Witnesses heard Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner arguing on the night of her death
As we discussed yesterday, the LA County Sheriff’s department has reopened the Natalie Wood case and they now consider Wood’s widower Robert Wagner a “person of interest” in the investigation. In 1981, Wood, Wagner, Christopher Walken and a captain named Dennis Davern were the only people on a small yacht, which was in the water just off Catalina Island. Something happened that night, and Wood’s body was found hours later. The cause of death was drowning, but investigators now say that she had significant bruising on her body, like she had been in some kind of physical confrontation before her death. Many people have believed that Wagner was partly or completely responsible for his wife’s death. In fact, the bigger mystery might be how Wagner has avoided being a person of interest this long. Well, People Magazine has additional details:
Nearly 40 years after the tragic loss of Hollywood actress Natalie Wood, new witnesses in her 1981 drowning have emerged prompting Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators to deem her cause of death “suspicious.” The news — which was reported by The New York Times, CNN, and the Associated Press — comes hours after CBS News released a clip from an upcoming 48 Hours special where Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant John Corina revealed that Wood’s widower Robert Wagner, 87, is now considered “more of a person of interest” in the case.
Police has initially classified Wood’s death as an accidental drowning, but the case was reopened in 2011. On Thursday, sheriff’s officials said in a statement that they obtained new witness accounts after reviewing more than 100 tips, The New York Times reported — accounts that “portray a new sequence of events on the boat that night.”
One witness described hearing crashing sounds and yelling coming from Wood and Wagner’s stateroom, the AP reported. Separate witnesses head a man and woman arguing on the back of the boat, voices believed to belong to Wood and Wagner.
“The statements from these new witnesses differ from the original version of events as related by previous witnesses, including the individuals on the boat,” the sheriff’s office said, according to CNN. “Do we have enough to make an arrest at this moment? No. This remains a suspicious death investigation.”
Wagner has refused to speak with investigators since they began to look into the circumstances surrounding Wood’s death again. His attorney didn’t respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Thursday.
Wood was married to Wagner twice — first in 1957 (they divorced five years later) and again in 1972 until her death.
“I haven’t seen him tell the details that match all the other witnesses in this case,” Corina said of Wagner on 48 Hours. “I think he’s constantly changed his story a little bit. And his version of events just don’t add up.”
Detectives who spoke with 48 Hours noted that there were numerous bruises on Wood’s body that appeared to be new, according to her autopsy report. “She looked like a victim of an assault,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Ralph Hernandez.
When asked if Wood’s death was a murder rather than a tragic accident, Corina said, “I think it’s suspicious enough to make us think that something happened.”
Robert Wagner is 87 years old, by the way. If he did have something to do with her death, it’s not like he would face much punishment for it anyway. Basically, all of this is happening because Wood’s death remains one of Hollywood’s classic unsolved mysteries, like what happened in Marilyn Monroe’s final hours, or what really went down with Lana Turner, her daughter and Johnny Stompanato. Part of me thinks it’s a waste of law enforcement resources to continue to investigate this when nothing will likely come of it. But another part of me really would like some answers, g-ddamn it.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
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