Mar 28, 2003 2 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actor Robert Blake pleaded innocent Thursday to murder and conspiracy charges in the death of his wife. During an arraignment hearing, Blake and co-defendant Earle Caldwell agreed to waive their rights to a speedy trial. The case was likely to go to trial in October.

Blake, who was released on bail for the first time after his preliminary hearing earlier this month, stood as a prosecutor read the charges against him, which include murder and solicitation to murder.

“Mr. Blake, to those charges how do you plead?” asked prosecutor Pat Dixon.

“Not guilty, sir,” Blake said.

The 69-year-old actor is accused of killing 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot to death on May 4, 2001, after dining with her husband at a restaurant in their Studio City neighborhood.

Blake claims he found his wife shot in their car after he went back to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he carried for protection.

Prosecutors say Blake killed her himself because he was unable to hire a hit man. Prosecution witnesses testified that the actor felt Bakley was a bad influence who associated with disreputable people and might eventually lead their daughter into child pornography.

Caldwell, who is Blake’s former handyman-bodyguard, also answered “not guilty” when asked for his plea on a murder conspiracy charge.

While arriving for the hearing, Blake, the former “Baretta” star, thanked those who helped free him from jail on bail March 14 after nearly a year in solitary confinement. He credited the judge who set bail, Lloyd Nash, with “saving my life.”

The judge who presided over Thursday’s hearing, Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp, set a hearing for June 19 on pretrial motions, including a defense motion to dismiss the charges.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.