Boat Captain Says Robert Wagner Responsible for Natalie Wood's Death
Breaking/shocking update: Not only is the L.A. County Sheriff's Department re-opening their investigation of Hollywood icon Natalie Wood's 1981 death, but the boat captain in charge the night she drowned now says that Wood's husband, Robert Wagner, was to blame.
Admitting that he lied on an initial police report, Dennis Davern told The Today Show that Wagner waved off efforts to search for Wood after she'd gone missing overboard.
As reported by The NY Daily News from Davern's Today appearance:
It was a matter of "We're not going to look too hard, we're not going to turn on the search light, we're not going to notify anybody right at the moment," said Davern, who admitted he lied to authorities following the tragic incident.
"I made some terrible decisions and mistakes," he acknowledged Friday. "I did lie on a report years ago. I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report."
When Davern was asked if Wagner was "responsible" for Wood's death, Davern said, "Yes I would say so."
• Natalie Wood death: Husband Robert Wagner to blame, says boat captain Dennis Davern [NY Daily News]
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Wow, this is huge. It’s a little odd the captain didn’t come forward all those years ago, and (at least here) he never said why…was he paid? Threatened? Maybe just nervous that with his refusal to act despite being in charge of the boat he would be help culpable in the death? I’d guess it was that, with a little cash bonus in the mix as well.
This is old news. There was a book that came out some years back entitled Natasha (Natalie Woods' real name), that said the same thing. Ever since I read it, I wondered how Wagner could live with himself.
I also wondered if the real goings-on of that night influenced Chris Walken's leanings toward dark characters.
The real story behind Woods' death always struck me as one of those open secrets of Hollywood, where many knew but no one said anything. I believe it was common knowledge that Woods was terrified of water -- one reason being she'd been told quite young by a fortune teller that she would die in water.
I am not surprised at this revelation. Back in 1981, I had a strong feeling that Robert Wagner might have had a hand to play in her death.