In Investigating the Last Hours of Natalie Wood, a former sheriff’s homicide detective examines the case that has haunted Tinsel town for decades. He exposes attempts by Wagner, Walken and Davern to distance themselves from blame with magazine interviews and books that shored up ever-changing accounts of what happened on the night of her death.

One of the greatest stars of her day, Natalie Wood was nominated for three Oscars before her 25th birthday and appeared in some of Hollywood’s most celebrated films. She starred with American legends like John Ford and Elia Kazan, and had a romantic life that spanned several marriages and included a close friendship with Elvis Presley. Keep going to uncover more details about Natalie Wood Murder.

But in the hours that led up to her mysterious death, Wood’s life took a turn toward the dark side. Initially, it seemed that the petite actress, who was so frightened of water that she had taken psychoanalysis as a child and lived with a fear of drowning at night so deep-seated that she regressed to her childhood self, simply fell off the 60-foot yacht Splendor that she shared with husband Robert Wagner — the star of TV’s Hart to Hart and James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause co-star — and went down in a tragic accident.

After her body was found floating in the water off California’s Catalina Island, the Los Angeles County coroner ruled her death a simple drowning and hypothermia. The medical examiner also cited bruises found on her arms, legs and face that he believed were consistent with falling from the dinghy while trying to board it.

However, in recent years, evidence from a former neighbor of Wood’s, as well as new information provided by her daughter from a second marriage, has raised questions about the original circumstances surrounding her death. In addition, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has reopened the case, asking the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, to provide them with his new memories of the night of Wood’s disappearance.

In a book published in 2008, Davern recounts that shortly before Wood disappeared, he heard her and Wagner fighting. He says he tried to intervene and break them up, but that the argument escalated and he was forced to retreat to his stateroom. He awoke at 1:30 am to discover that Wood was missing and radioed the harbor master. A Coast Guard officer soon discovered her body a mile down current from the yacht and 200 yards from shore.

Who Drowned?

In the days after Natalie Wood’s death in November 1981, officials ruled her drowning an accident. An autopsy revealed a number of bruises, and the Los Angeles County coroner said she likely slipped into the water while trying to board her inflatable dinghy.

But the official story has come under increasing scrutiny, largely because of inconsistencies in the evidence and conflicting accounts from the people who were with her that night. Several new witnesses have emerged, and on Friday, Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives confirmed that the case will be reopened to take into account their findings.

Wood was drinking heavily on the evening of her death. She had a party on her private yacht, Splendour, with her husband Robert Wagner and fellow actor Christopher Walken. After dinner at a restaurant on the island, they all staggered back to the boat. The captain of the vessel, Dennis Davern, said the four got very drunk and that Wood slipped into the water trying to get back aboard the dinghy.

The Coast Guard was called about 3:30 a.m., three hours after Wood was reportedly last seen alive. A local islander, Doug Bombard, jumped in his boat and joined the search. He saw a light bobbing in the water, but it turned out to be a buoy marking the location where the body was later found.

There are many theories about what happened to Wood that night. One theory is that she fought with her husband, and that he shattered a bottle of scotch and tossed it into the water to distract her while he ran to find help. Another is that she simply slipped overboard from the yacht.

In a new book, journalist Kristi Finstad cites an interview with the captain of the yacht, in which he said he recalled that the fight took place after Wagner followed Wood back to her cabin after she retired from the deck for the night. He said he had told her he would go for help, and that she had asked him to keep quiet because her husband was sleeping.

What’s the Evidence?

In the days that followed, the movie star who starred in classics like Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story was found dead in the Pacific Ocean off California’s Catalina Island. She was floating in her flannel nightgown, socks and down jacket.

It has been nearly 40 years since Wood’s death and no one knows what happened that night. For many, her mysterious drowning is still unsolved.

Initially, it was ruled an accident. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office described bruises on her arms and legs that appeared to be caused by a fall overboard from a dinghy. A fresh set of scratches on her head also were listed as injuries sustained from an assault.

But the evidence soon began to change, as did the circumstances surrounding the case. Wood’s husband, actor Robert Wagner, was a suspect in her death. He, her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, gave conflicting accounts of what happened that night.

At a press conference in downtown Los Angeles this week, LA County Sheriff’s homicide detectives addressed new developments in the case. One of the most significant shifts came in 2012, when investigators revised the cause of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors.” The medical examiner had originally cited an accidental drowning.

The revision was based on a closer examination of bruises found on the body. Those new bruises, along with fresh scrapes on the hands and arms of Wood’s body, made it appear she had been assaulted before she fell overboard from the boat.

Another change stemmed from a new book by investigative journalist Marti Rulli. In her book, she exposes the actions and conduct of lead detective Duane Rasure and offers eye-opening facts suggesting a directive by Sheriff Patchess to close the Natalie Wood case.

Even now, Wood’s family is still searching for answers to what really happened on the night she died. The lingering question is whether someone was trying to cover up her murder. And as we will see in the following installments of this series, that possibility is very real indeed.

What’s Next?

Few stars had made the leap from child stardom to adult maturity like Natalie Wood, and she was revered by fans for delivering the full range of emotion with such grace and authority. She had a large following for her roles in movies ranging from the musical West Side Story to modern romances and psychological dramas, including Splendor in the Grass and Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

When her life took a turn for the worse in 1981, few expected it to end so tragically. Natalie Wood was only 43 when she drowned off the coast of Catalina Island, California. She had been partying aboard a yacht with her husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken, who was co-starring with her in the movie Brainstorm.

An autopsy found that she had consumed seven or eight glasses of wine the night she died, and a toxicology report indicated she had high levels of alcohol in her system. Her body was found floating in a cove about a mile from the yacht and with her small dinghy beached nearby.

Her death was ruled an accident by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at the time, but in 2012, as part of a reopening of the investigation, the coroner who reviewed the case formally changed the cause of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors.”

For years, authorities considered her death a mystery. But the 2020 documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind revealed new evidence that suggests otherwise. A witness testified that after a drunken argument between Wagner and Walken, he saw Wood leave the yacht, wearing only a bathing suit, to take the dinghy into the water. When ten to 15 minutes passed and she did not return, he called Harbor Patrol.

Investigators uncovered other evidence that seemed to support the witness’ testimony, including an interview with the captain of the rescue boat that found her body, who said that Wagner had lied about important details and that he holds Wagner responsible for stalling search-and-rescue efforts.

Now, investigators have a new witness who says that Wagner abused his wife and physically threatened her. He claims that she fled their house one night after he threatened her and ran to a neighbor’s home, screaming that she was afraid of him. The neighbor remembers hearing her bang on the door and announcing, “He’s going to kill me!”