Was it Murder ??

I recently read an article in the National Enquirer about a book that offers a different version of Natalie Wood's death. I would have passed it off as the usual NE fare but the co-authors of the book have spent years researching and putting it together. One of them is Dennis Davern the captain of the yacht who was with them the night her death occurred and was a witness to all the events that led up to it. The other is a well known author and journalist who believed in the project and the man. I was intrigued and did a bit of research to get the gist of their story.

Natalie Wood was a Hollywood icon, beloved by millions for her performances in such classics as Miracle on 34th Street, West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause. Married for the second time to actor Robert Wagner and the mother of young children, Natalie had everything to live for. Her bizarre death on or near the yacht Splendour on a chilly November evening in 1981 has been shrouded in mystery.

In his recent best-selling memoir Pieces of My Heart, Robert Wagner told his version of what happened on the yacht on the night his wife died. But is Wagner’s version accurate? Who knows the truth? Has the truth been buried with Natalie Wood all these years? Why was everyone else allowed to come forth with their stories but the man who may have had the truth right in his hands has been stifled for almost three decades?

The night in question is Nov 29, 1981....the height of Robert Wagner's popularity and the eve of Natalie Wood's latest film "Brainstorm" which was about to wrap up shooting. They're on a cruise destined for Catalina Island for a "pleasurable weekend". In attendance is Christopher Walken, Natalie's "Brainstorm" co-star and friend and Dennis Davern, family friend and captain of Splendour, the Wagners 60 foot yacht. Those are about the only facts the authorities or the public ever got of the night that Natalie died. Everything said or written about it from that point forward seems to have confounded, confused and contradicted itself.

Until now, Wagner has said that Natalie slipped into the water from a slippery swim step, wearing wool socks, trying to secure a banging dingy. Personally I didn't need the author to offer up an explanation as to why inflatable rubber dingys don't bang...they can't, they're rubber and inflated like a balloon. Wagner and Noguchi, the L.A. Coroner, claimed that Natalie's twenty five or so bruises along with some facial scratches were caused by trying fervently to board the dingy from the water, here again common sense has taken a backseat to speculation, while at the same time being literally ignored by the investigating officer. This is starting to look a lot like a botched investigation fueled by celebrity privilege and incompetent investigative tactics. Rubber dingys don't bang, nor do they bruise. And why would she try to board the dingy when the swim platform was easier to climb? In fact why would she go down there in the black of night to tie up a dingy when it was a well known fact she was terrified of the water and a poor swimmer?

Dennis Davern, the tight lipped skipper on that fateful night, offers little to investigators at this point, he's been drinking and buzzed most of that weekend and is now under the influence of his manipulative employer...he's been told what to say by a man for whom he has great admiration . We don't tell on friends...at least not right away. Davern's story had to be coaxed out of him.

Marti Rulli, a longtime friend saw for herself that the once carefree and happy go lucky Dennis she had met years ago had changed. What followed that 2:30 a.m. call that Marti received from Dennis nearly two years after Natalie died would set into motion a series of events that would ultimately result in this book. In it, Rulli goes to great pains to illustrate for the reader why and how so many things that were published previously and attested to over the years had nearly nothing to do with the truth. Wagner, Walken, Noguchi, and Davern have all changed their stories several times. What sets Davern apart is that he has finally and formally revealed the truth according to his recollection. We learn why wool socks don't stay on kicking feet that are submerged, although Natalie's body was found wearing them. We learn why down jackets don't become waterlogged and drag people under. We learn how swim steps don't get slippery when wet because they are coated with anti-slip paint.

The most important thing we learn is that Davern overheard Natalie getting into a drunken argument with her husband about their guest Christopher Walken. Wagner was jealous and believed Walken wanted to sleep with his wife and Natalie didn't try to convince him otherwise. By evening they got into a screaming match that turned into a punch throwing fight in their stateroom. Natalie died shortly after that fight. Her death was ruled accidental.

Davern says he identified her body and he saw bruises all over her arms and legs which he believed came from a beating administered by her husband during their fight. He also believes that Wagner was with his wife when she hit the water. Davern claims he has passed polygraph tests and told the same story under hypnosis.

The captain says following Natalie's death he felt threatened by Wagner, who tried to control where he went and to whom he spoke. Overwhelmed with guilt Davern became an alcoholic. He has since overcome his addiction and now owns and operates a marina. He hopes that going public with his story will get the case reopened.

Do the powerful and wealthy in Hollywood live by a different set of laws and code of behavior than the rest of us? We have seen some pretty good examples of this. It didn't start with OJ. They have been getting away with murder for years. Maybe there will be an epilogue to this story.

It seems to me if the captain had wanted to make a lot of money writing a book based on fiction or lies, he wouldn't have waited twenty eight years until public interest had long waned and died. (the book is 'Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour')