[mr1337357]

Wood was an actor who rose to prominence during her childhood with a co-starring role in the classic 1947 Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. She then transitioned into more mature work at 16 years old with an Academy Award-nominated performance in Rebel Without a Cause, alongside James Dean. She went on to achieve stardom in two musical films, West Side Story and Gypsy, before going on to Oscar nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass and Love with the Proper Stranger. In total, she earned three acting nominations by 1963, when she was just 25 years old.

[richardmacdonald68]

In a statement to TIME, a rep for Wagner said that “48 Hours had run similar claims in the past.” Los Angeles Country Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida also downplayed the show’s interview, according to the Associated Press, and said that there weren’t any new details in the case.

[J Pitt]

By that point, her marriage to fellow actor Wagner was already troubled. (They had married in 1957, when she was just 19; he was about eight years her senior.) The highly-publicized couple would divorce by 1962 before resuming their relationship in 1972, resulting in another marriage later that year. They remained married until Wood’s sudden death in 1981. more

[user]

Wayne was not interviewed in the 1981 investigation. However, she says she received a death threat that read, “If you value your life, keep quiet about what you know.”

[Troyroder]

Then, Walken “ducked out” going above deck. Wagner pursued him and repeated his “stay out of it” argument. “I was a little high at the time…But I calmed down,” he says, twice. “I calmed down.” The pair went back below deck, talked more before Walken retired to his cabin. Then, Davern helped Wagner clean up the shattered glass from the broken bottle (though not thoroughly enough that it would go unnoticed by the police). The captain and Wagner talked briefly, “and when I went below (to the stateroom), she wasn’t there.”

[azadian]

At 11:30 PM, Davern sees Wagner on the deck, looking “tousled and sweating profusely, as if he’d been in a terrible fight.” Davern asked where Wood is and was told, “She’s gone.” Wagner then said she was in the water and, “Leave her. Teach her a lesson.” Davern said Wagner ordered him not to turn on the boat’s lights to look for her, as it might draw attention to Splendour. [links]

[jtimon]

In 2011, Davern publicly stated that he lied to the 1981 investigators. The case of Natalie Wood’s death was reopened, which entailed a re-evaluation of the original autopsy reports. The assigned medical examiner rejected the original conclusion that said the bruises and wounds on Wood’s face and body would come from falling off the boat into the water. Her cause of death was changed from “accidental drowning” to “drowning and other undetermined factors.” Robert Wagner was named as a person of interest, but he has declined to speak further to the police.

[jesicaaba13]

Supporters of Wagner’s Story more

[Valerius]

While Payne called the harbor patrol (who didn’t answer), the couple heard a man’s voice responding to the unseen woman. Wayne says the male voice was “slurred” and “aggravated,” and said something like, “Oh, hold on, we’re coming to get you.” They heard the woman’s screams for 15 minutes, then nothing.

[kpoirier]

Wood, 43, drowned while sailing with her husband, Robert Wagner, on their yacht, Splendour. Christopher Walken, Wood’s then-costar in the movie Brainstorm, and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, were also on board.

[Waterfox]

In Wagner’s 2008 memoir, Pieces of My Heart, he wrote that after a night of drinking, he got into an argument with Walken over Wood’s career. more

[Psychoactive]

At one point, Wagner wrote, “I picked up a wine bottle, slammed it on the table and broke it into pieces.” more

[kytradersclassifieds]

With Walken in bed for the night, the two remaining men stayed up for more drinks, before Wagner, at around 1:30 a.m., said he would check on his wife. He returned with the news that he couldn't find her, prompting Davern to conduct his own search.

[bfever]

Still, with Wagner sticking to his general version and Walken saying next to nothing, the case likely would have lain dormant if it weren't for the efforts of Davern. After years of trying to get publishers and tabloids to bite on the story, he began leaking more revealing details to the mainstream press. [links]

[tabshift]

In a March 2000 story for Vanity Fair, the captain divulged that Wood and Walken had been flirting throughout the weekend and that things turned nasty after the foursome returned to Splendour after an evening spent drinking on the island. According to Davern, Wagner at one point smashed a wine bottle on the table and yelled at Walken, "What are you trying to do, f**k my wife?"

[lusid]

However, his recollection of impassioned discussions differed from an original description to police, in which he admitted to arguing with Wood about her extended time away from the family. It was just one of the many inconsistencies that surfaced as accounts of the night's events evolved over the years. [links]

[skull88]

It soon emerged that Wood had spent Thanksgiving weekend aboard her yacht, Splendour, with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken, and the ship's young captain, Dennis Davern, before an accident of some sort left her lifeless in the water.

[AStephen2011]

On November 30, Thomas Noguchi, chief medical examiner in the L.A. County Coroner's Office, announced his determination of an "accidental drowning." He noted the "superficial" bruises on Wood's body, likely from falling in the water, and the scratch marks on the yacht's dinghy, Prince Valiant, as evidence of her attempts to climb on board before succumbing to exhaustion.