Ship Captain Says Robert Wagner Is to Blame for Natalie Wood’s Death
The captain of the yacht on which Hollywood actress Natalie Wood sailed the night she died believes that Robert Wagner is to blame for her death.
“Yes I would say so,” Dennis Davern told NBC’s “Today” when asked if Wagner, Wood’s actor husband, was responsible. He admitted that he may have been at fault as well, saying, “We didn’t take any steps to see if we could locate her. It was a matter of don’t look to hard, don’t turn on search light, don’t call anyone.”
Davern co-authored the 2009 book “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour,” about the circumstances surrounding her death. He and Lana Wood, Natalie Wood’s sister, asked authorities to reopen the case last year. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will hold a news conference today to discuss their decision to investigate Wood’s 1981 death as a homicide.
The sheriff’s department and the L.A. County Coroner’s office initially ruled Wood’s death an accidental drowning. She was boating with Wagner and the actor Christopher Walken off Catalina Island, Calif., on the night she died, Nov. 29, 1981.
“Recently sheriff’s homicide investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning,” the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. “Due to the additional information, Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau has decided to take another look at the case.”
Wood was 43 when she died.
Wood appeared in more than 56 films, including “West Side Story.” She notably played James Dean’s love interest in “Rebel Without a Cause.”
She was married to Wagner twice. They married in 1957, divorced about five years later and remarried in 1972.
Wood’s death has been a long-running mystery in Hollywood. Wagner and Walken reportedly got into an alcohol-fueled argument prior to her death. Wood is believed to have gone into the master cabin bathroom while they were arguing, but as Wagner was going to bed, he noticed Wood wasn’t there.
“It is believed that the dinghy had gotten loose and Wood came up on deck to tie it up,” when she fell and drowned, according to the Los Angeles Times.
For now, the investigation has the support of the Wagner family.
“Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. 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,” Robert Wagner’s publicist Alan Nierob said in a statement.
