Wagner, in drunken fit of jealous rage smashed a wine bottle into the table in the main salon of Splendour. Startled and upset by his behavior, Natalie stormed out and headed for their stateroom, Walken headed for his.

Wagner, now realizing that his bride was more than a little troubled by his outburst decides to follow and even possibly console her. She will have no part of this and makes her disdain of his behavior known. Wagner, sees for himself that Natalie is fed up with his temper tantrums and outbursts and issues him the promise of divorce and with it, the undeniable reality that such a scandal will certainly derail his carefully, albeit fragile image in the minds of a slowly growing fan base. He takes this threat as a serious upending to his limited success and begins his attempt to dissuade her from making any disparaging comments that could in all reality, show him in the truest light of who he is. He sees this as a monumental and insurmountable obstacle and losing his temper even more, begins to manhandle her and forcing his greater strength and presence on her, hitting her so hard in the face that it left an abrasion and knocked off one of her earrings which was later found in their stateroom. He easily overpowers her diminutive stature and renders her overwhelmed, beaten and out of breath. It is this physicality that produces the many bruises and abrasions that will be found on Natalie's body after she is found dead almost 7 hours after she is known to be missing from Splendour.

Then he sees to it that she makes it into the cold, dark water that she was horrified of her entire life and set her adrift to drown. Then, to further ensure that she won't be found until it's too late, he prevents Dennis Davern from turning on the searchlight to look for her after he announced to him that "she's gone, just gone". This, combined with not calling for any kind of help for a couple hours also ensured that Natalie Wood will not be found alive. Add to that the fact that Wagner did nothing for those crucial first minutes and hours except to pour liquor down himself and Davern would prove to be the final nail in Natalie Wood's coffin. Even after initiating contact with some restaurant employees on the island 2 hours after he announced her missing it took an additional 2 hours to finally, after much coaxing, contact the Coast Guard.

Her body was found by the Coast Guard just after sunrise the next morning. She was dead. Wagner got away with murder.
He's the guy. That's what happened.

I believe Natalie didn't get into the water alone as there's no reasonable explanation for it, but I think if she was hit in the face it would've been easy to detect by coroner. Noguchi didn't perform the autopsy, a punch in the face couldn't be hidden. An abrasion isn't a punch type injury. Dr. Taylor's theory about the abrasion in Goodbye Natalie is more plausible and makes more sense. What could've been a book filled with huge theories and lies galore, sticks to what is known and probable.

You would think Natalie would be screaming her head off if she knew she was going to be put into the water, so it's possible she wasn't conscious at that moment, but going into the water could also cause silencing fear. Maybe she saw it coming and was so frightened she couldn't scream and the water shocked her into silence before she caught her breath and called for help.

It wasn't because she had help getting into the water that she is dead, it's because she had no help getting out of the water.

I think if she was hit in the face it wouldve been easy to detect by coroner

Noguchi did detect it, it's on his autopsy chart, he just didn't know how it got there. Now he does.
Wagner's the guy. That's what happended.

Oh man you got it wrong. Dont you know he thought Natalie in her nightgown and socks jumped into the dinghy and went to party on another boat?
Logical right?
This is Natalie Wood. One of the most glamous stars the world ever knew who was petrified of dark water but she said what the hell, lets go for a nightcap!So she threw a coat over her nightgown and off she went!
People actually believe this crap. Everybody is a liar except RJ.

"It wasn't because she had help getting into the water that she is dead, it's because she had no help getting out of the water."

That is the truly horrifying part - she drifted for hours - no one came to her aid.
How does that man sleep at night....?! In his biography, he has the gall to say he wasn't even there!

"Did I blame myself? If I'd been there, I could have done something. I wasn't, but ultimately, a man is responsible for his loved one. Yes, I blamed myself."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1145430/I-blamed-Natalie-Woods-death-Robert-Wagner-night-wife-disappeared.html


"If I'd been there - ?" WTH? He is insinuating that he wasn't "there" when she lost her life.
He WAS there; he just chose not to assist his wife.

And here's the other thing everyone needs to remember: Just because GNGS does not come right out and say the words...the fact remains and is glaringly obvious that Wagner killed Natalie Wood. It was no happy co-incidence for Wagner that she wound up in the water, he put her there after roughing her up. She wasn't going boat hopping, she didn't have a clue as to how to operate the dinghy and she was dressed for bed. Who gets dressed for bed and then decides to go boat hopping in the middle of a cold drizzly night?

Wagner beat her, slipped her bruised and battered little body in the water and left her for dead. That's what happened. He's the guy.

