Bombshell replace in Natalie Wood drowning thriller as witnesses reveal who ‘killed her’
Natalie Wood screamed for her life while hurling accusations at her A-list actor husband, one of the last people to see the ‘West Side Story’ star alive has claimed.
The fresh account of one of Hollywood’s most shocking and scandalous deaths – along with one from a dying 80-year-old woman – was given to author Martin Rulli, who relayed them to RadarOnline.com.
Wood and Wagner were a nearly unparalleled Hollywood power couple when the ‘Splendor in the Grass’ actress shockingly drowned to death on Thanksgiving weekend 1981.
Now, the stunning confessions from two new witnesses have painted Wood’s ‘Hart to Hart’ TV star husband Robert Wagner as her alleged killer, after the case was reopened.
Rulli told Radar she believes the new accounts could warrant a fresh grand jury investigation.
She described one of the witnesses as a California man who was just 17 at the time of Wood’s drowning death, which, after 43 years, remains mired in mystery.
The man, Rulli said, had been a worker on a fishing boat moored near the yacht where the West Side Story was last seen, owned by her husband, Wagner.
Contacting Rulli last year, he recalled hearing Wood’s screams – as well as an argument.
‘It still bothers him and he wanted to tell me what he knew,’ Rulli told radar of the then-young witness.
‘He heard an argument, and he told me he heard Natalie’s screams that made him feel uncomfortable. But he didn’t report it to police because he thought it was an open-and-shut drowning case.’
Both acoounts, Rulli said, coincided with ones given to cops by the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern – one of only four aboard the Splendour that night.
He was joined by Wood, Wagner, and a then 38-year-old Christopher Walken – each part an alleged love triangle said to have sent Wagner off the rails.
The man’s claim supports testimony by Davern, who told police the Thanksgiving weekend cruise turned violent when Wagner accused Wood, 43, of having an affair with her ‘Brainstorm’ co-star Christopher Walken, who was also on the yacht.
Davern has claimed a raging Wagner, then 51, allegedly smashed a bottle of wine on a table and began brawling with Wood just before she vanished.
At one point Davern claims he heard Wagner scream: ‘Get off my f***ing boat!’
Wagner, now 94, has repeatedly denounced the claims.
Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner are pictured in 1970. The actress drowned in 1981, and some of the last people to see the actress alive are now airing bombshell claims some say could result in fresh charges being filed in the long cold case
‘The case will remain open as long as Robert Wagner is alive because he is the suspect,’ said Rulli, who is currently compiling evidence against the aging Hart to Hart star after the 1981 case was reopened in 2011.
The next year, Wood’s cause of death was changed from ‘accidental drowning’ to ‘drowning and other undetermined factors’ – decades after cops cut Wagner loose as a suspect.
‘I still hold hope the Los Angeles DA will see fit to let the strong previous evidence, and the new evidence I have gathered, bring justice for Natalie’s murder,’ Rulli explained, keeping the names and details of the witnesses under wrapped.
‘It still bothers him and he wanted to tell me what he knew,’ she said of the then-17-year-old.
‘He heard an argument, and he told me he heard Natalie’s screams that made him feel uncomfortable. But he didn’t report it to police.’
Rulli added how she also contacted by an elderly woman who said she worked with Wood as an up-and-coming actress in the 1960s, but today is close to death.
Her account also indicated abuse from Wagner, who she said put his hands on Wood in their dress room
“She said she saw Wagner come into their dressing room [before the incident,’ Rulli said of the woman’s claims, calling them ‘additional evidence of [the] abuse.’
Wagner, now 94, was named as a person of interest amid a renewed probe into the case in 2018, but was cleared in 2022. Both of the new witness accounts appear to paint him as Wood’s killer
Wood’s drowning death occurred on November 29, 1981, after she vanished from Wagner’s boat The Splendour, seen here the day after the incident
The case was reopened in 2011. The next year, Wood’s cause of death was changed from ‘accidental drowning’ to ‘drowning and other undetermined factors’ – decades after cops cut Wagner loose as a suspect. The pair are seen together on their wedding day in 1957
The two were joined by Christopher Walken on the boat that night. One of the witnesses, a fishing boat worker who had been on a boat moored near the Splendour – recalled hearing Wood’s screams as well as an argument with Wagner
Rulli went on to ask the publication that it keep both witnesses names concealed for now, as she hope it will soon spur a grand jury investigation that will see Wagner – who was recently cleared again after being declared a person of interest in 2018 – indicted.
Davern, meanwhile, has repeatedly claimed the Thanksgiving weekend cruise with the three stars took a turn when Wagner accused his then 43-year-old bride of engaging in an affair with Walken, with whom she had just filmed 1983’s Brainstorm.
Watching them fight it out on the boat, Davern saw Wagner smash a bottle of wine on a table before the spat got physical.
At one point, Davern – who maintains Wagner is Wood’s killer – says he heard Wagner scream: ‘Get off my f**king boat!’
She would go on to vanish later that night, after which Davern said Wagner stopped him from turning on the searchlights or phoning for help for a four full hours.
her body was found the next morning, washed up on the shore of Catalina. her death was subsequently ruled to be an accidental drowning – a decision that’s since been reversed.
RadarOnline further reported how another witness phoned LA cops sometime after Wood’s death, claiming he lived next door to the high-profile couple in the 50s.
‘He remembers Natalie banging on the door in the middle of the night’, Rulli told the publication, as she plans to also compile the new claims in an upcoming book. ‘She was asking for a place to stay for the night because [Wagner] was going to kill her.’
The claims coincided with ones given by the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern – the final person on the boat. He said it was a love triangle said to have sent Wagner off the rails
Now reopened, the cold case could now give way to a grand jury investigation with the man and another unnamed witnesses new allegations against Wagner
The couple spent almost all their weekends on the Splendor often with friends
Wagner, seen here an on-camera interview for the HBO documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind four years ago. has maintained Wood went off in a dinghy on her own accord and never returned. He did not respond when he was named a person of interest in 2018
Wagner, who was cleared by The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in its renewed probe back in 2022, has maintained Wood went off in a dinghy on her own accord and never returned.
Lana Wood, Natalie’s sister, has claimed in the past that he does not want to be interviewed because he says he cannot rely on his memory.
He also did not respond when he was named a person of interest by the LAPD in 2018.
His 95th birthday is in February.
