LA County Sheriff's Investigation Into Natalie Wood's Death Renews Speculation

The sudden death of child-actress-turned-Hollywood-icon Natalie Wood in 1981 was ruled an accident. But 30 years later, the newly reopened investigation into her death is renewing public speculation on the suspicious circumstances of her death – particularly the role her then-husband, actor Robert Wagner may have played.

A Los Angeles Sheriff's homicide lieutenant was tight-lipped Friday about the investigation into the death of Wood, but he said Wagner -- is not considered a suspect in the death.

“Sometime in the morning of Nov. 29 (1981), Miss Wood somehow ended up in the water and drowned,'' Lt. John Corina of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said. "At the time of the incident, it was investigated by us -- the L.A. County Sheriff's Department -- and the L.A. County coroner's office. Her death was ruled an accident.

“... Recently, we received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case,'' Corina said. "The case has been assigned to two sheriff's homicide investigators who will be following up on the additional information, as well as any other additional information that may develop.''

“When asked by a reporter if Wagner was "a suspect,'' Corina answered, “No.”

Corina declined to comment on the type of information the sheriff's department received, or from whom.

“We have several sources that have come forward with additional information,” Corina said. “And as I said we have found it to be credible enough to go ahead and take another look at the case.”

Corina said investigators had not yet spoken with Wagner, but planned to do so. He declined to say who else might be interviewed.

“Her death was ruled an accident -- an accidental drowning -- and that's what it is,” Corina said. “If our investigation into it points to something else, then we'll address that; but right now, her death is an accidental drowning.”

Corina was asked if his investigators were planning to go to Hawaii to inspect the boat Splendour, which the couple were aboard the night of her drowning, and he said, “We'll go wherever the investigation is going to take us.''

He also said detectives had not yet decided whether they might exhume Wood's body.

Corina said his investigators planned on talking “sooner or later” to Dennis Davern, the former captain of the boat.

“So, once we talk to him, we'll assess what he has to say and what happened, then and now,” Corina said.

Corina said it was unclear if Davern would face any legal problems for his recent statements in which he said he had lied to investigators at the time of Wood's death.

Corina also said the sheriff's department hasn't contacted Wagner yet, and added, “sooner or later, we will be contacting his family.” He urged others with knowledge of the case to call the sheriff's department.   

This morning on NBC's “Today” show, Davern said he believes Wagner was
responsible for Wood's death.

Wood was with Wagner and actor friend Christopher Walken on a Thanksgiving sailing trip on Nov. 29, 1981, when she perished in what then-Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled an accident.

“It was not a homicide. It was not a suicide. It was an accident,'' the flamboyant medical examiner said at the time, asserting that the 43-year-old actress had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent following "much recreational drinking.”

Davern and his ghost writer, Marti Rulli, wrote a book in 2008 titled "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour.'' It suggests foul play may have led to Wood's demise and provides lurid details about drug and alcohol use by the actors the night of the accident.

“I made some terrible decisions and mistakes,” Davern said on the “Today” show, adding that he is now urging homicide investigators to look into Wood's death. “I did lie on a report several years ago.”

He added: “I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report.”

Asked if he believed Wagner was “responsible” for Wood's death, Davern
said, “Yes, I would say so. Yes.”

Davern appeared reluctant to flesh out his conclusions about Wagner's role in the actress' death, but pointed to the period following her disappearance and suggested Wagner discouraged a full-out search.

“We didn't take any steps to see if we could locate her,” he said. “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.’”

On the night Wood died, she and Wagner got into a “terrible argument” that was never reported to the original investigators, said Rulli, who also was interviewed on “Today.”

Walken -- who starred with Wood in the film "Brainstorm," which was released two years after Wood's death -- went to sleep in his cabin after an angry Wagner smashed a wine bottle on a coffee table, Rulli said. Wagner reportedly accused Walken of lusting after his wife.

When 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 “Today.”  “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.”

On Thursday, Alan Nierob, a publicist for Wagner, told City News Service that, “although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the L.A. County Sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of 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."

In an interview with the celebrity news Website TMZ.com, Wood's sister, Lana, said she doesn't accept the story that the actress fell overboard while trying to secure a dinghy, given that she was so scared of water she would not even enter her own swimming pool.

Lana Wood also said she believes Wagner -- known to family and friends as R.J. -- was not honest with investigators who questioned him about her sister's death. But Lana Wood also said, "I can't ever believe that R.J. would purposely do something to hurt her."  

She said that she has been interviewed by sheriff's detectives who wanted to know if the Natalie Wood-Robert Wagner relationship had been "volatile."

Sheriff Lee Baca said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that his department received a letter from a "third party" who said the ship's captain had "new recollections" about the case.

Rick Kramer, a publicist for Rulli, told City News Service that Rulli -- a longtime friend of Davern -- was that third party.

“She was relentless, a bulldog about getting the sheriff's department to reopen the case," Kramer said. "She finally got to the cold case squad and worked her way up through homicide. They hadn't read the book, so she got them a copy and kept pushing them to reopen the case."

Kramer said detectives recently went to New Jersey to interview Rulli. He added that the sudden push to reopen the case was not an effort to promote the book or capitalize financially from the anniversary of the actress' death.

“The book was written in 2008, so this is not about selling books. This is about justice for Natalie,” he said.

Rulli, Davern, Lana Wood and Marilyn Wayne -- a woman who was on a nearby yacht and claimed to have heard a woman in the water crying for help the night Wood drowned -- all provided statements to the sheriff's department, Kramer said. Those statements, copies of which were provided to CNS, detail Davern's recollections of what happened that night, including an argument between Wood and Wagner that moved from her stateroom to the open deck at the rear of the yacht. According to the statement, Davern went to the deck about 15 minutes later and found only Wagner -- who looked sweaty, flushed and anxious.

Wagner told Davern both Wood and the yacht's dinghy were missing, but he told the captain not to radio for help but to wait to see if she returns, according to his statement.

Davern contended that two more hours passed before he convinced Wagner to contact the harbormaster, who eventually arrived and demanded that the Coast Guard be called -- about four hours after Wood disappeared.