Monk, he roughed her up is more apt. You sound intense and it is refreshing, but don't distort the good book Goodbye Natalie. You're right, what's implied in it is obvious but an abrasion is not a punch. If her facial abrasion was a punch that would've been hard to hide. Did you read the part about Dr. Taylor's theory? It's logical because it's how abrasions are formed, rubbing on rough surface. It's rare an abrasion comes from a punch, and the beauty of Dr. Taylor's scenario is that the ankle bruises are explained. Was she pulled by the ankles? That's what those snkle bruises appear to prove. Keep your head, man (assuming you're a guy) because you're spot on, but we want this taken seriously. Granted, what could be more serious than a bruised up dead body floating in PJ's who happens to be one of the greatest starlets that ever lived? but let's stay sensible. When you go off half-cocked, nothing gets accomplished and we're all working for the same goal. Since we can't form a rally (or could we?) we must remain sensible and try to get the job done right. Truth sometimes takes time but time never takes truth. Nothing takes the truth away. It's not Rulli and Davern's fault this took so long. No one bid them any respect until now. Let's keep that going.

abrasions are formed rubbing on rough surface

One of the rings on Wagners hand is what caused that abrasion.
He's the guy. That's what happened.


The days of sugar-coating this are over. Wagner murdered Natalie Wood. A lot of people want to dance around that fact. I don't. I call 'em as I see 'em.
The man is getting away with murder. Is it necassary to tip-toe around this anymore? Of course not.

I've got a theory too but I won't even bother posting it because it has too many holes. What we need is is for this case to be evaluated by authorities. Sign the petition if you haven't. Get your friends and everyone you know to sign it. It's our way to rally online.

Georgie, you should state your theory. Maybe there is a clue in it. I'm looking forward to the new information promised for the paperback book of Goodbye Natalie. This story is never going away, but I think we get closer and closer to the truth. I saw Chris Walken on TV the other morning (happy-go-lucky Regis). It sickens me that no one presses Walken or Wagner for responses. All of that is where our focus should be. The law should figure out this death.

I remember when it happened. The newscaster basically said (in essence), that Natalie had probably gotten up during the night to secure the dinghy, slipped, and fell into the water, and was not able to get to safety.
When it was reported, there was NOTHING SAID about the fact that there was an argument (probably because Wagner lied), nothing said about no searchlights turned on to look for her (because Wagner wouldn't allow it), nothing said about his waiting HOURS to call the Coast Guard - while his wife drifted helplessly in the ocean.
It was insinuated that the incident had already been looked into, and found to be a terrible accident.

None of the things we are finding out now were brought up or publicized - which means there needs to be an investigation ASAP. Wagner's getting up there in years; I'd like to see him deal with this before he passes on.

As for "Natalie's gone and nothing will change that," that's true. She's dead and she's not coming back, but when a body turns up, there's ALWAYS an investigation; an inquest, SOMETHING. Nothing was done here, other than talking to Wagner a couple of times and then closing the case.
The fact that she's not coming back doesn't enter into this - NO ONE who has been murdered, or died from another's negligence will come back - but doesn't justice and decency demand an investigation?
Every murder or negligence victim in the USA is accorded an inquest and/or investigation as to the cause of death - doesn't Natalie Wood deserve the same thing every other deceased person gets?

She got no help after she entered the water, and she got no justice from the courts after she died.

Why not?

She DESERVES justice, she deserves the decency of her tragic passing investigated - even if it is all these years later.

Well said, everyone here.

You know, you can always find a polygrapher to give you the results you seek. Polygraphs are notoriously unreliable, which is why they aren't admissible as evidence in court unless both parties agree to it ahead of time. John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of murdered JonBenet Ramsey passed several polygraphs, too, and the Boulder PD still think them guilty. A polygraph means nothing.

If RJ would have wanted Natalie to die of hypothermia, he wouldn't have called for any help at all. He would have just fallen asleep in the lounge.

No, you agree with others who say RJ pushed Natalie into the water and left her there. I think she probably fell or took the dinghy out to "teach RJ a lesson" and drowned because she was too drunk to realize what she was doing. I don't think RJ was a saint. I don't think Walken was a saint. I certainly don't think Davern was a saint, and I think he fabricated this book. He and Rulli probably thought it was going to bring them "fame and fortune" and it did neither. Not enough people care at this late date.

I don't have the book NATALIE any longer, but there are places in it in which Lana Wood talks about Natalie throwing her Baccarat crystal across the room every time she got upset and not even letting RJ go to the bathroom on his own. Lana says Natalie would stand outside the bathroom door tapping her foot until RJ came out. Natalie was planning her own father's funeral before he was even dead. There are other things. I'm sorry I can't cite the page numbers for you, but when I moved from France, I left that book behind.

If RJ was a ruthless, cold blooded murderer who had planned Natalie's murder, then I'd say, sure, he needs to be reinvestigated, but I think this was just a case where everyone had WAY too much to drink, Natalie, too. Ultimately, she bears the blame for her own demise. I say let her rest in peace and let RJ and Jill and the girls live in peace.

It's really kind of revolting to me that Davern and Rulli would attempt to "cash in" on Natalie's death like they have and I don't think I'd even have liked Natalie. But no one should be cold-bloodedly murdered. I don't think Natalie was.

