There's
a gaping hole in the right side of her head. She's been shot.
Minutes later, paramedics arrive and transfer the woman into an ambulance. Stanik finds
Blake sitting on the curb. He sits next to him and puts his arm
around his shoulder. By now, the street is teeming with squad cars.
One of the officers approaches and asked Blake if he's related to the victim.
Blake's voice is a low, shaky that's my wife. I knew this was
going to happen. I knew it. She was afraid, you know.
I carry my piece for protection. The officer asks if he still has it
on him. Blake pulls the gun from his pocket. Stanek is suddenly all
nerves. He tries to piece together the clues. If he did the scene
as a director, he'd say the woman trusted, whoever did this? Maybe
the killer walked up and said something to her. Then too late, the
gun explodes. One of the hazards of working in Hollywood. Everything feels like
a movie. Stan won't be the first to speculate about what happened tonight.
In the next few hours, newspapers and TV crews will swoop onto the scene
hungry for headlines. It's been a slow news cycle, and this story has
all the makings of a film. There are thriller, a faded Hollywood actor,
his murdered wife, everyone wanting to know who is this mysterious woman and
who wanted her dead. You just heard a preview of the execution of Bonnie
Lee Bakeley. Listen to the rest of this episode wherever you get your podcasts.