CA - Natalie Wood, 43, drowned off California coast, 29 Nov 1981

[Columbo]

When RW and Natalie broke up the first time it was written in a book that she walked in on him and another man.He denied it but never sued the author,30 yrs ago Hollywood went to great lengths to hide homosexuality and Bi sexual's.Look at Rock Hudson,Tab Hunter, and so many others.CW was not a name in Hollywood till after Natalie's death.A Lot of people never believed it was an accident from the get go.RW alienated the children from both their grandmother and Aunt Lana,easy to do it happens all the time in divorce cases.How many times do we read about children growing up with a parent later convicted of murdering the other parent.The children even as adults believe the guilty parent and keep ties severed with the other parents family.IMO denial can run strong in these cases.RW owns horrible words spoken after he is told Natalie is dead,he sends another to id her,within months he is shacked up with JSJ,who he later marries,he refuses her family access to her children.None of this speaks of a man who lost the love of his life.

bolded by me.

Thanks, mikeysmommom. I just saw a case the other day on 48 Hours where the adult children absolutely refused to believe that their dad killed their mother, and it was so obvious he did it. It was like they had blinders on. They knew what the evidence was but refused to believe it. And this is just one case out of many. It's understandable, in a way;it would be so hard to get one's mind around the fact that their dad murdered their mom (or vice versa).

 

[Chewy]

When RW and Natalie broke up the first time it was written in a book that she walked in on him and another man.He denied it but never sued the author,30 yrs ago Hollywood went to great lengths to hide homosexuality and Bi sexual's.Look at Rock Hudson,Tab Hunter, and so many others.CW was not a name in Hollywood till after Natalie's death.A Lot of people never believed it was an accident from the get go.RW alienated the children from both their grandmother and Aunt Lana,easy to do it happens all the time in divorce cases.How many times do we read about children growing up with a parent later convicted of murdering the other parent.The children even as adults believe the guilty parent and keep ties severed with the other parents family.IMO denial can run strong in these cases.RW owns horrible words spoken after he is told Natalie is dead,he sends another to id her,within months he is shacked up with JSJ,who he later marries,he refuses her family access to her children.None of this speaks of a man who lost the love of his life.

When people sleuth crimes and make these kinds of statements it doesn't seem like good sleuthing to me. And not just in this case. I've seen this done in many threads on this site.

For example in the Lisa Irwin threads people will say things like "My baby would always wake up during the night" or in the Sky M threads "I never fed my child in the sink" or even "She didn't change her last name so that tells me she wasn't committed to her marriage" etc etc etc.

I find this kind of thinking and speculation totally pointless. We have the facts in front of us. It doesn't matter what everyone else in the world does. We can't say Natasha is doing this because of all the other people in the world who did it one way. We can only look at how Natasha herself feels, the statements she's made (if any) and go by what she says and why she feels the way she feels.

I hope I'm making my point without you feeling like I'm attacking you, but I don't see how in the world this has any relevance at all to this particular case.

Also the accusations of homosexuality RW never addressed them. Well then OF COURSE it means he was homosexual, that must be it. And if he was homosexual then it explains why Natalie Wood divorced him and then REMARRIED HIM and had a child with him. I mean come on.

:waitasec:

 

[Cazzie]

Yet Wagner is not considered a suspect. The reason for reopening the case I think is based on the witness that heard NW in the water.

As far as the accusation of apologist goes, I'm not an apologist for RW. I just see a lot of people googling things that are biased, like the IMDB thing above and posting it up as if they are facts.

Even the document where they ask for the case to be reopened. If you read the entire thing you see at the bottom someone is accusing RW simply because he didn't dedicate his book to NW and feels he's a controlling jerk.

I'm going by what statements were made from that night, witness accounts of all the people on the boat and adding it up to see what makes the most sense.

Most people in this thread are treating DD's statements as the only honest statements from the evening, even though he admits to being a liar and being drunk the whole night. Even though he is the one who legally should have called the cops.

