New evidence reopened the case of actress Natalie Wood’s 1981 drowning death, pointing to her husband, actor Robert Wagner, as a prime suspect. Two witnesses came forward, claiming Wood was physically abused by Wagner and was screaming for her life before disappearing from the Splendour yacht off California’s Catalina Island, USA.
Highlights
- New evidence points to Robert Wagner as prime suspect in Natalie Wood's death.
- Two witnesses claim Wood was abused by Wagner before her death.
- Witnesses heard Wood's screams for help before she disappeared.
Author Marti Rulli reportedly said the new bombshell testimony will spark a grand jury investigation that will likely indict Wagner, who is now 94 years old.
Rulli, who plans to detail the new witness testimony in her upcoming book, Natalie Wood and the Devil She Knew, told Radar Online on Thursday (November 28): "The case will remain open as long as Robert Wagner is alive because he is the suspect.
“I still hold hope the Los Angeles DA will see fit to let the strong previous evidence, and the new evidence I have gathered, bring justice for Natalie's murder."
New evidence reopened the case of actress Natalie Wood’s 1981 drowning death
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The new witnesses came forward after the case was reopened in 2011 and the Los Angeles County coroner changed the cause of death from "accidental drowning" to "drowning and other undetermined factors" the following year, Radar Online reported.
The author shared: "The reason the witnesses didn't speak out earlier is because, at the time, the case was declared an accident so fast they just ignored what they saw or heard.”
One of the witnesses, a California man who was a 17-year-old worker on a fishing boat moored near the Splendour, contacted Rulli last year, still haunted by Natalie's screams, as per Radar Online.
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Rulli told the tabloid: "It still bothers him and he wanted to tell me what he knew. He heard an argument, and he told me he heard Natalie's screams that made him feel uncomfortable.
“But he didn't report it to police because he thought it was an open-and-shut drowning case."
The claim of the man, whose identity remains anonymous, echoed the testimony of another witness named Davern, who told police the actors’ Thanksgiving cruise turned violent when Wagner accused Wood of having an affair with her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken, who was also on the yacht, as per Radar Online.
The evidence pointed to her husband, actor Robert Wagner, as a prime suspect
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Davern reportedly claimed a raging Wagner smashed a bottle of wine on a table and began brawling with Wood just before she vanished.
At one point Davern heard Wagner scream: "Get off my f***ing boat!"
Davern said Wagner stopped him from turning on the searchlights or radioing for help until four hours after Wood went missing, Radar Online reported.
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Wood's "battered and bruised body" was reportedly found onshore the next morning near an inflatable dinghy.
A "dying" 80-year-old woman who claimed to be working with Wood in the 1960s also told Rulli that an angry Wagner "manhandled" Wood.
"She said she saw Wagner come into their dressing room additional evidence of abuse," Rulli told Radar Online.
Two witnesses came forward, claiming Wood was physically abused by Wagner
Image credits: Amazon MGM Studios
While Wagner's lawyers adamantly deny he had any involvement in Natalie's death, another witness contacted police, stating he lived next door to the celebrity couple in the 1950s, as per the outlet.
Rulli said: "He remembers Natalie banging on the door in the middle of the night.
"She was asking for a place to stay for the night because [Wagner] was going to kill her!"
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Wood was a celebrated Hollywood actress known for iconic roles in films like West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause.
She was widely admired for her talent, beauty, and versatility, earning three Oscar nominations by the age of 25.
Wagner, her husband, is a renowned actor famous for starring in TV shows like Hart to Hart and It Takes a Thief, as well as roles in films such as the Austin Powers series.
Wood was allegedly heard screaming for her life before disappearing from the Splendour yacht off California’s Catalina Island, USA
Image credits: Mychal Watts/Getty Images
The couple's tumultuous relationship and Wood’s mysterious drowning in 1981 have kept them in the public spotlight for decades.
Wood married Wagner for the first time in 1957. They divorced in 1962. Each married and divorced other spouses, before reconciling and remarrying each other on a boat in Paradise Cove in Malibu in 1972, Daily Breeze stated in March.
The iconic pair had one child together, a daughter named Courtney Wagner, born in 1974. Wood also had a daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, from her previous marriage to producer Richard Gregson, whom Wagner later adopted.
Image credits: Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Wood had just finished location shooting for the 1983 sci-fi thriller Brainstorm, her final film, when she and Wagner, her co-star Walken, and boat captain Dennis Davern took a Thanksgiving weekend cruise to Catalina Island in November 1981.
After a family dinner on Thanksgiving Day in her Beverly Hills home, Wood and Wagner invited friends to come with them on the trip to Catalina Island, a favorite weekend boating destination of theirs, but most demurred due to stormy weather conditions, as per Daily Breeze.
On November 28, 1981, Wood, Wagner, and Walken reportedly had dinner and drinks at a restaurant on Catalina Island before returning to their yacht, Splendour.
After an argument between Wagner and Walken, Wood reportedly went to bed but later left the stateroom and was discovered missing around 3 a.m., along with the yacht's dinghy.
A search by the Harbor Patrol and Coast Guard ended at dawn when a local expert found Wood’s body near the island
Image credits: Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
A search by the Harbor Patrol and Coast Guard ended at dawn when a local expert found Wood’s body near the island, weighted down by her waterlogged red jacket.
The events leading to her death have remained a source of speculation for over 40 years.
Moreover, various explanations have been offered as to what happened to the actress, who died at the age of 43.
In his original 1981 autopsy report, Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi stated Wood drowned after boarding the dinghy to get away from the arguing Walken and Wagner, according to Daily Breeze.
However, in his book Coroner, published two years later, Noguchi suggested that Wood, after having a few drinks, went on deck to stop the dinghy from banging against the Splendour, fell into the water, possibly hit her head, and drowned as she was not a strong swimmer.
30 years after her death, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office reopened its investigation in November 2011, citing “new information” in the case, Daily Breeze explained.
In August 2012, the cause of death on the official autopsy report was reportedly altered from “accidental drowning” to “drowning and other undetermined factors.”
The change reportedly came after the coroner’s office could not discern whether bruises and scratches on Wood’s face and arms occurred before or after she drowned.
"All of us in my family thought it was either deliberate or negligence on Wagner's part," a reader admitted