LilyandGish also says:
So Davern can be bought and his price isn't very high, either. That doesn't make him any more credible in my eyes. In fact, it makes him LESS credible. He's "for sale" to the highest bidder? RJ "bought" Davern's silence with small time acting roles? With friends like Davern, Natalie Wood needed no enemies. As for RJ Wagner and his "Sinatra type" underworld reach, that's still available to RJ, if it ever existed. He's still living and still healthy.

I don't think RJ felt any loss of self-esteem. He was starring in his fourth hit series, while Natalie could only get B movie roles and those not very often. Yes, it's true, Natalie Wood valued "movie stars" over television stars. She was enamored of Walken, though he didn't return the affection.

For a true picture of how bitter and hateful Natalie Wood could be, you people need to read NATALIE, written by Natalie's own sister, Lana Wood. Natalie's two daughters have seemed very happy with RJ and Jill St. John.

I believe Wood, Wagner, Walken, and Davern all had too much to drink that night. I believe Natalie probably fell into the water. I think it was probably an accident or something Natalie did to "teach RJ a lesson," and it backfired. If Wagner would have "put her" there, he wouldn't have called the Coast Guard as quickly as he did. Case closed for me.

I read it, and I read Wagner's, and I don't believe Davern. Apparently, neither did the police. Yes, I think RJ would have taken a polygraph back in 1981, when Natalie died. I think he might take one now, but I don't think anyone's going to ask Davern or RJ Wagner to take one. The case is closed. Wood's death is officially accidental.

It was the coroner who said she'd had seven or eight glasses of wine. It was RJ Wagner who said they all had more to drink when they were on the Splendour. RJ doesn't deny he and Walken got into an argument.

You know, if the police wanted to question Davern in 1981, there would have been nothing at all Wagner could have done to keep them from it. I just don't believe Davern was under that much surveillance from Wagner. It makes a better book to say he was, but I don't believe it for one second. Even if he had been, he certainly wasn't doing it all these years, yet Davern didn't "come forward" until a book deal was in the works.

What's to blame in this case is alcohol. To make it anything more is a travesty, in my opinion. It was tragic that Natalie died, and yes, she was a lovely looking woman, but it was an accident and for Davern and Rulli to try to "cash in" on her death, with zero proof, tarnishes her memory.

You know, in the final analysis, RJ Wagner, if responsible, will have to answer to his maker some day. Davern, if lying now, will have to answer to his maker some day, too. Rulli as well. None of us really knows what happened. None of us were there. I don't know for sure, you don't know for sure, I doubt even Davern knows for sure what went on between Wagner and Wood. It's all speculation on your part, my part, Rulli's part. She wasn't there, either. The police investigated and deemed Wood's death an accident. Nothing said or written now will change that. I doubt a videotape of someone killing Wood would change it.

If I were RJ and innocent, my only response to this book would be "No comment" as well, especially to a tabloid show like "Inside Edition."

Davern and his girlfriend really don't have much credibility. Anyone who waits nearly thirty YEARS to come forward has little-to-no credibility. And Davern's girlfriend wasn't on board the Splendour.

RJ Wagner has not been proven a liar to me, and I don't necessarily believe everything he says. However, I don't believe he played any part in Natalie Wood's death.

And no, an innocent man of eighty wouldn't necessarily file a lawsuit against a man who had nothing to take. Not when the eighty-year-old is enjoying what he terms are the "most serene" years of his life. I think he'd do what he's doing - just ignore it and get on with his life. I know I would if I were eighty-years-old. Twenty or thirty, maybe not, but eighty, definitely yes, I'd ignore it.

I think it's despicable what Davern and Rulli are doing - trying to make money at the expense of someone else's life and reputation.

It's too bad Natalie Wood died when she was so young. But right now, I wish RJ Wagner and his wife, Jill St. John and RJ's daughters all the best in life. I think they all deserve it.

Probably, yes, the marriage was troubled. In her book, NATALIE, Lana Wood says it was, and she ascribes blame to both Natalie and RJ. I don't think he seems nervous at all, though. There's no evidence that he deliberately brought about the death of Natalie Wood. Yes, he probably had too much to drink, but so did Davern, so did Walken, so did Natalie.

Natalie, however, wasn't the person who made RJ popular. RJ made RJ popular. At the time of her death, Natalie's career was in a downward spiral, while RJ was starring in his fourth hit TV series. If anything, he's the one who made people notice Natalie - at that time, at least.

I don't own a boat, but I've been out on lots of them and rubber dinghys DO make noise when they bang against the side of the yacht. And I DO own several down-filled jackets and vests. They aren't buoyant in the least. When they become water-logged, they are extremely heavy and would definitely pull a person under water. Rulli's "experiment" was silly and didn't begin to approximate the conditions of the night Natalie died. If Natalie had been arguing with RJ in the lounge and they moved out to the deck, she wouldn't have been wearing the down-filled jacket. She was obviously dressed to go outdoors. I doubt that she was planning on going ashore, too, but I do believe she wanted to secure the dinghy and that's why she donned the down-filled jacket.