They are treating him like he was a teenager or something under the control of evil RW.

I believe in personal responsibility for everyone, not just people I don't trust.

I've read here at WS enough to believe that it's extremely common for LE to not publicly name any POI's or suspects.

So it means nothing to me that RW hasn't been named a suspect in this re-opening of Natalie's case.

And I didn't *accuse* anybody of being an RW apologist; I was addressing my opinion about such a stance, which is within WS rules. I didn't even quote anyone in my post. I'm sorry if you misintrepeted my words and took them personally.

 

[Columbo]

When people sleuth crimes and make these kinds of statements it doesn't seem like good sleuthing to me. And not just in this case. I've seen this done in many threads on this site.

For example in the Lisa Irwin threads people will say things like "My baby would always wake up during the night" or in the Sky M threads "I never fed my child in the sink" or even "She didn't change her last name so that tells me she wasn't committed to her marriage" etc etc etc.

I find this kind of thinking and speculation totally pointless. We have the facts in front of us. It doesn't matter what everyone else in the world does. We can't say Natasha is doing this because of all the other people in the world who did it one way. We can only look at how Natasha herself feels, the statements she's made (if any) and go by what she says and why she feels the way she feels.

I hope I'm making my point without you feeling like I'm attacking you, but I don't see how in the world this has any relevance at all to this particular case.

Also the accusations of homosexuality RW never addressed them. Well then OF COURSE it means he was homosexual, that must be it. And if he was homosexual then it explains why Natalie Wood divorced him and then REMARRIED HIM and had a child with him. I mean come on.

:waitasec:

bolded by me.

A lot of men are married and have children, and they are gay. If that was the case here, why would he ever want to address it? He's got a reputation to keep intact.

As far as this case, there really are very few facts. The individuals involved were all drunk and high, and therefore, all their stories are dubious. The only solid facts are things like the documented time a call for help was received,the time they arrived at the Splendour, the observations of the rescue crew, the autopsy findings, etc.

 

[Chewy]

I've read here at WS enough to believe that it's extremely common for LE to not publicly name any POI's or suspects.

So it means nothing to me that RW hasn't been named a suspect in this re-opening of Natalie's case.

And I didn't *accuse* anybody of being an RW apologist; I was addressing my opinion about such a stance, which is within WS rules. I didn't even quote anyone in my post. I'm sorry if you misintrepeted my words and took them personally.

No worries, i just wanted to make it clear I'm not an apologist.

RW is not going to be named in this case at all. The statute of limitations has run out on anything he can be accused of. It would be neat though if the captain got nailed for something but I doubt it.

Also as to why they may have reopened the case, some have speculated to distract the public from the recent investigation by the ACLU for the LA Police tracking cell phones.

 

[Columbo]

Natalie Wood trivia.

She suffered from a deep fear of drowning after having barely survived an accident when she was a little girl, during the filming of The Green Promise (1949). Her fear was so great that Elia Kazan had to lie - promising a double - and trick her into doing the scenes at the water reservoir in Splendor in the Grass (1961). She also had to do her own swimming scenes in "From Here to Eternity" (1979) despite her protests.

Interred at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA, Section D, #60.

Reportedly turned down Warren Beatty's offer to play opposite him in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) because she didn't want to be separated from her analyst while the film was on location in the Midwest.

Splendour, the name of the yacht Wood was on the night she died, was named after her movie Splendor in the Grass (1961). She co-starred in the film with former love Warren Beatty.

An accident on a movie set (she fell into a river and almost drowned) when she was 9 years old left her with a permanently weakened left wrist and a slight bone protrusion, which, for the rest of her life, she hid with large bracelets. Regardless of the movie role, or anytime that she was out in public, she always wore a large bracelet on the left wrist. * This deformity shows up in her autopsy report.

The rubber dinghy "Prince Valiant" she'd allegedly been trying to board after falling from husband Robert Wagner's yacht that fateful Thanksgiving weekend in 1981, was named after Wagner's movie Prince Valiant (1954), a film the actor considered among his worst.

