Speaker 1: Small town girl Bonnie Lee Bakeley always dreamed of marrying
Speaker 1: a movie star. Her obsession with celebrities resulted in nine
Speaker 1: divorces until Bonnie eventually married famous actor Robert Blake. However,
Speaker 1: Bonnie learned being close to the spotlight comes with consequences.
Speaker 1: Within a year of her marriage, her Hollywood dream came
Speaker 1: to a tragic end when she was found fatally shot
Speaker 1: outside of a diner in North Hollywood. Bonnie's troubling past
Speaker 1: complicated detectives almost year long investigation into her murder, which
Speaker 1: had the lapd raking through Hollywood's underbelly of gangsters, drug addicts,
Speaker 1: and would be hitman. Her husband, Robert Blake, remained a
Speaker 1: prime suspect in her murder, but the media pointed the
Speaker 1: finger back at Bonnie, saying she had it coming from wondering.
Speaker 1: The execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley is a thrilling new
Speaker 1: chapter in the hit Hollywood and crime podcast series. Robert
Speaker 1: Blake knew Bonnie spent most of her life as a
Speaker 1: con artist who dreamed of being famous. But when Robert
Speaker 1: Blake reluctantly let Bonnie stay in his guesthouse, it began
Speaker 1: the rule he become most famous for an accused murderer.
Speaker 1: You're about to hear a preview of the execution of
Speaker 1: Bonnie Lee Bakeley while you're listening. Follow the Execution of
Speaker 1: Bonnie Lee Bakeley on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: you can listen ad free by joining Wondery Plus in
Speaker 1: the Wondery app.
Speaker 2: It's a little after nine to thirty pm on May fourth,
Speaker 2: two thousand and one. Fireworks flash across the sky in
Speaker 2: Studio City, just over the Hollywood Hills. Cinco de Mayo
Speaker 2: has come a day early this year. Inside a small
Speaker 2: yellow house on a street sewn, Stanik sits at a
Speaker 2: desk in his robe. He's spending Friday night hunched over
Speaker 2: his keyboard writing a screenplay, hoping to become the next
Speaker 2: Quentin Tarantino. But tonight Stanik won't write another word. Outside
Speaker 2: his door is a man. He looks familiar, about sixty
Speaker 2: something short. He's breathing hard. You have to help my wife.
Speaker 2: She's bloody and she's been beaten. They beat her up.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, call nine one one. Then it clicks, Jesus,
Speaker 2: it's Robert Blake, the actor. Stanic seen him around the neighborhood.
Speaker 2: Where is she? Blake points across the street to a
Speaker 2: black Dodge parked in front of a dumpster. Stanik's confused.
Speaker 2: How did Blake's wife get into the car if she
Speaker 2: was beaten? Was there a domestic squabble? Stanic races to
Speaker 2: his bedroom. Dials nine one one addressed emergency.
Speaker 1: Okay, so crap, we need a woman.
Speaker 2: How old is she? She's forty five years old. Is
Speaker 2: she conscience, Robert, No, she's not cautio breathing? Is she breathing?
Speaker 1: The other they're coming up snow.
Speaker 2: The operator tells Stank to get a dry towel to
Speaker 2: stop any bleeding. Shit. He's still in his robe. He
Speaker 2: runs to the bedroom to change clothes, and here's Blake
Speaker 2: yell from the other room. Go back to the restaurant.
Speaker 1: What the hell?
Speaker 2: Why isn't Blake going to the car to help his wife.
Speaker 2: Outside there's a light fog, the street empty, it's dark
Speaker 2: as soot. Then he sees the car next to the
Speaker 2: dumpster and rushes over. He peers in through the driver's
Speaker 2: window and spots the woman. Ma'am, oh my god, Okay,
Speaker 2: she's breathing.
Speaker 1: I don't know, are you okay, ma'am, are you okay?
Speaker 2: Stanik opens the door. The woman's hair is matted with
Speaker 2: blood and he can hear her taking ragged breaths. He
Speaker 2: places a towel around her head and applies pressure, and
Speaker 2: then he hears Blake calling from down the block.
Speaker 1: What's wrong with her? What happened?
Speaker 2: Stanik turns back to the injured woman. He tilts up
Speaker 2: her face. His stomach jumps. There's a gaping hole in
Speaker 2: the right side of her head. She's been shot. Minutes later,
Speaker 2: paramedics arrive and transfer the woman into an ambulance. Stanik
Speaker 2: finds Blake sitting on the curb. He sits next to
Speaker 2: him and puts his arm around his shoulder. By now,
Speaker 2: the street is teeming with squad cars. One of the
Speaker 2: officers approaches and asks Blake if he's related to the victim.
Speaker 2: Blake's voice is low, shaky. That's my wife. I knew
Speaker 2: this was going to happen. I knew it. She was afraid,
Speaker 2: you know. I carry my piece for protection. The officer
Speaker 2: asks if he still has it on him. Blake pulls
Speaker 2: the gun from his pocket. Stanik is suddenly all nerves.
Speaker 2: He tries to piece together the clues. If he did
Speaker 2: the scene as a director, he'd say the woman trusted
Speaker 2: whoever did this. Maybe the killer walked up and said
Speaker 2: something to her, then too late, the gun explodes. One
Speaker 2: of the hazards of working in Hollywood. Everything feels like
Speaker 2: a movie. Stanik won't be the first to speculate about
Speaker 2: what happened tonight. In the next few hours, newspapers and
Speaker 2: TV crews will swoop onto the scene hungry for headlines.
Speaker 2: It's been a slow news cycle, and this story has
Speaker 2: all the makings of a film noir thriller. A faded
Speaker 2: Hollywood actor, his murdered wife, everyone wanting to know who
Speaker 2: is this mysterious woman and who wanted her dead.
Speaker 1: You just heard a preview of the execution of Bonnie
Speaker 1: Lee Bakley. Listen to the rest of this episode wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.