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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]