Friday, November 18, 2011

Natalie Wood Murder Case Reopened


Proving it is never too late to try and arrest someone for murder, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office announced yesterday they are reopening the murder investigation of Natalie Wood who died 30 years ago. I wrote about Natalie's death last month and although there was not much new information, I think there is enough outrage at what happened or the lack of an investigation when she died that the Sheriff decided maybe they should take another look.


I agree. Everyone is still alive. No statute of limitations for murder and someone needs to do a proper investigation where everyone is questioned. Christopher Walken and Robert Wagner better try and remember what they told police back in the day. If Robert Wagner was charged with murder, think about all the celebrities his age who have been. Robert Blake, Phil Spector, OJ Simpson. Think about how many celebrities got away with murder too. I think if the internet had existed in the form it does today back then that someone would have been charged. There is a news conference scheduled for 11am today Pacific time to explain.

36 comments:

Seachica said...

Ooh, this is the post I'd rather gloat over! This was always fishy (pun intended), and was such a huge deal in my childhood. I hope they come to a well investigated resolution, no matter what it ends up being.

__-__=__ said...

I can't imagine they will ever know for sure. Boats can be dangerous in the best of times.

Unknown said...

She was drunk and RJ was sure that Walken was poking her. RJ has well known anger issues.

Poor beautiful Natalie...

MISCH said...

She was drunk and took a sleeping pill....so sad.

girltrav said...

The captain came forward with "different" information and was PAINFULLY interviewed on the Today show for the first 14 minutes of the show! He was continually asked what the new information was and always said "it will come out in the investigation". What a waste of time (the interview I mean).

Anonymous said...

I've always thought her husband was guilty...if not of actually killing her, at least of not trying to rescue her.

Audrey said...

From another site I read that RW told the captain to not try and find or save Natalie. The captain also said that he saw bruises on her legs and arms that evening, so the bruises were not from her falling into the water.

Patty said...

I did the math...she would have been 73 now. For some reason, that is hard to realize when someone dies young like that.

Kelly said...

This has always fascinated me.

Angie said...

I too am fascinated by this...I was very glad to hear this case has been reopened. RW must have really hated her to not jump in that water and save her life.

cdanluva said...

Are there two different people writing for CDAN now?

Audrey said...

@cdamluva - shhhhh...you can't talk about who Enty is. People on this board can get very upset. ;) I for one, think there's been a new Enty for some time now.

Daveb said...

I don't see what the new information is. If RJ and NW argued and then she and the rowboat disappeared there is a very valid reason to say she left in a huff and not escalate a search. Frankly I just see a down on his luck skipper trying to make money out of the only thing in his life with media value.

Audrey said...

Daveb - there's a real valid reason she wouldn't leave in a huff - she was terrified of water and could not swim.

Rose said...

Girltrav, at the same time he said he had no new information. That he was only saying what he has always said but now people are listening.

SusanB said...

I don't know what happened that night but if the captain lied to the police at the time, they should be able to at least charge him with obstruction of justice. Personally, I think he's just trying to push his new book and he doesn't know squat.

cdanluva said...

Ok, one person writes their opinion with double space, then passes it to the next person who writes their opinion using single space?

Rita said...

I remember when CDAN had posted this a few months ago, some came forward and added what they've heard or read on the thread, and it was quite an interesting and enlightened read!

That's why I love the CDAN community.

BTW, it feels good to know that no matter how much time passes, nature's law makes sure that murder victims are always avenged.

Linnea said...

I had never heard of this case before.

Cdanluva - Yeah, it seems a bit strange. Not quite sure what happened there.

Daveb said...

Audrey - it is often reported that NW was afraid of the water, I think because of a film incident where the director didn't yell cut soon enough, but the reality is that she also frequently went sailing with RJ.

skeeball said...

Natalie Wood was so beautiful. If you get a chance check out her movie with Robert Redford "This Property is Condemned" They are both so gorgeous in it and have great chemistry.

I also loved her in "Splendour in the Grass" She was an underrated actress and very beautiful. The boat was named "Splendour" I really hope Wagner didn't have anything to do with her death.

The Black Cat said...

I heard this yesterday, I have mixed feelings about it. I think it was a tragedy that she died too young but I don't know what good it will do to convict an old man whoever it is at this point. And how awful for the family, her kids especially.

RocketQueen said...

If anything, I hope the investigation will bring some closure to the case. Just because Wagner and Walkner don't discuss it doesn't mean either of them are guilty.

iheartjacksparrow said...

I am also terrified of water. I almost drown twice (once when a family friend decided I had to learn to surf and got hit in the head with the surfboard, and once when a supposed friend thought it would be really funny to push me down under the water in a pool and hold me down), so I know what Natalie felt. If I had been her on that boat, I would not have tried to get in the dingy in the dead of night to get away, or try to make it more secure if it was banging on the side of the boat. If I had been in an argument with my husband, I would have gone and sat with the Captain, or wrapped myself in blankets and slept on the deck. I would have stayed on the yacht, which would have been the safest place to be. That is why I've always thought she was murdered.