And noone has any idea what RJ Wagner would do or wouldn't do. None of you are him and you aren't privy to his thoughts. None of us here are. But it's easy to see what the culprit was in this case - alcohol.

Brainstorm" was a B movie and the first Natalie had done in years. It was really Walken's name and star power that carried the whole thing, and it was going to be the same with "Anastasia." Natalie was always a "B" actress. Very pretty, but not on the A-list. RJ, on the other hand, like him or or, was a major star. His series' are still being shown, and his name is more recognizable than Natalie's ever was.

Well, if you want to believe a drug addict and an alcoholic, who waited nearly thirty YEARS to come forward, and then ONLY for money, you have a major problem, in my opinion. But it's not my problem, so I'm not going to comment any more on it except to say that Davern and Rulli have absolutely NO credibility with me. Zero.

It's all moot anyway, as the investigation is closed, and the cause of death is accidental, caused by too much alcohol.

Hey SCOTTIE BEAR I am the only SCOTT around her aSCOTTfor allseasopns and dont forget it!
You are a total idiot. Are you taking lessons from Pucci and Jerko and that retarted bunch of idiots?
Natalie Wood was an A LIST actress with three Oscar noms under her belt. She is considered the Princess of Hollywood! RJ grabbed on to her skirt hem and that is his biggest claim to fame.
B actresses dont get Oscar nom and appear in A list productions. You are a total jerk like the rest of your team and you are just trying to rile people up.
It wont work so go back to your bunch of RJ azz kissers and scrape the crap off your tongue!
I AM THE REAL SCOTT!

He had other plans he grabbed me by my right arm and yanked me out of the bed flinging me into the wall. I tried to stand and he punched me hard in the stomach, I let out a scream and he socked me in the forehead. I fell down hard and he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me face forward across the carpet I could only manage moans by then until I felt the cold night air against my exposed skin where my nightgown had ridden up around my waist.
He had opened the back door of our cabin which led out onto the swim step. I screamed loudly then and tried to crawl past him towards the cabin, he reached down and grabbed both my ankles roughly and raised me up and in one move dropped me head first into the cold water. For a minute I struggled blindly and then came up to the surface gasping for air.
I grabbed the swim step with both hands and looked up at him stunned. He was crouching on the step looking down at me with his face twisted in rage.
I want you off my ****ing boat you ****ing bitch, you are gone Natalie, all gone. I gripped harder and screamed for Chris and Dennis both. He didnt like that and with an intent expression stood up and raised his foot over my hands.
Let go of my ****ing boat bitch or I will break your ****ing fingers right now. Scared I did and turned and lunged for the dinghy. It was hard to scramble over the side but in my wet nightgown but I made it. I laid there on the bottom of it for a minute panting and wheezing.
Before I had a chance to do more I felt something soft thump down over me, I looked up. A foot away my husband was standing on the swim step sweating and enraged. I sat up and reached for whatever it was he had tossed me, it was my red down coat. I looked at him confused he smiled.
Put it on darling, I dont want you to be cold for your trip to shore. Freezing by now I did what he said and then watched paralyzed with fear as he knelt again and untied both dinghy lines. I asked him what he was doing, did he expect me to take the dinghy to shore and do what when I got there?
I demanded he stop this **** and step aside and let me back on my boat. He did not answer until he was done untying the ropes, then he did the strangest thing, he pulled the dinghy right up to the swim step so that it was parallel to it. All I had to do was roll forward and I would be back onboard but I didnt do that because I was afraid that he was setting me up for just such a move so he could kick me off the step and back into the water. I looked at him in silence, he leaned forward.
You look like a drowned rat Nat darling, have a good swim. Before I knew what he was doing he yanked up the side hard and I slid across the dinghy and flipped out into the water. This time when I came up I was too wary to go near him again and finding my down coat surprisingly buoyant I paddled slowly around to the front of the boat to scream for Dennis.
I heard my husbands running footsteps and then a few muffled words followed by a louder yell of, turn on the ****ing music. I spent what seemed to me a long time calling from the water and then suddenly there he was leaning over the railing with a smile.
Hang onto your hat, Ill get you, Ill come right now as soon as you say the magic words. I was beyond angry by then, far too angry to be as afraid as I should have been. I wouldnt say the magic words. I knew Dennis would rescue me and if not him than anyone from the dozens of nearby boats. As soon as Dennis told Chris then people would get called and I would be brought out of the water and from that moment on my husband was going to learn the meaning of revenge movie star style.
I should have been afraid, I should have said and promised whatever he wanted to hear, maybe I could have changed his course, maybewondering if that could be true is I think one of the things that has kept me here trapped all these years, but sometimes I understand so clearly that none of it was spontaneous at all and that I could have never been saved.
There was a strong wind that night and it created a current which caught me and began dragging me from the area near the boats. I struggled lost and gave up when I saw that I was not being cast further out into the ocean but towards shore, then like a miracle I saw the dinghy floating ahead of me just a few yards away I swam towards it which was not easy in my coat. But I was closing in on it when I felt and then heard and then saw that I was not after all completely alone in the ocean that night.
I cannot say to this day with certainty that it was a shark maybe it was a helpful dolphin, I did not believe it was a dolphin. I knew enough about sharks to know that movement alerted them to the presence of prey in the water, Jaws had come out a couple years before and I made the mistake of going to see it. Every scene from that movie played out in my head then. I hung motionless in the water and watched silently the first tears of real terror sliding down my face as the dinghy moved further away. I felt something brush against my hanging legs then and who knows maybe it was only the current but after a few minutes slowly, so slowly trying not to make a ripple I managed to draw my legs up towards my chest.
As the water had drenched my coat it had also expanded it and I found that I could keep my legs curled up inside it and that even created minimal warmth as well. With my body pulled close like that I felt vulnerable of course but less so than with exposed limbs. I was now floating in a ball not really drifting much either towards or away from the shore. I was afraid but not yet hopeless, that came later.
Hours in I still could not manage the courage to free my legs and try to swim for shore, I felt the murderous malice of my husband somewhere behind me on the boat and I felt the mindless malice of the shark lying in wait between me and the shore.
Despite my coat I was becoming colder and while at first my enemy, the cold became my friend. It lessened the immediacy of my aching desperation to reach the distant lights of Isthmus Cove which spelled safety. The cold distanced me from the thought of my little girls and my terrible fear and rage at the knowledge that after all, despite all the odds against it I was indeed going to be left out here in the dark water un-rescued.
To eventually die of either cold or the increasingly seductive lure of lowering my head into the waiting water. I looked up for guidance and hope one last time that endless night, hoping to see the stars, but the sky was black and blank. I looked down at the water inches from my face and saw that I cast no reflection I wondered if I was already dead and didnt know it. I murmured a prayer for help and laid my face against the water.
Death came in minutes then but not as people think of death at least not for me. I awoke from what passes for sleep amongst my kind, its really more of a time slip I suppose, but to me it felt as though I awoke from what had been a long disorienting dream. I was still here, it was still night and I was still in the water. It was only the slow realization that I was no longer cold and no longer felt any fear of sharks or of my husband that made me realize the dream I had woken from was my life.
Nearly thirty years have passed and here I remain, forever waiting, forever drowning. And yet having now remembered my story all of it and told the truth to the best of my ability I think maybe if I looked up again I might see a million stars above me and be able to see even further and higher beyond them to the place where all of us stars first came from.
























