ROBERT BLAKE FOUND LIABLE IN WIFE'S DEATH

Nov 18, 5:08 PM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Robert Blake, acquitted in March of murdering his wife, was found liable on Friday for her killing in a wrongful death civil suit brought by her children and ordered to pay $30 million in damages.

The 72-year-old Blake turned visibly pale and seemed stunned as the verdict was read in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Burbank, capping an 11-week civil trial that stemmed from the 2001 shooting death of his spouse, Bonny Lee Bakley.

The former star of the hit 1970s TV detective show "Baretta" was quickly escorted from the courthouse through a rear exit by three sheriff's deputies. He made no comment.

Blake's co-defendant in the case, his former bodyguard and handyman Earle Caldwell, was cleared of allegations in the lawsuit that he conspired with the actor to kill his wife.

The jury of nine men and three women split 9-3 on the $30 million damage award and 10-2 in favor of finding that Blake intentionally caused the death of Bakley on March 4, 2001.

She was shot to death in Blake's car a short time after the two dined together at a restaurant. In his alibi to police, Blake said he had gone back to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he mistakenly left behind and returned to the car to find Bakley slumped over, bleeding to death.

In March of this year, a jury acquitted Blake of charges he committed the murder after trying to solicit others to kill his wife. Caldwell was initially charged as a conspirator in the criminal case before a judge dismissed the charge.

The outcome of the two Blake trials was reminiscent of mixed verdicts returned in the case of former football star O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of criminal charges he murdered his ex-wife and her friend but later found liable for their deaths in a civil suit and ordered to pay $33.5 million.