Blake's Illegal Help?

For dramatic effect, the revelation came with its own bolt of lightning and rumble of thunder.

Taking the stand for a fifth day at his wrongful death trial, Robert Blake for the first time in his legal odyssey claimed three witnesses could confirm his whereabouts at the time wife Bonny Lee Bakley was shot dead on May 4, 2001.

Right around then is when lightning struck the courthouse in Burbank, California.

The ex-Baretta star testified that there were witnesses to back up his alibi came as something of a surprise, given that his defense failed to find anybody to corroborate his tale during his criminal murder trial, which ended with his acquittal in March.

While Blake never testified in that case, he was compelled to defend himself in the current matter, a civil suit on behalf of Bakley's three adult children (whom Blake refers to as "those monsters") and the young daughter Bakley had with Blake. Bakley's family are suing to hold him financially responsible for their mother's death. Blake's former bodyguard and handyman, Earle Caldwell, is a codefendant.

Blake had told police that Bakley, 44, was shot in their car by an unknown assailant a few blocks from Vitello's, a local restaurant where they had just dined. The Emmy-winning actor said the shooting occurred when he went back to retrieve a handgun he had accidentally left inside.

On Monday, however, the 72-year-old actor told the jury that three busboys near the cash register spotted him re-entering Vitello's. Blake said he went back to his booth, collected the weapon and headed out the door, telling the men, "I'm cool. I found it." Blake said he believed the trio to be undocumented immigrants who couldn't speak English. They did not report what they saw to the police for fear of being deported, he claimed. There was no indication if there was any attempt by Blake's team to track down the men to testify.

But Eric Dubin, the lawyer representing the Bakleys, was quick to mock Blake's latest take.

"It's a new jury, so I guess we have a new alibi," Dubin said, per the Los Angeles Times. "I would call it a desperate and insulting attempt to create an alibi that had never been there for four years."

Dubin said he was unconvinced that illegals would clam up in order to save their own butts, prompting the judge to remark, "Well, if you're undocumented are you going to go to the police?"

Maybe it was the lightning strike or Blake's surprise testimony, but the rest of the day had a surreal, David Lynch feel to it as Blake recited speeches from World War II hero General George Patton to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus to diss his dead wife.

Blake's defense launched a series of vicious attacks on Bakley, calling her a scheming, wretched woman who trapped the actor into marriage by getting pregnant with daughter Rosie in a shameless play for his money.

Attorney Peter Ezzel cited a letter written by Bakley to Blake offering to drop a paternity suit against him and stop seeing Christian Brando (son of Marlon), if he agreed to marry her. (Bakley had apparently told the younger Brando that he was the father of Rosie, until a DNA test confirmed Blake was the dad. )

"I don't feel it would be worth it to sever that relationship for anything less than an engagement. It might not be just your money I miss out on, it might be Marlon's as well via Christian," Bakley wrote, adding that she wanted her engagement ring to be "at least a karat, size six."

Blake told the court he went ahead and married her out of pity more than anything else--this despite the fact that she was once convicted for running a lonely-hearts scam in which she sent naked pictures of herself and promises of sex to persuade hard-up men to fork over their money.

At the behest of Ezzel, who projected letters onto a screen while he questioned his client, Blake read one that contained anti-Semitic slurs. The actor told the court that he reprimanded her by quoting Patton, that effective communication necessitates both speakers be "short, hard and dirty."

The actor also cited Aeschylus to describe the nature of their dysfunctional relationship.

In another odd moment, Blake recalled the day of the murder, going into great detail about parking his car on the street instead of the restaurant lot because he was concerned a man he called "Buzz Cut" might have been tailing them after Blake had spotted him loitering outside his home.

The day also included a screening of 10 minutes of video footage taken by a freelance journalist after the shooting. The video showed paramedics attending to Bakely, Blake behind a Dumpster (where he vomited), and Blake talking to police.

Blake was back on the stand Tuesday.