Robert Wagner
New witnesses have emerged in the 1981 drowning of actress Natalie Wood, prompting investigators to deem it a “suspicious death” and name her widower Robert Wagner, a “person of interest”.
However, Los Angeles sheriff’s department said yesterday there was not enough evidence to charge the 87-year-old actor.
For nearly four decades, mystery and speculation have swirled around the death of the actress who was nominated for three Academy Awards and starred in West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause.
She was on a yacht with Wagner, fellow actor Christopher Walken and the boat’s captain on Thanksgiving weekend of 1981. After a night of drinking, her body was found floating in the waters off southern California’s Catalina Island. She was 43.
Investigators initially ruled it an accident but reopened the case in 2011 to see whether Wagner or anyone else played a role in her death after the boat’s captain said he heard the couple arguing the night of her disappearance. The coroner’s office amended her death certificate the next year to include “drowning and other undetermined factors”.
In a statement yesterday, sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said new witnesses interviewed since the case was reopened gave statements that “portray a new sequence of events on the boat that night”.
One of the witnesses described hearing yelling and crashing sounds coming from the couple’s stateroom, she said.
Shortly after that, separate witnesses heard a man and woman arguing on the back of the boat and believe the voices were those of Wood and Wagner, Ms Nishida said.
The statements differed from the original version of events provided by witnesses, including those who were on the boat, she said.
The sheriff’s department said Wagner was considered a person of interest. “Do we have enough to make an arrest at this moment? No,” Ms Nishida said.
The police statement was issued after CBS News aired an interview with Los Angeles County sheriff John Corina, who said he did not believe Wagner had told the whole story about what happened.
Investigators have said Wagner has not been interviewed since the probe was reopened. They said in 2013 that they had tried at least 10 times to interview him but he refused.
Wagner has denied any involvement in his wife’s death and no charges have been filed. His publicist, Alan Nierob, declined to comment yesterday.
Conflicting versions of what happened on the yacht have contributed to the mystery of her death. Wood, Wagner and Walken had all been drinking heavily in the hours before the actress disappeared.
Wagner wrote in a 2008 memoir that he and Walken argued that night. He wrote that Walken went to bed and he stayed up for a while, but when he went to bed, he noticed that his wife and a dinghy that had been attached to the yacht were missing.
US police investigating the mysterious death of film star Natalie Wood say her husband Robert Wagner is now a person of interest.
Investigators in Los Angeles say Wagner has "constantly changed his story", adding that his version of events does not "add up".
Wood was found drowned in 1981 during a California boat trip with Wagner and the actor Christopher Walken.
Her death was ruled to have been an accident but questions have lingered.
"As we've investigated the case over the last six years, I think [Wagner] is more of a person of interest now," Lt John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office told CBS News.
"We know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared," he said. "I haven't seen him tell the details that match all the other witnesses in this case".
"I think he's constantly changed his story a little bit. And his version of events just don't add up," Lt Corina added.
Conflicting versions of what happened on the yacht have contributed to the mystery of how the actress died in November 1981.
Family members have previously asked for authorities to re-examine the findings of the original investigation.
GETTY IMAGES
Wood, who starred in West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause, had been partying the night before her death. The coroner's investigation ruled she had been drinking and may have slipped trying to board a dinghy.
But police say two new witnesses have corroborated accounts of a fight between Wagner and Wood on the night she disappeared.
They say it appears the actress was the victim of an assault. The post-mortem report said Wood had bruises on her body and arms as well as a facial abrasion on her left cheek.
The captain of the boat, Dennis Davern, told NBC News in 2011 that he lied to police during the initial investigation and that a fight between Wood and Wagner had led to her death.
TV star Wagner, 87, has not commented on the latest developments but acknowledged in his memoir that he had argued with his wife before she disappeared.
Investigators say he has refused to speak to them since the case was reopened in 2011.
Comments
Post a Comment