Update: Robert Wagner Now Considered a "Person of Interest" in Natalie Wood's Death

[JamesG]

Sheriff Reopens Case of Actress Natalie Wood's Mysterious Death
November 17, 2011
by Robert Winton


The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced Thursday that it was reopening its case into the 1981 death of actress Natalie Wood, which has been one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.

Officials then ruled her drowning death while boating off Santa Catalina Island was an accident. But there has been much speculation about what happened in the boat.



"Recently sheriff’s homicide investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning. Due to the additional information, Sheriff’s homicide bureau has decided to take another look at the case," the department said in a statement.







Wood and Robert Wagner first married in 1957 and divorced five years later.

Both went on to marry other people -- and have children -- only to remarry in 1972.



In 1981, Wagner and Wood had invited Christopher Walken to be their guest that Thanksgiving weekend on Catalina aboard their boat the Splendour.

On the evening of Nov. 29, they had dinner and drinks at Doug's Harbor Reef. They returned to the boat and continued to drink until a heated argument erupted between the two men.



Wagner told The Times in 2008 that it concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career; he was upset that Walken was advocating that Wood give all to her art, even at the expense of her husband and children.

Wood left to go to the master cabin's bathroom. Wagner says he and Walken eventually calmed down and said good night. When he went to bed, he says, Wood wasn't there. It is believed that the dinghy had gotten loose and Wood came up on deck to tie it up.

"I have gone over it so many millions of times with people. Nobody heard anything."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ous-death.html

[Vahan]

If they're gonna do this, the evidence as to whether or not Wagner intentionally killed her better be convincing, otherwise, they shouldn't bother.

[catlover79]

I agree with that, and I have to admit I was surprised to hear that the case is being re-opened. I don't know what they're going to find 30 years later, but I guess one never knows...

[IllinoisTVFan]

I remember when this happened though I was quite young. I've long suspected it was no accident. I've long thought she was pushed.

[Vahan]

Just for fun, but check out what I found. This appears to be the very last commercial she made before she died.

[IllinoisTVFan]

I remember that commercial. I remember asking my parents how she was able to do a commercial if she was dead.

[catlover79]

I can only imagine how eerie it must have been for folks watching this ad run after her tragic end. Natalie was one of the most beautiful women on the planet - it's no wonder she was approached to do a commercial for beauty products like lotion.

[JamesG]

Boat Captain Alleges Actor Robert Wagner Responsible for Natalie Wood's Death
By Scott Stump, TODAY.com Contributor
11/18/2011


The former captain of the boat from which actress Natalie Wood drowned in 1981 alleged on "TODAY" Friday that her husband, actor Robert Wagner, was responsible for her death.

Dennis Davern said he is now urging homicide investigators to look into Wood's death. She had been boating with Wagner and his Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken near Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California when she drowned.



"I made some terrible decisions and mistakes," Davern told NBC News' David Gregory. "I did lie on a report several years ago."

He added, "I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report."









When pressed by Gregory, Davern said he believed Wagner had intentionally kept the investigation into her death low-profile. And when asked if he thought Wagner was "responsible" for Wood's death, Davern said, "yes, I would say so. Yes."

"We didn't take any steps to see if we could locate her," Davern added. "I think it was a matter of, 'We're not going to look too hard, we're not going to turn on the searchlight, we're not going to notify anybody right now.'"









Wagner's publicist issued a statement saying his family supported the L.A. County sheriff's department "and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death."









Many of the details he shared have appeared in the book Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour authored by Marti Rulli published in 2009.

"I'm not really the investigator here, and I'm far away from even thinking about profiting over a 30-year anniversary," Davern told Gregory. "I've known this information for many, many years and my book has been out for two years. I'm not in it for any kind of profit, I'm in it for the justice of the whole situation."









Davern also answered questions about why he would come forward 30 years later with new information when he could have told authorities much earlier.

"Why now is because I've been trying to tell information about this for many, many years, but there wasn't really anyone listening until now," he said.