He had other plans he grabbed me by my right arm and yanked me out of the bed flinging me into the wall. I tried to stand and he punched me hard in the stomach, I let out a scream and he socked me in the forehead. I fell down hard and he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me face forward across the carpet I could only manage moans by then until I felt the cold night air against my exposed skin where my nightgown had ridden up around my waist.
He had opened the back door of our cabin which led out onto the swim step. I screamed loudly then and tried to crawl past him towards the cabin, he reached down and grabbed both my ankles roughly and raised me up and in one move dropped me head first into the cold water. For a minute I struggled blindly and then came up to the surface gasping for air.
I grabbed the swim step with both hands and looked up at him stunned. He was crouching on the step looking down at me with his face twisted in rage.
I want you off my ****ing boat you ****ing bitch, you are gone Natalie, all gone. I gripped harder and screamed for Chris and Dennis both. He didnt like that and with an intent expression stood up and raised his foot over my hands.
Let go of my ****ing boat bitch or I will break your ****ing fingers right now. Scared I did and turned and lunged for the dinghy. It was hard to scramble over the side but in my wet nightgown but I made it. I laid there on the bottom of it for a minute panting and wheezing.
Before I had a chance to do more I felt something soft thump down over me, I looked up. A foot away my husband was standing on the swim step sweating and enraged. I sat up and reached for whatever it was he had tossed me, it was my red down coat. I looked at him confused he smiled.
Put it on darling, I dont want you to be cold for your trip to shore. Freezing by now I did what he said and then watched paralyzed with fear as he knelt again and untied both dinghy lines. I asked him what he was doing, did he expect me to take the dinghy to shore and do what when I got there?
I demanded he stop this **** and step aside and let me back on my boat. He did not answer until he was done untying the ropes, then he did the strangest thing, he pulled the dinghy right up to the swim step so that it was parallel to it. All I had to do was roll forward and I would be back onboard but I didnt do that because I was afraid that he was setting me up for just such a move so he could kick me off the step and back into the water. I looked at him in silence, he leaned forward.
You look like a drowned rat Nat darling, have a good swim. Before I knew what he was doing he yanked up the side hard and I slid across the dinghy and flipped out into the water. This time when I came up I was too wary to go near him again and finding my down coat surprisingly buoyant I paddled slowly around to the front of the boat to scream for Dennis.
I heard my husbands running footsteps and then a few muffled words followed by a louder yell of, turn on the ****ing music. I spent what seemed to me a long time calling from the water and then suddenly there he was leaning over the railing with a smile.
Hang onto your hat, Ill get you, Ill come right now as soon as you say the magic words. I was beyond angry by then, far too angry to be as afraid as I should have been. I wouldnt say the magic words. I knew Dennis would rescue me and if not him than anyone from the dozens of nearby boats. As soon as Dennis told Chris then people would get called and I would be brought out of the water and from that moment on my husband was going to learn the meaning of revenge movie star style.
I should have been afraid, I should have said and promised whatever he wanted to hear, maybe I could have changed his course, maybewondering if that could be true is I think one of the things that has kept me here trapped all these years, but sometimes I understand so clearly that none of it was spontaneous at all and that I could have never been saved.
There was a strong wind that night and it created a current which caught me and began dragging me from the area near the boats. I struggled lost and gave up when I saw that I was not being cast further out into the ocean but towards shore, then like a miracle I saw the dinghy floating ahead of me just a few yards away I swam towards it which was not easy in my coat. But I was closing in on it when I felt and then heard and then saw that I was not after all completely alone in the ocean that night.
I cannot say to this day with certainty that it was a shark maybe it was a helpful dolphin, I did not believe it was a dolphin. I knew enough about sharks to know that movement alerted them to the presence of prey in the water, Jaws had come out a couple years before and I made the mistake of going to see it. Every scene from that movie played out in my head then. I hung motionless in the water and watched silently the first tears of real terror sliding down my face as the dinghy moved further away. I felt something brush against my hanging legs then and who knows maybe it was only the current but after a few minutes slowly, so slowly trying not to make a ripple I managed to draw my legs up towards my chest.
As the water had drenched my coat it had also expanded it and I found that I could keep my legs curled up inside it and that even created minimal warmth as well. With my body pulled close like that I felt vulnerable of course but less so than with exposed limbs. I was now floating in a ball not really drifting much either towards or away from the shore. I was afraid but not yet hopeless, that came later.
Hours in I still could not manage the courage to free my legs and try to swim for shore, I felt the murderous malice of my husband somewhere behind me on the boat and I felt the mindless malice of the shark lying in wait between me and the shore.
Despite my coat I was becoming colder and while at first my enemy, the cold became my friend. It lessened the immediacy of my aching desperation to reach the distant lights of Isthmus Cove which spelled safety. The cold distanced me from the thought of my little girls and my terrible fear and rage at the knowledge that after all, despite all the odds against it I was indeed going to be left out here in the dark water un-rescued.
To eventually die of either cold or the increasingly seductive lure of lowering my head into the waiting water. I looked up for guidance and hope one last time that endless night, hoping to see the stars, but the sky was black and blank. I looked down at the water inches from my face and saw that I cast no reflection I wondered if I was already dead and didnt know it. I murmured a prayer for help and laid my face against the water.
Death came in minutes then but not as people think of death at least not for me. I awoke from what passes for sleep amongst my kind, its really more of a time slip I suppose, but to me it felt as though I awoke from what had been a long disorienting dream. I was still here, it was still night and I was still in the water. It was only the slow realization that I was no longer cold and no longer felt any fear of sharks or of my husband that made me realize the dream I had woken from was my life.
Nearly thirty years have passed and here I remain, forever waiting, forever drowning. And yet having now remembered my story all of it and told the truth to the best of my ability I think maybe if I looked up again I might see a million stars above me and be able to see even further and higher beyond them to the place where all of us stars first came from.













































