Natalie Wood-Homicide detectives re-open investigation

Comments from Dennis Davern during an interview for "48 Hours Mystery" televison program leads homicide detectives to re-open the case. Davern was captain of the yacht owned by Wood and her husband Robert Wagner.


http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/LA-detectives-re-open-Natalie-Wood-death-inquiry-2275180.php

Thanks Coonhound.
Yet another Hollywood mystery. I've always wondered what those two were arguing about. Neither have ever said that I know of. Was it heated enough to force a woman who is afraid of the water to get in a rubber dingy, after dark, on an island 26 miles out to sea? Unless my boat sank you wouldn't get me in a dingy in the ocean no matter how drunk I was. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the ocean, especially sailing but I won't actually get in it and swim. I'm not a strong swimmer and if you aren't you don't belong in the ocean. You can get into real trouble real quick.
Can't wait to see how this turns out.....

FB

One of my favortie jokes:

How do you make a Natalie Wood cocktai?

Two bottels of champagne and a splash of water...

Oh Dill you're terrible! Which reminds me, what Wood doesn't float? (My brother told me this right after it happened, my response: Balsa?)

Well what a coinky dink the captian has a book coming out? And Melly just finished Coroner with Thomas Noguchi who was the head guy on the Wood case.. . .

Wagner's book, "Pieces of my heart" (published in 2008) is coming. I should have it Sunday from the library. Ought to be interesting. Melly has never been a fan of Jill St. John however, though her name Tiffany Case in Diamonds are Forever is, IMO, one of the "most normal" Bond Girl names.

i've always heard that natalie wood was having an affair with christopher walken and robert wagner confronted them. walken went to his stateroom when the arguing got out of hand and then four hours later wood is reported missing. pretty fishy to me.

There is a possibility that she died of suicide -- especially if any of these occurred that night in combination, e.g., excessive drinking, relational problems, emotional pain, believing she couldn't take it anymore......for a non-swimmer, the ocean would be an available and lethal means to end one's life.......

Not got anything to add yo the Natalie Wood drowning. I dont know anything about it but this was allegedly a real headline from an Irish local newspaper
"Cork man drowns"
Made me laugh.

Just read something off of a British news website and I don't know if the articles were from the US or not, but the article said that Robert Wagner was jealous of Christopher Walken and thought there was something going on. Seems Natalie would sleep around and she invited Christopher Walken to spend the weekend with them, which fueled the flames of wondering if it was true in RW's mind and that's what they were fighting about. After reading the article, I came to my own theory or two. A witness said that they were in their room fighting, and that the fight came outside and someone saw them arguing. I think RW, in a fit of extreme anger, got so mad that he pushed over or perhaps slugged NW's face and she fell overboard, and being that she was drunk and taking some pharmacueticals (spelling), and he just left her in the water. Maybe being underwater, she lost her bearings and maybe hit her head under the boat and knocked herself out. Or maybe they were fighting, NW said she was leaving, and was trying to get into the dinghy and RW went back in, and she fell into the water and since she was afraid of water, freaked out and drowned. But how no one heard any yells for help has me scratching my head. I always thought her death was suspicious, but accidents do happen. If RW did push her, I don't think he meant to kill her. It would be an accident. But that's strictly my opinions.

In the article I read, Natalie Wood's sister, Lana said that she wasn't taking being 43 and aging in Hollywood very well, so she took to drinking heavily. That's a sad revelation, because I always thought she was one of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses.

Natalie Wood was sort of a well known nutcase from way back in her younger years. One story I recall hearing about her was when she and Elvis Presley where involved with each other she got mad at Elvis for some sort of trivial thing and to get even with him she barged into a room where he and his bodyguards/entourage was ,started screaming at him about whatever it was she was mad about then grabbed one of his bodyguards and did him right there in front of everybody just to piss Elvis off.

This would still be manslaughter though.

Does anyone here know if there is any statute of limitations for manslaughter in California?

I might want a pinch of salt to take with that one - assuming the bodyguard wanted to keep his job, that is

Jem

According to Thomas Noguchi in Corner: Natalie Wood slipped while getting into the dinghy and fell into the water. (WHY she was trying to get into the dinghy has never been explained.) While trying to get into the dinghy with the now-heavy down coat on her she scraped and bruised her legs. In that time, the rope had come lose and the dinghy got caught into the current and was floating rapidly away from the Splendor. Natalie, having a high alcohol content could have shrugged off the coat and been able to get into the boat and most likely would have survived. However, she did not, and when finding herself so far from the Splendor, grabbed onto the dinghy and tried to swim to the shore of Catalina island. Hypothermia set in and she drowned.

Well, yeah, didn't mean that just because it was an accident that he shouldn't be punished. Just pushed the post button too quickly, and thought of that very point after I posted, and then thought, oh, well, too late now.

The captain's book was written about 2 years ago and was quite interesting. It's claled "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour" and was written with Marti Rulli.

I also read Robert Wagner's book and was unimpressed. The only thing I enjoyed was seeing the photo of Jay doing RJ's hair. The weird thing was that he has a photo, but never even mentioned Jay. So why have the photo in the book?

Good point, Geo. If he wanted to distance himself from the Tate debacle why put Jay's pic in. That is weird for sure.

FB

Makes me wonder if Elizabeth Adler modeled Azalea/Xenia after Natalie Wood in her fiction book "Property of a Lady."