Attended ballet classes as a child with Jill St. John and Stefanie Powers. All three women would go on to have long-term relationships with Robert Wagner. Natalie was married to Wagner at the time of her death and St. John is now married to him. Powers was his costar on the 1979-1984 television series "Hart to Hart.".

Pallbearers at her funeral were Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Elia Kazan, Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Fred Astaire.
Daughter: Courtney Wagner (b. 9 March 1974). Father is Robert Wagner.

Daughter: Natasha Gregson Wagner was born on Tuesday, September 29th, 1970. Natasha's father is Richard Gregson.

Her death was kismet, as she always cited a fear of water.

Her and co-star Richard Beymer's singing voices were both dubbed in West Side Story (1961). The woman who dubbed Natalie, Marni Nixon, also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964) and Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956).

The daughter of a Russian architect and a French ballerina could do a proper plié before she could barely walk.

Her mother, Maria, claimed that the family was closely related to the Romanov dynasty.

Spoke Russian and English.

Though some people cite her mother as being French, her mother is Russian. The source of this misconception comes from the studio that Natalie worked at when she was a child -- people noticed her mother's accent and when asked if she was French, Maria replied: "Oh yes", a white lie that would contribute to this confusion.

Younger sister Lana Wood made a ABC TV special on Natalie's life, The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV).

Measurements: 32-20 1/2-32 (at age 18), 32B-22-33 (at age 24, "Parade" magazine December 1962), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

Portrayed by Rebecca Budig in James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) (TV), by Justine Waddell in The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV) and by Abi Young in Elvis (1979/I) (TV).

Was offered the role of Daisy in The Great Gatsby (1974). At the time, it had been 5 years since Natalie had made a film. She was asked to do a screen test, and felt so offended that she withdrew from the role. After this, Natalie was no longer offered plum roles due to the fact that she had been forgotten after years away from acting, despite being younger than popular actresses of the time such as Jane Fonda.

Turned down roles in the films Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Love Story (1970), The Great Gatsby (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). After the mid-1970s, high-profile plum roles were no longer being offered to her due to the fact that she did not appear in any widely released films for a decade after Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and was no longer considered bankable.

She was cast as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) (TV) quite unexpectedly, without campaigning for the role. Wood explained that when Laurence Olivier would come to Hollywood, she would often be seated with him at the table at formal sit-down dinners. When Olivier decided to make a version of the Tennessee Williams play, he thought of casting Wood, his dinner companion, and her husband, Robert Wagner, in the husband-wife roles of Brick and Maggie. Naturally, they accepted.

Her death was listed at number 24 on E! Televisions 101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment.

Personal Quote:

[In 1981] I've always been terrified, still am, of water -- dark water or sea water, or river water or whatever.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000081/bio

thanks, oceanblueeyes. This brings home the fact that Natalie was truly terrified of water. It hasn't been exaggerated and can't be overlooked. She was deathly afraid of it.

 

[Chewy]

bolded by me.

A lot of men are married and have children, and they are gay. If that was the case here, why would he ever want to address it? He's got a reputation to keep intact.

As far as this case, there really are very few facts. The individuals involved were all drunk and high, and therefore, all their stories are dubious. The only solid facts are things like the documented time a call for help was received,the time they arrived at the Splendour, the observations of the rescue crew, the autopsy findings, etc.

Again with the "a lot of men" etc.


So gossip precludes reality. And lets stop and think, say he did have sex with a guy, that doesn't make him a homosexual, he lived in the 60s and 70s in Hollywood, men fooled around. So what? What bearing does it have on anything at all?

If anything to me it shows he wasn't overly concerned with the tabloid gossip and just ignored stories that painted him in a bad light. He didn't care and he didn't address them. So that shoots down any idea that he killed Natalie to cover up that she caught him having sex with CW.

I mean there is reasonable speculation and then just tabloid gossiping.