We didnt have locks on any of the cabin doors on our boat, it isnt safe to do that with small children and even if there had been a lock on my door he would have broken it. I knew when I heard him come in that drunk or sober this was going to be one of those nights when he would demand reassurance, I decided to play possum and ignore him.

He had other plans he grabbed me by my right arm and yanked me out of the bed flinging me into the wall. I tried to stand and he punched me hard in the stomach, I let out a scream and he socked me in the forehead. I fell down hard and he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me face forward across the carpet I could only manage moans by then until I felt the cold night air against my exposed skin where my nightgown had ridden up around my waist.

He had opened the back door of our cabin which led out onto the swim step. I screamed loudly then and tried to crawl past him towards the cabin, he reached down and grabbed both my ankles roughly and raised me up and in one move dropped me head first into the cold water. For a minute I struggled blindly and then came up to the surface gasping for air.

I grabbed the swim step with both hands and looked up at him stunned. He was crouching on the step looking down at me with his face twisted in rage.

I want you off my ****ing boat you ****ing bitch, you are gone Natalie, all gone. I gripped harder and screamed for Chris and Dennis both. He didnt like that and with an intent expression stood up and raised his foot over my hands.
Let go of my ****ing boat bitch or I will break your ****ing fingers right now. Scared I did and turned and lunged for the dinghy. It was hard to scramble over the side but in my wet nightgown but I made it.

I laid there on the bottom of it for a minute panting and wheezing.
Before I had a chance to do more I felt something soft thump down over me, I looked up. A foot away my husband was standing on the swim step sweating and enraged. I sat up and reached for whatever it was he had tossed me, it was my red down coat. I looked at him confused he smiled.

