ROBERT WAGNER ACTOR NAMED ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’ IN NATALIE DEATH
ACTOR Robert Wagner has been named as “a person of interest” over the death of his wife Natalie Wood, it was revealed yesterday.
Police want to speak to the 87-year-old star about the night in 1981 when the Oscar-winning actress drowned after disappearing from the couple’s yacht.
Detectives believe they are close to solving Natalie’s death which has remained one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries.
Lieutenant John Corina, of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said: “As we have investigated the case over the past six years, I think he’s more of a person of interest now.
“We know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared. I think he has constantly changed his story a little bit and his version of events just don’t add up.”
Floating
Lieutenant Corina’s comments emerged in a documentary which will be screened on US network CBS tomorrow.
It comes nearly seven years after police re-opened the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie, 43.
In 2013, mother-of-two Natalie’s actress sister Lana revealed claims made by the boat’s captain that Mr Wagner – who is now married to actress Jill St John, 77 – pushed his wife overboard by accident and refused to help her once she was in the water.
Natalie was found dead in the sea off Santa Catalina island in California after a night of drinking with Mr Wagner and actor Christopher Walken, now 74, whom she was filming with at the time. Mr Walken is reported to have spoken recently to police.
After a boozy dinner the group were seen returning to the yacht Splendour at about 10pm.
Natalie and Mr Wagner are alleged to have had a blazing row.
Hart to Hart TV star Mr Wagner alerted authorities at 1.30am and a search was launched for his wife. She was found floating face-down in her nightgown next morning.
An initial investigation found that Natalie, who had taken sedatives, had accidentally fallen overboard and drowned.
The case was closed after two weeks. Despite bruising on her face, the initial coroner’s report decided death was accidental and the marks probably occurred in the water.
But Ralph Hernandez, of LA Sheriff’s Department, told the 48 Hours TV show: “She looked like a victim of an assault.”