 

[OldSteve]

Natasha and her half-sister, Courtney, were just children when this happened, and RW was their only parent left.

If you've observed other cases where one spouse died a suspicious tragic death, the children will often cut off contact with, and reject, the side of the family who believes the remaining parent has some culpability in the other parent's death. RW cut off contact with Lana after Natalie died, and I'm sure the children were very aware of this. They weren't going to seek out Lana if their dad convinced them she was bad ;they were trying to recover from the devastation of losing their mom.

Are you sure that Lana Wood has done nothing since Natalie's death but sell her story? I don't think so.

BBB - You are correct in this! I see this time-and-time again in cases. Children are the last to admit a parent is guilty. Defense attorneys love putting them on the stand in defense of a suspected parent because of this and because most jurors are not aware of this.

 

[Chewy]

Wonder why no one posted this.

http://rumorfix.com/2011/11/exclusi...rt-wagner-is-innocent-dennis-davern-is-lying/

EXCLUSIVE: Natalie Wood’s Sister Says Robert Wagner Is Innocent, Yacht Captain Is Lying
Posted on November 18th, 2011 at 9:29 am

Natalie Wood’s half-sister Olga Viriapaeff is speaking exclusively to RumorFix about the mysterious death of the legendary actress.
Olga, 83, is convinced that greed is fueling the latest attempt to re-open the case, with Captain Dennis Davern and Lana Wood working together to try and exploit Natalie’s memory.
Olga is also adamant that Robert Wagner is completely innocent of any wrongdoing and the unfortunate victim of scandalous accusations ever since Natalie’s death.
“I think it’s terrible that they’re dragging this up again,” Olga tells RumorFix. “I think they should leave it alone. I think Robert [Wagner] did all that he could. I was there when they came back and he was totally crushed that he wasn’t able to save her. He was there all night trying to find her with the coastguard.
To bring it all up again, I think they’re just trying to make money. Lana is involved because she is always out for the buck. I think she is with the captain, just doing this to make money.”
Investigators are re-opening the investigation into Natalie’s death due in part to Marti Rulli and Captain Dennis Davern’s book Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour. The book questions the official version of events and suggests that Robert Wagner was responsible for Natalie’s death.

 

[Columbo]

Again with the "a lot of men" etc.


So gossip precludes reality. And lets stop and think, say he did have sex with a guy, that doesn't make him a homosexual, he lived in the 60s and 70s in Hollywood, men fooled around. So what? What bearing does it have on anything at all?

If anything to me it shows he wasn't overly concerned with the tabloid gossip and just ignored stories that painted him in a bad light. He didn't care and he didn't address them. So that shoots down any idea that he killed Natalie to cover up that she caught him having sex with CW.

I mean there is reasonable speculation and then just tabloid gossiping.

Yeah--it doesn't matter to me what his sexual orientation was, but you said that NW wouldn't have married and remarried him and had a child with him if he were homosexual, and that is just not true. She very well could have, is what I am saying.

I'm not saying he was or wasn't, I'm just saying it could happen. I'm not letting gossip preclude reality. Geesh.

 

[Chewy]

Neat picture of Natalie with Olga, Natasha and her parents.

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/33938985@N02/3573749839/"]Natalie Wood and family | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]

 

[oceanblueeyes]

She's done nothing that has had her name in the news except continue to peddle this story.


I'm glad that I'm making people think differently about Davern. I am not here to fight with anyone either, I tend to post in a strong way but I'm not trying to start a fight or anything.

The key to me is not to debate bits and pieces of what has been said but to take everything that he has said and to corroborate it with what others have said and see what story makes the most sense.

Granted not all crimes or tragedies do make sense or unfold in a logical way.

It just strikes me as very odd that Davern has not been looked at in a critical way.

And what I just said about him harming NW is something that just occurred to me.

He may have passed a polygraph but we don't know what questions were asked of him and he may have convinced himself over the years that what he said is true.