Put it on darling, I dont want you to be cold for your trip to shore. Freezing by now I did what he said and then watched paralyzed with fear as he knelt again and untied both dinghy lines. I asked him what he was doing, did he expect me to take the dinghy to shore and do what when I got there?
I demanded he stop this **** and step aside and let me back on my boat. He did not answer until he was done untying the ropes, then he did the strangest thing, he pulled the dinghy right up to the swim step so that it was parallel to it.

All I had to do was roll forward and I would be back onboard but I didnt do that because I was afraid that he was setting me up for just such a move so he could kick me off the step and back into the water. I looked at him in silence, he leaned forward.

You look like a drowned rat Nat darling, have a good swim. Before I knew what he was doing he yanked up the side hard and I slid across the dinghy and flipped out into the water.

"You know, you can always find a polygrapher to give you the results you seek. Polygraphs are notoriously unreliable, which is why they aren't admissible as evidence in court unless both parties agree to it ahead of time. John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of murdered JonBenet Ramsey passed several polygraphs, too, and the Boulder PD still think them guilty. A polygraph means nothing."

Jon Benet's parents were cleared of any wrongdoing.

BTW, do you think anyone should still try to find out what happened to that little girl - seeing as how "it won't bring her back?"

"If RJ would have wanted Natalie to die of hypothermia, he wouldn't have called for any help at all. He would have just fallen asleep in the lounge."

He DIDN'T call for any help. Not for HOURS.
Of course he could not take a nap at a time like that - even if he wanted her to die - it would look too suspicious.

"No, you agree with others who say RJ pushed Natalie into the water and left her there. I think she probably fell or took the dinghy out to "teach RJ a lesson" and drowned because she was too drunk to realize what she was doing."

Even with that scenario, it doesn't clear Wagner of the responsibility to SEND HELP.

"Not enough people care at this late date."

Are you sure about that?

"I don't have the book NATALIE any longer, but there are places in it in which Lana Wood talks about Natalie throwing her Baccarat crystal across the room every time she got upset and not even letting RJ go to the bathroom on his own. Lana says Natalie would stand outside the bathroom door tapping her foot until RJ came out. Natalie was planning her own father's funeral before he was even dead. There are other things. I'm sorry I can't cite the page numbers for you, but when I moved from France, I left that book behind."

All of which, even if true, has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HER DEATH........

"If RJ was a ruthless, cold blooded murderer who had planned Natalie's murder, then I'd say, sure, he needs to be reinvestigated, but I think this was just a case where everyone had WAY too much to drink, Natalie, too."

So because it wasn't premedicated, it's okay? Because Natalie was drunk, she deserved to die?

"Ultimately, she bears the blame for her own demise. "

You can't be serious. Are you suggesting because Wagner was jealous, he had the right to ignore the fact that his wife was missing at sea???

"I say let her rest in peace and let RJ and Jill and the girls live in peace."

Somehow, I doubt Natalie is resting in peace - not after the way she died.
And Robert Wagner has had decades since it happened, although whether he's "living in peace" remains to be seen.
Somehow I doubt it.

"It's really kind of revolting to me that Davern and Rulli would attempt to "cash in" on Natalie's death like they have"

Yes, I'm sure it would be much better if Davern had simply kept his mouth shut - no doubt Wagner feels a similar "revulsion."

"For a true picture of how bitter and hateful Natalie Wood could be, you people need to read NATALIE, written by Natalie's own sister, Lana Wood. "

Have you ever heard the saying, "Have some respect for the dead?"
What does her personality have to do with the way she died - even if she was a "bitter, hateful" person, are you
suggesting that gave Wagner the right to kill her, or prevent her rescue?

"If Wagner would have "put her" there, he wouldn't have called the Coast Guard as quickly as he did. "

Quickly? I don't call HOURS later a "quick" call. She went missing about 11 pm and was found 8 hours later.

Nobody writing any of the "garbage" here suggesting Natalie "deserved" to die, and twisitng Rulli and Davern's motives are not "new visitors" --- we're just back to the same old same old. I wouldn't doubt Sunnflower has a new handle and I might not put it past ANY other RJ fan. We who believe the FACTS are always invaded by these fanatical fans.

Everything in Goodbye Natalie is based on facts and an eyewitness account. Polygraphs ARE reliable when you have nothing to hide.

Anonforever, I may use your scenario on my blog, if you don't mind.

There was nothing in any book about Natalie not letting RJ go to the bathroom. What happened was Natalie went to the bathroom and RJ sent someone to check on her because she was gone too long. What a pity he did not worry as much when she was missing from a boat in the middle of the night. Lana never said that Natalie threw glasses when she got upset. All of this is invented by the poster to degrade a dead woman and to make Wagner look good. It's obvious. It's exaggerated and it's repulsive.

That is just the usual moron who has posted all this crap before under ITS other screen name. Same thing with the B movie star deal. They are getting no where so once again they are making crap up!
Sick puppies! Hey anyone trolling from their job? Somebody tried to hack into my account last week and today and I have the names of the company and where they are located plus the ip tracking.
Norton is a good thing. Just a heads up for the moron if they are on here.
I AM THE ONLY SCOTT ON HERE!

