BURBANK, Calif. — A jury found actor Robert Blake liable for his wife's 2001 murder and ordered him to pay $30 million in damages to her children — a figure one juror called "a message of deterrence."

With its verdict, reached over 28 hours of deliberation in eight days, the jury found that Blake likely caused the death of 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley by killing her himself or getting someone else to do it.

"No matter how bad a person she may have been, you don't have the right to take somebody's life," one juror told reporters outside the courtroom Friday, referring to testimony about Bakley's mail-order porn scams and penchant for bilking lonely men of cash. "How do you put a price on somebody's love?"

The panel's decision stands in stark contrast to the verdict in Blake's criminal trial in March, when a panel of 12 jurors unanimously found the actor not guilty of Bakley's murder.

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Unlike in his criminal trial, the civil jury was not required to be unanimous. Nine votes were needed for a verdict. Ten of the 12 panelists agreed that Blake was liable, while nine of the 12 agreed with the $30 million sum.

Did they believe that Blake was the triggerman who shot his wife to death four years ago outside an Italian restaurant? Most jurors shrugged their shoulders and threw up their hands.

"We're not sure," one juror said. "We just don't know."

Blake, who sobbed openly following his acquittal in March, appeared emotionless as the civil finding was read Friday. His attorney, Peter Ezzell, shook his head. Both men left the courthouse without commenting.

Bakley's four surviving children filed the wrongful death suit in April 2002, seeking damages for the loss of their mother's love and companionship. None of the children were in court Friday for the verdict.

"These kids lost their mom, and this got overlooked over the years. This was a real family. This was a real person," Eric Dubin, the children's attorney, told reporters. He added that Blake was "not O.J." Simpson, who was also acquitted of his wife's murder but later found liable for her death.

"I have every reason to believe [Robert Blake] will make good on this judgment," Dubin said.

On May 4, 2001, Bakley was shot through the open passenger-side window of Blake's parked sports car, a few blocks from Vitello's restaurant in Studio City, where the couple had just finished their last dinner together.

Jurors heard testimony from several witnesses, including two stuntmen, that Blake begged them to help him find a way to "whack" and "pop" Bakley, even suggesting murder plots that were similar to her actual demise.

Blake has always maintained his innocence. He claims he left Bakley alone to walk back to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he left under the booth, and returned minutes later to find her bleeding and unconscious.

His licensed revolver was not the murder weapon, and forensic investigators were unable to recover any prints from the vintage pistol found in a Dumpster that proved to be the gun that delivered two fatal shots to Bakley's head and shoulder.

His own worst enemy

A dire lack of physical evidence — DNA, prints, and gunshot residue — linking Blake to the murder was the stumbling block for prosecutors in the criminal trial. Several jurors in that trial said afterward that they did not know if Blake was involved in his wife's death, but they could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that he pulled the trigger.

Although jurors did not hear from Blake directly during his criminal trial, the actor gave seven days of testimony during the civil proceeding.

"As a group we believe that Mr. Blake was probably his worst enemy on the stand," the jury foreman told reporters Friday.

Blake was an antagonistic witness, who was quick to anger and seemed to enjoy calling the plaintiff's attorney "chief" and "liar." The panel said that Blake's "unprofessional" composure on the stand and his inconsistent recollections about his actions on the night of the murder hurt his credibility.

Blake's short stormy relationship with Bakley began in 1999 with a one-night stand and soon developed into a bitter love triangle with Christian Brando — son of actor Marlon Brando — when Bakley tricked Blake into getting her pregnant.

Bakley's daughter, born Shannon Christian Brando in summer 2000, was later renamed Rose Lenore Sophia Blake once DNA tests confirmed Blake's parentage.

Blake's defense painted Bakley as a notorious scammer of lonely men who likely died at the hands of a jilted lover. The defense also suggested that Mark Jones, a homeless pal of Christian Brando's, may have killed Bakley to impress his famous friend. Jones committed suicide in the months after Bakley's death.

One of the two jurors who disagreed with the liable finding told reporters that the Jones theory left him with too many doubts and he did not believe Blake had anything to do with his wife's death.

Though finding Blake liable Friday, the civil jury cleared his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, who was accused of conspiring with Blake to commit the murder. Caldwell was out of town during the shooting and criminal charges initially filed against him were dropped. Friday's jury found him not liable by a vote of 10 to two.

Rosie, now five, has been legally adopted by Blake's adult daughter from a previous marriage.

Although the Bakley family has little or no contact with Rosie, she legally stands to gain $7.5 million from the $30 million judgment, which is to be divided among Bakley's four children.

"It's a good day for justice," Dubin remarked after the verdict.