But consider that CW said she went to bed and so did RW. If Natalie got up to fix the banging dingy I doubt she'd try to fix it on her own. Especially because she had her fear of water.

I would think by habit she'd go to the Captain and ask him to fix it. And say she did and he had a little thing with her, maybe he in his drunken state tried to have sex with her and this shows why she had bruises on her.

Might also explain why he himself didn't do anything. Then he feels the need to cover up the story because Lana keeps asking him for details so he makes up the story that RW was physical with her as a way of explaining the bruises.

Maybe he is the one who said "Don't worry we're coming to get you, and panicked because he knew she'd get him in big trouble."

Honestly that story makes more sense than what he's peddling.

I don't think it makes more sense. Wagner is known for his hot temper especially when it came to Natalie.

I really think some are so entranced with putting the blame fully on the Captain more than Natalie's own husband who married her for better or worse. For all the speculation about Davern ....Wagner could be the one lying. I did read he has made inconsistent statements in the past.

Why would the Captain come forward if he was the one that did something untoward to Natalie? That makes no sense. Imo, he would stay quiet as a mouse and glad the case had been closed 30 years ago with his 'secret' :innocent:buried forever.

What I cant figure out why it is such a big deal for someone to come forward years later. This certainly isn't the only case where that has happened.

Here is a case that happened in 1993 and now two witnesses have come forward 18 years later. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-M...s-in-18-Year-Old-Tricia-Pacaccio-Murder-Case/

But there are countless cases out there (just google) where a witness(es) came forward in decades old cases.

Davern has passed three polygraphs. I am sure each examiner asked him pertinent questions.

I believe I read in her AR that they saved the pubic hairs and also the swabs. I doubt she had sex with anyone since it seem to be filled with drunks who wanted to fight and not one person has ever said that the Captain tried to come on to her. It seems he is the one man on that boat she trusted.

I think the statement about Dennis hearing things in the cabin being thrown about hitting the walls and slams could also be consistent with Natalie's bruises especially the ones to her wrist and the abrasion to the left side of her face.

So Davern has to be a liar? Why? Because if he is telling the truth it exposes the true character of Wagner or is it just far better and easier to blame a nobody than a Hollywood actor?

IMO

 

[OldSteve]

Don't know if this case can be brought to trial... lots of suspicion against RW with his changing story about the smashing wine bottle... most likely CW will stick with his account, making the Capt's new account hard to prove...
I found Capt's account of events leading up to the time NW went missing to sound creditable, but then once the arguing started between RW & NW - credibility began to fade... how come he didn't hear her scream? If he was also her body guard, he didn't protect her... why didn't he say, "I'm the capt of this boat, and I will turn on the light", "I'll call the coast gaurd"... Why didn't they get CW involved? If he was so drunk, then how could have given any sort of account?

 

[redheadedgal]

i think the problem with "captain" is semantics. splendour was owned by wood and wagner... it was their boat. davern was basically a paid driver in this case... he was not captain like on the show the love boat where captain stubbing had total control and say and the legal responsibilities that came with that job... davern was their friend... and employee. i'm pretty sure if i owned a yacht and hired someone to drive it, that person would not be in charge. i would be the one in charge... it's my boat.

as for why one room at the hotel? if you google "dennis davern" and "natalie wood", phrases like dear friend, confidant, trusted family friend etc. are found describing davern's relationship to NW (along with employee). it appears then that davern was one of NW's closest friends and as such i see no problem with one hotel room. to speculate beyond this is unnecessary IMO. as well, the theory that davern tried something sexual with NW that night on the yacht is just inappropriate. there is NOTHING to substantiate or suggest that type of thinking. to do so is not fair to davern... and it might be against TOS.

the reason RW hasn't been named a suspect is b/c NW's death is still officially ruled accidental. if and when this is changed to homicide, then and only then might any suspect be named.

 

[Plumeria5]

And if I remember correctly from 30 years ago, the original story was that he and Walken remained in the room drinking and talking, while Natalie had retired to their stateroom. This does not match up with what he says in the above quote.

