The News Of …

Natalie Wood’s death has been reopened as a homicide investigation, primarily because of a book written by the captain of the boat where Natalie Wood spent her last minutes … a book suggesting foul play … this according to sources close to the investigation.
We’ve learned Marti Rulli – who co-authored the book – has been in regular touch with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. over the last few months. She has given Sheriff’s investigators documents supporting material in her book, and we’re told the Sheriff is so impressed he has assigned 2 full-time homicide detectives to the case.
In the book – “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour” – Rulli and Splendour Captain Dennis Davern write about the night Natalie drowned. They say before Natalie disappeared from the boat, she was drinking and taking Quaaludes with her husband, Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.
According to the book, Wagner became enraged when he saw Wood and Walken speaking, and smashed a wine bottle, yelling at Walken: “What do you want to do, f**k my wife? Is that what you want?”
At that point, Walken returned to his cabin and Natalie and Robert went to their state room. According to the Captain, he heard a loud argument between the couple and thumping sounds, and eventually silence.
A short time later, the Captain went to the deck and was told by Wagner: “Natalie is missing.”

Natalie Wood.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is reopening its investigation into the death of movie star Natalie Wood, who drowned in 1981 while boating off Catalina Island near the California coast, authorities said Thursday.
Homicide investigators are taking a new look at one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries after they were contacted by people who claimed they had “additional information” about the drowning, the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
Authorities didn’t provide further details late Thursday and said a news conference on the matter will be held Friday at 11 a.m. (2 p.m. ET).
Last year, the actress’ sister, Lana Wood, and the captain of the yacht on which Wood sailed with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, had asked the sheriff’s office to reopen the case.
On Thursday, L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Grubb couldn’t say whether the sister and the yacht captain have prompted the renewed investigation.
“I don’t know if that’s related, but that’s what the press conference is about tomorrow” – Grubb told CNN.
Natalie Wood once said in a televised interview that her greatest fear was of dark seawater. On Nov. 29, 1981, she drowned in the Pacific Ocean off the isthmus of Catalina Island.
Wood’s body was found floating in the water about a mile away from the yacht.
According to police reports, Wood was found wearing a long nightgown, socks, and a down jacket.
The autopsy report shows Wood had two dozen bruises on her body, including a facial abrasion on her left cheek, and bruises on her arms.
“My sister was not a swimmer and did not know how to swim, and she would never go to another boat or to shore dressed in a nightgown and socks” – said Lana Wood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8cZgqqNrG4

The circumstances of Natalie Wood’s drowning death nearly 30 years ago remain one of Hollywood’s enduring mysteries and continue to create renewed intrigue, with homicide detectives unexpectedly re-opening a case Thursday that had long been classified as a tragic accident.
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective will speak to reporters Friday about the decision to take another look at the Oscar-nominated actress’ nighttime demise in the chilly waters off Southern California on November 29, 1981. Wood drowned after spending several hours drinking on Catalina Island and a yacht with husband Robert Wagner, fellow actor Christopher Walken and the ship’s captain.
Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Thursday the renewed inquiry was prompted by unspecified new information about Woods’ case. The Los Angeles Times quoted Sheriff Lee Baca as saying recent comments by the captain, Dennis Davern, who was interviewed for a book project and whose comments from a 2000 article by Vanity Fair are being featured on a new print edition and a “48 Hours Mystery” episode that focus on Hollywood scandals.
In the magazine, Davern is quoted as saying that Wood and Wagner fought in their cabin before the actress went missing. Coroner’s officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, perhaps caused by her slipping off the boat while trying to tie down a dinghy.
Wood’s death sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood’s sister have dismissed any suggestion the actress’ death was anything more than an accident. Coroner’s officials at the time agreed, writing that Wood was “possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face.”
It is not the first time Davern has contradicted statements he and others made to investigators after Woods’ death, and the magazine notes that he has told his story through tabloids and has been shopping for a book deal for years. Attempts to reach Davern were unsuccessful Thursday night.
Sheriff’s officials are also hoping for tips from the public that may shed new light on how Wood, who was afraid of being in the water, ended up drowning.
“Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death” – Wagner spokesman Alan Nierob wrote in a statement.
Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in “West Side Story”, “Rebel Without a Cause” and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner, star of the TV series “Hart to Hart”, were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.