Daveb said...

According to the other sources I read the skipper's disclosure was that they didn't phone for a search for four hours. The delay in deciding to contact authorities has been known since the day of the incident. All of the tabloids and mainstream media reported and analysed that at the time. I can't escape the feeling that the skipper is just trying to make money but is now surprised that the story hass taken on the dimensions it has.

Ms Cool said...

Don't all the posts look like this one? The first paragraph is larger and the latter ones are smaller and tighter.

Perhaps we should talk about Kirk Douglas, too, since he allegedly raped a 16-year-old Natalie and might have been involved in the disappearance of an actress (google "Jean Spangler" or "kirk douglas rape").

RocketQueen said...

And for what it's worth, I have a little blog of my own on blogger, and the formatting of the paragraphs has nothing to do with the author....blogger just sucks.

Linnea said...

Oh, I didnt mean the formatting, just the line "I agree"

mooshki said...

He means he agrees with the Sheriff that they should take another look.

For all the conspiracy theorists, he did get "statute of limitations" right - most of the time when you see that phrase on the internet, it's "statue."

Elizabeth said...

I read all the documents submitted to the LAPD on TMZ. It's pretty compelling. Wagner sounds like he was pretty jealous of Walken. Natalie and the captain stayed on the island the first night because of arguing and she wanted to leave but there were no seaplanes available so she went back on the boat.

The captain says the entire trip was tense. By the end of the second night, Wagner broke a bottle of wine and confronted Walken asking if he wanted to **** his wife. Walken went to bed (bet he's glad) and stayed there the rest of the night.

Natalie went to the master stateroom and Wagner followed her and that's when the screaming started. Big time fighting with thumps, bangs and crashing. The captain went to check on her and Wagner told him to stay out of it. So the captain went up top above the stateroom. He turned music up loud to drown their fighting.

They returned at 10:30 and the boat next door heard her crying for help around 11:00 p.m. They called the harbor who said they would send someone (they never did). Then they heard a man slurring "hold on, we're going to get you" loudly. That was likely Wagner. They said her cries stopped after about 15 minutes.

When Wagner came back to the captain, he said she was missing. The captain wanted to turn on the search light but Wagner said no, fearing publicity. He implied she took the dinghy. He said Wagner started pushing the alcohol. The captain persuaded him to call for help around 1:30 a.m.

The captain let Wagner intimidate him and as a result, no one searched for Natalie until morning. Read the six statements on TMZ. There is a strong implication that Wagner is responsible for pushing her in the water or actively knowing she was flailing about and letting her die. Maybe he came to a point where it had gone too far and he thought, if she gets out, he's in trouble for sure.

The captain said Wagner was obsessed with negative publicity.

Elizabeth said...

Here is a link to the documents

http://www.tmz.com/2011/11/17/natalie-wood-homicide-book-investigation/

pandavanda said...

Big Natalie Wood fan. The gossip at the time was that she was going to leave RW for Chris. Walken.

Things seem to have worked out pretty well for RW in the aftermath. He got to raise their child on his own (had they split, Nat. would have had custody), was a hero for being such a big part of Natalie's oldest daughter's life (even though he's not her dad), re-married relatively quickly and gets lots of sympathy.

I don't think Christopher Walken has ever publicly spoken about that night. IMO she died on the boat, accident or not, and it was made to look like she fell in.

RW has always been suspicious to me. I don't care how nice a person is in public, it's what they're like in private that matters most and it's not just Hollywood that's full of actors. I was married to a publicly, totally charming guy who turned into a nightmare in private.

MnGddess said...

Hollywood - where you actually can get away with murder.

Robert Wagner had something to do with her death. By all accounts, that woman was not scared, she was terrified of the water. For her to take a dinghy and leave the boat is plain ridiculous.

Henriette said...

For them to reopen this case, they have to have something really credible. There must be some evidence that is too glaring for them to ignore. It's not like they don't have other more pressing cases to investigate instead of nearly thirty year old one.

I still remember when this happened and how it never made sense then. Before the Internet, people were talking about this case quite a bit. Many were surprised it was ruled an accident.

Rickatoo said...

They were drinking and on Quaaludes (god I miss them). None of them wanted to bring attention to that by bring the cops into it, altho the theory that she went to untie the dinghy and fell in is plausible. If they fought as hard as everyone says and then she "left", not looking for her right away also fits. She probably was sleeping with Walken, they were filming Brainstorm together at the time, but wasn't the general sentiment at the time that Wagner was probably sleeping with Jill St. John, who he married 25 minutes after Natalie died?

Lelaina Pierce said...

I only really heard about this case a few years ago & was obsessively looking up info online about it. Everything Elizabeth posted was what I'd read & most sites I read seemed to lean towards JW having something to do with it. It is a very mysterious case so I hope something good comes out of them re-opening it.

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