I'm editing this because: RW says Natalie was in the bathroom fixing her hair,and then she shut the door.That is the last time he saw her. She shut the bathroom door? I was under the impression that she had to leave the room they were in, and go to their stateroom to sleep. ???

If I recall correctly that is what Laci Peterson was doing the last time Scott saw her. She was fixing her hair before bed. Natalie was drunk, under the influence of some drugs, her husband is extremely jealous, smashes a bottle, upset with she and her co-star, so Natalie goes to her room on a boat and styles her hair before going to bed. :innocent:

 

[SuziQ]

Wonder why no one posted this.

http://rumorfix.com/2011/11/exclusi...rt-wagner-is-innocent-dennis-davern-is-lying/

EXCLUSIVE: Natalie Wood’s Sister Says Robert Wagner Is Innocent, Yacht Captain Is Lying
Posted on November 18th, 2011 at 9:29 am

I've never seen this Chewy or I would have posted this. I've never even heard of that website before.

 

[Chewy]

I don't believe Davern's story makes sense the way he tells it.

I've posted several discrepancies already so I don't want to be repetitive but here goes.

The other boat that heard NW in the water did not report hearing a fight on the Splendour. They did report hearing the music on the boat. They said they heard a woman crying for help.

Logically speaking if they could hear her in the water and hear the music on the other boat they would have heard the fighting. The captain claims he turned up the music to cover up the sound of the fighting. So it would have been pretty loud. The other boat would have heard the fighting and the music. They did not report this.

The captain lived with RW for years and he seems like a disgruntled person.

However there are some interesting details that do IMO point to the captain being involved in more than he is letting on.

Why would he come forward? Because no one has looked at him everyone is focused on RW. He's sold his story to tabloid shows and has also published a book about it. So that speaks to motive. Also Lana has been pestering him to come forward as well.

Now what speaks to the Captains involvement.

BOTH CW and RW report that NW went to bed ahead of them. The captain says they were fighting so loud that he had to turn up the radio to cover it up. He also says he heard physical noises.

CW did not corroborate this. Not only that but CW was reported by the Captain to be sleeping. Yes it could be that Walken passed out or fell asleep easily. However I do not think it is likely. I can't imagine someone having a huge smack down drag out fight over me supposedly wanting to eff his wife and then hearing the husband go off on the wife about it and then just turning over and going to sleep.

Also the other boat did not report a huge fight on the deck. Yet they heard her crying out in the water and then someone saying "Don't worry we're coming to get you." in a drunk slurry voice. DD was drunk.

DD states that NW was on the deck in her nightgown. But later when they found her body she had on a down jacket. That is something very noticeable and his story doesn't match the details.

CW said it was raining. (I'd like to hear more about this, I've never heard it before) and if it was it further speaks to the unlikely action of fighting on the deck.


NW took the dingy with the Captain early in the evening. It stands to reason that if she wanted to leave the yacht, she'd ask him to drive her again. It also stands to reason that if she wanted to tie up the boat she'd ask the captain, that's his job.

NW had bruises on her body. From where? Some say she fell but water doesn't normally bruise your body once you are in the water.

Ok maybe RW hit her. But again, no one reported hearing the fighting on the boat except the Captain. Not CW and not the other boat.

So think about it. His story is not corroborated by the other testimony. And keep in mind we are not including RW's testimony except for where both he and CW said she went to bed.

The Captain has a missing passenger on his boat and does not call the Coast Guard. He stalls just as much as RW. In addition he sits and gets drunk instead of trying to find her. He blames all this on RW. He blames his lack of action on RW. He blames his drinking on RW. He blames his lack of career in Hollywood on RW. He blames the bruises on NWs body on RW.

In the interview the Captain looks very nervous as if he is afraid of something. He's got many people backing him up.

He doesn't outright accuse RW of anything, instead he says that the investigators will need to figure it out. Etc.

