VAN NUYS, Calif. — Prosecutors in the murder trial of Robert Blake rested their rebuttal case Friday morning after jurors heard from two final witnesses, a National Enquirer journalist, and a range master from the Los Angeles Gun Club.

After a short sidebar, the defense declined to put on a surrebuttal case.

"We will resume for closing arguments on Wednesday," Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp announced to jurors, adding that she expects to submit the case to them by Friday afternoon, March 4.

After hearing from more than 100 witnesses over 36 days, the five-woman, seven-man panel will soon be charged with deciding the fate of the 71-year-old "Baretta" star.

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Prosecutors say Blake hated Bonny Lee Bakley, his wife of six months, and tried in vain to convince two former "Baretta" stuntmen to kill her, even suggesting methods and locations where the hit could take place.

When that didn't work, prosecutors contend, Blake shot Bakley himself on May 4, 2001, as she sat in his black Dodge Stealth, which was parked near an Italian restaurant in Studio City where the couple had just dined.

Blake is charged with one count of murder, with the special circumstance of lying in wait, and two counts of soliciting the stuntmen to kill Bakley.

In his opening statements, defense attorney Gerald Schwartzbach told jurors that while Blake may not have loved, or even liked, Bakley, he did not wish her dead, and he had nothing to do with her murder.

In an attempt to undermine the credibility of stuntmen Ronald Hambleton and Gary McLarty, the defense put on several witnesses, including McLarty's son and wife, who testified that the men suffered from delusions and hallucinations because of chronic drug use.

Blake did not take the stand in his defense, and he waived his right to testify this week in the judge's chambers.

However, the defense was allowed to play a clip from a 2003 jailhouse interview with Barbara Walters, in which the actor states emphatically that he did not kill his wife, and cites his love for their infant daughter, Rosie, as the impetus to work things out with her.

"I wasn't going to mess it up by being selfish," Blake said in the interview.

Schwartzbach and Deputy District Attorney Shellie Samuels will return to court Monday, and possibly Tuesday, for a conference to argue what instructions the jurors will be given before deliberations.

Blake, who is on house arrest on $1.5 million bond, waived his right to be present for the conference, and will return Wednesday.

Gun training

Prosecutors admit that while they have a strong circumstantial case against Blake, they have no direct evidence linking the actor to his wife's murder or to the murder weapon — a Walther P-38 9 mm that was found in a Dumpster next to the crime scene.

Bakley, 44, was shot twice — once in the right shoulder and once in the right jaw. Attorneys agree that the shooter approached her from the open passenger side window, but they don't agree on whether the shooter was ambidextrous.

In his opening statements, defense attorney Schwartzbach told jurors there was evidence to suggest the shooter was right-handed. Blake, however, is left-handed.

The defense's right-handed killer theory revolves around the fact that the Walther P-38 pistol ejects spent cartridge casings to the left. Detectives found two casings at the crime scene — one on the passenger seat and one in the gutter near the passenger door.

Schwartzbach has suggested that the shooter was standing slightly to the rear of Bakley, holding the gun in his right hand, and that the casing struck the shooter and bounced forward into the car.

However, he did not call any witnesses to support this theory, and the strongest argument came during cross-examination of prosecution witness Rod Englert, who insisted that there was no way to determine where the shooter was standing, what hand he used, or whether witnesses on the scene inadvertently moved the spent casings.

On Friday, prosecutor Samuels attempted to further rebut the right-handed theory by calling Los Angeles Gun Club Range Master Marty Delgadillo to the stand.

Delgadillo, a former police officer who trains individuals seeking certification for concealed weapons permits, said he showed Blake how to shoot his gun using a two-handed method.

Samuels produced two certificates, one from January 1999 and another from January 2001, indicating Blake had performed the mandatory instruction and range-training needed to receive his permit.

Delgadillo told jurors that all applicants must be able to shoot within the 10-inch radius of a silhouette target at varying distances for at least five shots in a row, using different caliber guns.

Delgadillo said applicants must also be able to shoot using their weak hand, with their dominant hand as support. He held his arms up and mimicked the two-handed style for jurors.

On cross-examination, however, Delgadillo testified that Blake initially failed the test.

"Isn't it true that Mr. Blake failed three times shooting with his right hand?" Schwartzbach asked.

"Correct," Delgadillo replied.

He clarified on re-direct examination that after studying Blake's style, he gave the actor pointers on how to properly shoot with his weak hand, and helped him to pass the test.

Tabloid testimony

Jurors also heard briefly from tabloid journalist Allan Smith, who was questioned about a May 7, 2002, National Enquirer interview he conducted with McLarty's son, Cole.

Cole previously testified that many of the details of the article were fabricated, including quotes attributed to him in which he claims his father instantly knew Blake was to blame when Bakley was killed.

Prosecutor Samuels read directly from the article, looking up periodically to ask the witness, "Did he say that?"

"That's correct. That's what Cole said," Smith said.

Schwartzbach's brief cross-examination amounted to a quibbling with the witness over the use of quotes at the beginning of paragraphs but not at the end. Smith maintained that the quotes were accurate.

Several witnesses who sold stories to the National Enquirer about their relationship to the Bakley murder investigation previously have taken the stand and denied various quotes attributed to them in the resulting articles.

Few jurors appeared to be taking notes during Smith's testimony. One female juror kept her arms crossed on her chest; another male juror began to obsessively pick away at a cuticle.

Blake appeared calm during the final day of testimony. He smiled and chatted briefly with his attorneys, and did not have any overt emotional reaction to the wrapping up of the long case against him.

Blake faces life in prison without parole if convicted of his wife's murder. The solicitation charges carry a maximum sentence of 9 years apiece.