"I've been trying to get somebody to listen for a long time and now somebody is listening and they're going to carry on with this investigation. I'm not saying anything different. All the information that I've revealed in the past, it's all in that book, and now it's just up to the investigators to do an investigation."



Gregory also pressed Davern on why investigators should believe him now, as he admitted lying to them the first time.

"At that time my life was just totally crazy, and I don't think it was a time when I was even able to think straight," Davern said.









On the night of Wood's death in November 1981, Wood and Wagner got into a "terrible argument" that was never reported to the original investigators, according to Rulli.

Actor Christopher Walken went to sleep in his cabin after an angry Wagner smashed a wine bottle on a coffee table that sent everyone scattering to avoid the flying glass, Rulli said. Walken has not made any comment since these new details emerged, other than the statement from his publicist Friday.

When a "mortified" Wood went to her stateroom, Wagner followed and an argument began, according to Rulli.



"Dennis made an attempt to stop it, and was told to go away by Robert Wagner," Rulli told Gregory.

"Then minutes later, Natalie was missing...Dennis wanted to do everything. Make a phone call, turn on the search light. His instincts told him something was terribly wrong, and Robert Wagner asked him not to."





The coroner's report from the time of her death indicated that she may have slipped and hit her head after she lost balance from drinking several glasses of wine.

"The rest is just ghoulish nonsense," Wood's attorney, Paul Ziffren, said at the time about speculation that Wood's death was not accidental.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/453534.../#.Tsaj5YLcxBl

[catlover79]

^ I read that book about a year ago, and they did all sorts of reenactments from things they read in the police reports, etc. If you get a chance to read it, do so, because quite a bit of it makes sense.

[Vahan]

I'm not surprised the captain of the Splendour boat allegedly blamed Wagner responsible, as Wagner blamed himself for her death, too.

[catlover79]

They were both drunk and had been arguing - which many times leads to tragedy and people doing things they wouldn't do otherwise sober. So who knows?

[JamesG]

Natalie Wood's Sister Lana Speaks Out for the First Time Since Case Reopening
by Anthony McCartney
11/18/11


Natalie Wood's sister, Lana Wood, told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview Friday that she doesn't believe her sister fell off the boat.

Lana Wood told Morgan that she has spoken several times with the boat's captain Dennis Davern and he has told her that Wagner was involved in her plunge into the sea on Nov. 29, 1981.



But Lana Wood said she does not believe that whatever happened was deliberate.

"I don't think she fell, I don't know if she was pushed, I don't know whether there was an altercation and it happened accidentally but she shouldn't have died and that does stay with me and hurt," Lana Wood said.

"I would prefer to always believe that RJ (Wagner) would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did, and I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him," she said.



Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister after her death, "What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night."









There have always been questions about Wood's death on Nov. 29, 1981, with renewed attention on the case as the anniversary neared. The case's re-opening and a public call for information are the first hint that the official account may need revision.

Within hours of the announcement, Sheriff's Lt. John Corina said, several people emerged offering their recollections of what happened in the waters off Southern California's Santa Catalina Island.

But he quickly noted that nothing the agency has received so far has prompted it to change the view that there was no foul play.



Corina said his agency would talk to Capt. Davern at some point and other witnesses would likely be interviewed. He downplayed the role Davern's book or the anniversary would play on the investigation.

"We're not concerned with the anniversary date," Corina said. "It may have jarred some other people's memories."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1..._1101366.html?

[Vahan]

In addition to being her younger sister, an actress, and having written a book about Natalie's life and career, Lana Wood claims to actually know who it was who raped Natalie when she was a teenager. However, she vows not to reveal his name until he is dead.

It is commonly rumored that it was Kirk Douglas who raped her, and no doubt many people will find that next to impossible to accept if it's actually true, as Kirk is loved by so many.

[catlover79]

Yes, I've heard the Kirk Douglas rumor, too. How old is he now? He has to be close to 90 by now.

According to the LA Sheriff's Dept., Robert Wagner "is not a suspect". Who else does that leave? Christopher Walken??

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Yes, I've heard the Kirk Douglas rumor, too. How old is he now? He has to be close to 90 by now.

He'll be 95 on Dec. 9th.