Chronology

* 1998--Robert Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley meet.

* June 2000--Bakley gives birth.

* November 2000--After DNA tests establish that Blake is the father of Bakley’s daughter, the two marry but maintain separate residences at his Studio City estate.

* May 4, 2001--Bakley is shot to death in the couple’s parked car outside Vitello’s restaurant in Studio City. A discarded handgun is later found in a nearby trash bin.

* May 5--Los Angeles police detectives obtain a warrant and search Blake’s home. They find two 9-millimeter handguns and boxes of ammunition.

* May 6--Harland W. Braun, Blake’s attorney, releases letters showing that Bakley ran a lonely hearts business swindling men out of money. In many of the letters she offered nude photographs of herself for sale.

* May 22, 2001--The National Enquirer gives the LAPD tape-recordings of Blake accusing his wife of tricking him by getting pregnant and urging her to get an abortion.

* May 25, 2001--Bakley is buried as a somber Blake stands before the casket and pays tribute to her for bringing their baby into the world.

* June 2, 2001--Braun says he has dispatched two investigators across the country to interview members of Bakley’s family and anyone else who might be able to shed light on her killing.

* Aug. 24, 2001--Blake says he plans to sell the Mata Hari Ranch in Studio City, saying the home he shared with his wife had become too much of a ghoulish attraction for him to stay there.

* Jan. 13. 2002--Police say they have made significant progress in the eight-month investigation after sifting through videotapes, photographs, letters and other documents that belonged to Bakley.

* April 18, 2002--Blake is arrested at a Hidden Hills home and his bodyguard and chauffeur, Earle Caldwell, is arrested on a Burbank street in connection with Bakley’s slaying.