This person does not know what a B movie actor or actress is. Natalie had her name above the title, co-star approval, director approval, camera man approval. By the time she and RJ reunited she was a very wealthy women. He, on the other hand, needed a bailout and she gave him what he needed. RJ never had that level of stardom so I guess that would make him a B actor. She retired to raise her family, to be there for her kids. When she was ready to go back to work, her name was still above the title. That's true stardom. Why do people need to take shots at her to build him up?

Dont worry about it. It is exactly what the jack azz wants you to do. A few months ago the moderator on the RJ LIST admitted NAtalie was a bigger star. If I remember right she said something like Natalie was a movie star. RJ is more a tv actor. Hell even they admit it.
The idiot that posted that crap does that all the time. Just laugh it off with a big old lolololololololololololololololololololol. That is all they understand!

Lola, the RJ love-lapping morons are back with different names, that's all. Every decent person knows that Natalie's fame smears his. He was nobody, lousy actor before latching onto her name, had some fame that quickly faded when she smartened up and left him, then he looked good again when he remarried her and came into fame with a hit TV show but it was short-lived. His popularity died with Natalie because nine out of ten knows what he really did.

Anon, it's a good scenario but some of the facts are embellished or stretched. The best thing to do is to stick to facts with this story. There was no wind that night, and the water was smooth (weather reports confirm this as well as true witnesses). That's not to say that currents weren't strong. The music was already on, and well, there's a lot in your scenario that doesn't make sense.

What makes Goodbye Natalie so sensible is that it all is not only plausible, but probable. Your scene doesn't sound probable.

I also think that many people miss a gigantic point: Davern and Rulli didn't wait 30 years. They have been trying to get the truth to us for decades. Because Davern is a regular person in a regular life, and Wagner is a celebrity, it caused a problem. Davern doesn't stike me as the kind of person seeking fame and neither does Rulli. Rulli writes about every mistake made along the way of working with Davern, and I can't see how people miss this.

I was just watching TV and ET just had a polygrapher test the guy Larry King's wife was sleeping with. The guy passed. I looked up the polygrapher they used and compared him to Davern's polygrapher. Davern had the better one! You people who want to create fiction and use the scenarios in your minds like the original poster here and you, Anon, are doing this case no service. There's plenty of the actual truth in Goodbye Natalie sans the drama. Let those details do the job. I really believe we haven't heard the last of this case.

You're confusing an experts interpretation of facts with, as you put it, a fictional scenario. Have you never seen my show? I'm NEVER wrong. Ever.
Wagner's the guy.
That's what happened.

Hi Daisy and A, I know its fiction believe me, and just like a lot of fiction its a what if scenario, this was my view on their marriage, on their last night and is also a nod to those (some very well informed) who think that at one point she might have been with the dinghy at least by rope. Its all speculation, sadly most everything in the way someone is killed is speculation unless the killer talks and that never happens.

This is just one more persons viewpoint on how it may have gone down. All of us crazy writer types project all the time, though damned if I have idea one on how the HELL Scott Peterson killed Lacey and didnt spill a drop of DNA, one day I'll write him and ask and like all the other killers I've written he'll probably send me an autographed photo and a form letter requesting money in return lol.

The only claim to fame that drunken bum will ever have is a foot note in Hollywood history as Natalie Woods husband and unless the case is reopened it will also say did he or didnt he?

Hey Scott for all seasons, I got the book, but have started reading it yet. I look at it and I just know it's going to spook me. As far as theories? I think I've washed all of the Life is Wonderful and real people just don't kill their own wifes or allow them to die. Either way, if anything, he's guilty of Negligent Homicide at the very least. No doubt he will pay the price for that either here or in the hereafter! .....and yes that would be a fitting epitaph. I'm some young graffiti artist will make sure he gets a proper epitaph after dies no matter what any court finds!


btw..... I'll write a review on Amazon when I finish the book and then I'm going to donate it to my local library for others to read!

Near fail asleep as I was writing it; so here it's corrected for easier reading.
Hey Scottforallseasons, I got the book now, but haven't started reading it yet. I look at it the book and my stomach starts churning. I just know it's going to spook me. As far as theories? I think I've washed all of the "Life is Wonderful" and real people just don't kill their own wifes or allow them to die, scenarios and visions of fairy tales out of me now.

So if anything, I now believe he's at least guilty of Negligent Homicide. No doubt he will pay the price for that either here or in the hereafter once he drops dead! .....and yes that would be a fitting epitaph for him. Some young graffiti artist will make sure he gets it spray painted or permanent marker on his grave stone no doubt, once he's in the ground. Even if he never gets to go to court!!!


btw..... I'll write a review on Amazon when I finish the book and then I'm going to donate it to my local library for others to read!

Mustang, let us know what you think after you read the book. Good to see you being logical, because this book is no muse: it's not a guessing game presentation either -- it locks this truth into motion for all time.