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| Beaten: Natalie Wood, seen here in 1962, has bruises on her wrists, knees and ankles that were consistent with her being beaten, according to a new report. |
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New coroner's report on death of Hollywood star Natalie Wood reveals she sustained injuries BEFORE going into the water
The Daily Mail
January 14, 2013
Area: Los Angeles
An explosive new coroner's report reveals Hollywood star Natalie Wood sustained bruises to her face and other parts of her body on her yacht before she went overboard and drowned in 1981.
The new development suggests that foul play could have been involved in Woods' death and that she didn't accidentally fall overboard on her 60-foot yacht - as the original police investigation concluded.
The new coroner's examination asserts that bruises found on the actress' face, wrists, knees, and ankles occurred before she went into the water - not, as the 1981 report concluded, as she struggled to climb back aboard the yacht after falling over the side.
Those bruises could have been 'non-accidental,' the medical examiner postulated.
CBS News reports that the document pokes numerous holes in the original autopsy reporting and the ruling that her death was accidental - however it stops short of calling her death a homicide.
The network also claims the Los Angeles County Coroner's new report indicates she was possibly assaulted aboard the yacht.
Wagner's publicist, Alan Nierob, told MailOnline he would not comment on the report.
Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives reopened their investigation in 2011 after the captain of the yacht claimed that Wood's husband, Robert Wagner, was with her right up until she went overboard.
Her death was ruled 'accidental' at the time, but in 2012, the coroner changed the ruling to 'undetermined.' The coroner's office says in the new report that there is not enough evidence at this time to rule on the manner by which Wood died.
However, the report plays special attention to the bruises found on Wood's body.
'The location of the bruises, the multiplicity of the bruises, lack of head trauma, or facial bruising support bruising having occurred prior to entry in the water,' the report states.
'Since there are unanswered questions and limited additional evidence available for evaluation, it is opined by this Medical Examiner that the manner of death should be left as undetermined,' Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran wrote in the report completed in June.
Wagner has told investigators that Wood, who could not swim, must have fallen in the water when she got up to try to retie a dingy that had been knocking against the side of the yacht.
He is not considered a suspect by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.
Wood's body was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.14 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for driving. She was also found to be under the influence of a motion sickness medication and a painkiller, which likely increased her level of intoxication.
Her body was found floating off Catalina Island, near Los Angeles, several hours later.
The captain of the yacht, Dennis Davern, claimed that a fight had broken out between Wagner and actor Christopher Walken, who was also aboard to yacht.
He said that after Wood went to bed, he heard the fight continuing in her cabin, including sounds of a physical struggle.
Mr Davern claims Wagner waited several hours after his wife disappeared to call authorities.
Wood, 43, burst into child stardom in 1947 playing little Susie, the girl who didn't believe in Santa Claus, in 'Miracle on 34th Street.' Wood later starred as Maria in 1961's 'West Side Story' and was nominated for an Oscar for her role opposite James Dean in 'Rebel Without a Cause.'
Wagner, now 82, admitted he had a fight with his wife on the night of November 28, 1981, but said she was not in her cabin when he went to bed.
He maintains he had nothing to do with her death, though said he feels personally responsible for not looking after her.
However, Davern reportedly offered an alternate explanation for Wood's death. Lana Wood, the actress' young sister, claimed to author Suzanne Finstad that Davern called her and drunkenly confessed that Wagner allowed his wife to drown.
'He said it appeared to him as though (Wagner) shoved her away and she went overboard. Dennis panicked and (Wagner) said, "Leave her there. Teach her a lesson." Dennis said he was very panicky that he was sitting and (Wagner) kept drinking and kept drinking.
'And he'd say, "Come on, let's get her." And he said (Wagner) was in such a foul mood, at that point, that he then shut up and was waiting for when, when are they gonna go to her rescue, until all the sound stopped,' Lana is heard telling Finstad in recordings make for her 2001 book Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood.
Lana continues on to say that Davern did not think that Wagner meant for Wood to die but he did not 'run to her aid.'
'Even if he did not kill her, which is what I understand the guy's saying, it was - you know, that it - it was an accident,' Lana said.
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