Investigation Launched in Natalie Wood’s Death

According to the Associated Press,  Los Angeles detectives have reopened the investigation into the death of actress Natalie Wood. She drowned 30 years ago,  but a new investigation is being conducted based on recent comments from a boat captain.

The actress died off Santa Catalina Island on Nov. 29,  Thanksgiving weekend 1981 while boating with her actor husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.

According to published reports,  Wagner said in 2008 that she became angry in a drunken argument with Walken allegedly over his comments that she neglected her family for her profession.

I remember at the time,  it was generally thought that  Wood accidentally fell overboard and drowned.   But my mother was always suspicious.  She felt like perhaps Natalie Wood was having an affair with Christopher Walken  since she had starred in what would be her final flick with Walken.

And Hollywood actresses many times have affairs with their leading men - that maybe Wagner found out and fought with her and somehow she fell overboard in a drunken state.

Now,  decades later the boat captain recently “made comments worthy of exploring”  Wood's death.   Homicide detectives reportedly  plan to “take another look at the case,” according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

A law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times that the department had recently received a letter from an unidentified “third party” who said that the captain had “new recollections” about the case.

There has been speculation about the circumstances surrounding her death for years.

The Times reports :  “Recently sheriff’s homicide investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning,”   LA police released in a statement.

The paper also reported that Wagner has released a statement:

[  "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."]

What do you think? Was Natalie Wood murdered?  If so,  who did it? Her husband,  or Walken?

I smell a book deal for the boat captain.