To me the evidence of guilt points much more to the Captain. Based on his own statements.


More details that point to the Captain having motive

Wood and Davern left the Splendour that evening and spent the night together in a hotel room on Catalina island. "Near 10:30 p.m., Friday Robert Wagner said he wanted to move the 60 ft. yacht 12 miles away to the quiet more desolate part of the Island at the Isthmus (Two Harbors). Natalie Wood argued that it was not safe in the rainy, dark night to make the move. Robert Wagner, appearing drunk, insisted on the move and started to prepare for it. Natalie Wood demanded to leave the boat, so I left with her and we spent Friday night at the Pavillion Lodge in the same hotel room. She expressed anger over her husband's behavior, and said she was going to leave the Island come Saturday morning," Davern alleges.

Why did they sleep in the same hotel room? Perhaps he felt he was more than just an employee to NW.

Here's a pix of him back then. He was kind of handsome.

http://www.highlighthollywood.com/2011/11/18/davern-and-rulli-wrap-their-nbc-today-show-interview/

 

[Columbo]

If I recall correctly that is what Laci Peterson was doing the last time Scott saw her. She was fixing her hair before bed. Natalie was drunk, under the influence of some drugs, her husband is extremely jealous, smashes a bottle, upset with she and her co-star, so Natalie goes to her room on a boat and styles her hair before going to bed. :innocent:

What a coincidence, eek.

The reason why I edited my post is that at first I thought RW's statements weren't matching up--but were the three of them drinking in RW and Natalie's stateroom? In other words, she didn't have to leave, she would have just gone into the bedroom portion of the room and shut the door. I'm confused. Where was this bathroom where she was fixing her hair--was it part of another suite of rooms?

 

[Columbo]

i think the problem with "captain" is semantics. splendor was owned by wood and wagner... it was their boat. davern was basically a paid driver in this case... he was not captain like on the show the love boat where captain stubbing had total control and say and the legal responsibilities that came with that job... davern was their friend... and employee. i'm pretty sure if i owned a yacht and hired someone to drive it, that person would not be in charge. i would be the one in charge... it's my boat.

as for why one room at the hotel? if you google "dennis davern" and "natalie wood", phrases like dear friend, confident, trusted family friend etc. are found describing davern's relationship to NW (along with employee). it appears then that davern was one of NW's closest friends and as such i see no problem with one hotel room. to speculate beyond this is unnecessary IMO. as well, the theory that davern tried something sexual with NW that night on the yacht is just inappropriate. there is NOTHING to substantiate or suggest that type of thinking. to do so is not fair to davern... and it might be against TOS.

the reason RW hasn't been named a suspect is b/c NW's death is still officially ruled accidental. if and when this is changed to homicide, then and only then might any suspect be named.

bolded by me.

That was really my original thought, and it didn't seem like a problem or that anything illicit was going on between them. Thanks, redheadedgal!

 

[Chewy]

Just looking at David Davern's comments. He also says it was rainy.

Wood and Davern left the Splendour that evening and spent the night together in a hotel room on Catalina island. "Near 10:30 p.m., Friday Robert Wagner said he wanted to move the 60 ft. yacht 12 miles away to the quiet more desolate part of the Island at the Isthmus (Two Harbors). Natalie Wood argued that it was not safe in the rainy, dark night to make the move. Robert Wagner, appearing drunk, insisted on the move and started to prepare for it. Natalie Wood demanded to leave the boat, so I left with her and we spent Friday night at the Pavillion Lodge in the same hotel room. She expressed anger over her husband's behavior, and said she was going to leave the Island come Saturday morning," Davern alleges.

So it was rainy. It was rainy according to both DD and CW. Yet DD says that RW and NW came up on the deck in the rain in her nightgown fighting. Umhmm.

So once again since it has been repeatedly ignored.

CW and the other boat DO NOT REPORT HEARING A FIGHT BETWEEN RW and NW on the deck of the boat. Only DD does.