Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife, then ordered to pay her children $30 million

Robert Blake starred in "In Cold Blood" and won an Emmy for "Baretta." In May 2001 his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, was shot dead in his car outside his favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City. Their daughter, Rosie, was 3 months old. Prosecutors said Blake felt Bakley had forced him into marriage by getting pregnant and that he wanted to raise the child alone. Blake denied it. He was charged with murder and two counts of solicitation of murder. In March 2005 a jury acquitted him of murder and one solicitation count and deadlocked on the other. Bakley's four children had sued him for wrongful death in 2002. In the civil trial, the jury had to decide only whether he was probably responsible. On November 18, 2005, it voted 10 to 2 that he was liable and awarded the children $30 million. Blake said legal bills had left him almost broke. He filed for bankruptcy in February 2006^†. In April 2008 the California Court of Appeal upheld the verdict and cut the damages to $15 million. The children's lawyer said he expected the total to reach about $24 million with interest and that he could collect despite the bankruptcy. Blake died on March 9, 2023, at 89. How much of the judgment was ever paid has not been reported^†.