Wondery Presents: The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Sean Carroll | Wondery
4.8 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 20 June 2022
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a volatile relationship with Christian Brando, the troubled son of movie star Marlon Brando.
Not since the O.J. Simpson case had the eyes of the nation been so fixated on a homicide. The search for Bonny’s killer took detectives on an eleven-month odyssey across the country and through Hollywood's underbelly of hustlers, drug addicts, and would-be hitmen. It would be the most expensive murder investigation in LAPD history to date.
This is the story of Robert and Bonny’s toxic relationship, her shocking murder, and his chaotic trial. Did actor Robert Blake kill his wife? Or was the murder someone else's vendetta?
From Wondery, and the team behind the hit series Hollywood & Crime (The Dating Game Killer, The Wonderland Murders, Death of Starlet) comes a six-part series about love, obsession and fame gone wrong. Co-hosted by Tracy Pattin and Josh Lucas.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Small town girl Bonnie Lee Bakeley always dreamed of marrying a movie star. |
| 0:04.8 | Her obsession with celebrities resulted in nine divorces until Bonnie eventually married |
| 0:08.6 | famous actor Robert Blake. |
| 0:10.4 | However, Bonnie learned that being close to the spotlight comes with consequences. |
| 0:15.1 | Within a year of her marriage, her Hollywood dream came to a tragic end when she was found |
| 0:19.2 | fatally shot outside of a diner in North Hollywood. |
| 0:22.4 | Bonnie's troubling past complicated detectives almost year long investigation into her murder, |
| 0:27.4 | which had the LAPD raking through Hollywood's underbelly of gangsters, drug addicts, and |
| 0:31.8 | would-be hitmen. |
| 0:33.3 | Her husband, Robert Blake, remained the prime suspect in her murder, but the media pointed |
| 0:38.1 | the finger back at Bonnie, saying she had it coming. |
| 0:41.6 | From Wondery, the execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley is a thrilling new chapter in the hit |
| 0:45.8 | Hollywood and Crime podcast series. |
| 0:48.3 | Robert Blake knew Bonnie's been most of her life as a con artist who dreamed of being |
| 0:51.9 | famous, but when Robert Blake reluctantly let Bonnie stay in his guest house, it began |
| 0:56.6 | the role he'd become most famous for, an accused murderer. |
| 1:00.5 | You're about to hear a preview of the execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley. |
| 1:04.2 | While you're listening, follow the execution of Bonnie Lee Bakeley on Apple Podcasts, |
| 1:07.8 | Amazon Music, Spotify, where you can listen ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery |
| 1:12.6 | app. |
| 1:13.6 | It's a little after 9.30pm on May 4, 2001. |
| 1:24.2 | Fireworks flash across the sky in Studio City, just over the Hollywood Hills. |
... |
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