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The Chilling Mystery Surrounding Natalie Wood’s Death · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: All right, everybody, get ready, because today we are diving
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  headfirst into a Hollywood mystery that never seems to get old. Yeah,
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  the death of Natalie Wood.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, you guys have given us some really
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  interesting articles and stuff to dig into, so this is
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  gonna be good. We're going to lay it all out there,
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  the timeline, the different stories, everything, and hopefully by the
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  end of the steep dive you'll have a new perspective
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  on this case.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, Natalie Wood's life it's like something straight out
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  of a movie child Star Miracle on thirty fourth Street.
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  Then bam, she's in Rebel without a Cause, Ye, racking
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  up Oscar nominations before she's even twenty five. You can't
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  make this stuff up.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, behind all that Hollywood glitz and glamour,
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  her personal life was well, let's just say it was complicated.
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  Two marriages to Robert Wagner, both ending in divorce, rumors
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  of affairs, a career that had its share of highs
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  and lows. It's almost like a Hollywood cliche.
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  Speaker 1: You know, totally Okay, But we've got to talk about
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  this dark Water prophecy thing, because that's just creepy. I mean,
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  Natalie's mother takes her to see a fortune teller when
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  she's a kid, and the fortune tellers all like, oh, yeah,
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  she's going to be a big star, but watch out
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  for the.
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  Speaker 2: Dark water, Right, Like, how do you not get freaked
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  out by that, especially knowing what happens later.
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  Speaker 1: Seriously, but you're right, we don't want to get too
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  far down the rabbit hole with that just yet. So
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  let's set the stage. We're talking Thanksgiving weekend nineteen eighty one.
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  Natalie's on a yacht, the Splendor, with Robert Wagner. They
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  were married again at this point near Catalina Island, right, And.
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  Speaker 2: Let's not forget the other two people on board that night,
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  Christopher Walkin, who was starring with Natalie in the movie
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  Brainstorm at the time, and of course Dennis Davern, the
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  boat's captain.
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  Speaker 1: So we've got a glamorous Hollywood couple, a rising star,
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  and a secluded setting. Sounds like the beginning of a
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  really bad joke, right, But seriously, they had dinner that
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  night at a place called Doug's Harbor Reef. What do
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  we know about that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't exactly a romantic, candlelit Thanksgiving feast. That's
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  for sure. Witnesses said the atmosphere was tense, lots of arguing.
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  Somebody even threw a glass. Not exactly the picture of
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  a happy family holiday.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. So was it just a little holiday stress getting
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  to them or was there something more going on?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if you believe Dennis Davern, things got even worse
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  once they were back on the Splendor. And this is
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  where things take a really interesting turn because Davern's version
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  of what happened that night contradicts the official story big time.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, hold on, So the initial thought was that Natalie's
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  death was an accident.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly the authorities concluded she drowned accidentally. Open and shutcase
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  until that is Dennis Davern, the captain, the guy who
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  was actually there that night, comes forward years later with
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  a completely different story.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, you've got to tell me. What did Davern say happened?
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  Speaker 2: Buckle up because it's a wild ride. Davern claims that
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  there was this huge blowout fight between Robert Wagner and
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  Christopher walkin, jealousy, accusations of an affair, you name it.
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  It was ugly, and Daviren says he could hear the
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  whole thing shouting, screaming, coming from the deck where Wagner
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  and Natalie were.
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  Speaker 1: Then nothing, silence, and this is giving me the chills.
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  What happened next?
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  Speaker 2: So Davern he goes to check on them, right, and
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  that's when Wagner tells him Natalie's gone vanished into thin air.
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  Claims she probably took the dinghy out for a little
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  late night spin the.
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  Speaker 1: Dinghy in the middle of the night. But wasn't Natalie
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  afraid of the water?
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, she was terrified. Apparently she even had this
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  recurring nightmare about drowning.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, that's seriously creepy. So we've got Daburn telling a
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  story that totally blows the accidental drowning theory out of
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  the water. Literally. But if Wagner was trying to hide something,
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  why would Davern keep quiet for so long?
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  Speaker 2: Million dollar question?
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  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: Davin says Wagner pressured him, told him to keep his
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  mouth shut, But who knows what really happened. What's interesting, though,
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  is that some of what Davern says actually lines up
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  with other evidence they found, Like what well for starters
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  think about what Natalie was wearing when they found her body,
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  a nightgown, a down jacket and socks.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not exactly your typical boating outfit exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's like she left in a hurry or wasn't planning
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  on going anywhere at all.
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  Speaker 1: Makes you wonder.
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  Speaker 2: And then there's this woman, Marilyn Wayne. She was on
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  a boat nearby that night and she told police she
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  heard a woman screaming for help around eleven pm. She
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  said it sounded like somebody, please help me, I'm drowning.
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  Speaker 1: Wait eleven pm. But didn't Wagner say he didn't even
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  realize Natalie was missing until much later, like closer to
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  three thirty in the morning.
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  Speaker 2: Bingo, that's a pretty big difference in timelines, wouldn't you say?
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  Speaker 1: Huge? And what about those bruises on Natalie's body, the
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  ones that didn't really make sense if she just accidentally drowned.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, Yes, the bruises. That's another one of those details
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  that just doesn't sit right. Look, I know the corner
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  initially said they were consistent with drowning, but still it's
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  hard to believe that Natalie, with her fear of the water,
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  would just willingly go out on that dinghy alone in
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  the dark. The bruises just make the whole thing even
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  more suspicious. Don't you think.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely so what happened? Did the police ever look into
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  those bruises further?
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  Speaker 2: Well, he definitely raised some eyebrows. And you know what
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  really got people talking. They ended up changing Natalie Wood's
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  death certificate.
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  Speaker 1: They did. What did they change it to?
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  Speaker 2: Instead of just saying accidental drowning, it was amended to
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  drowning and other undetermined factors.
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  Speaker 1: Other undetermined factors. What does that even mean? It's basically
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  like they're saying, we don't really know what happened, right
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  pretty much.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, with all this new information coming out
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  Davern's testimony, the timeline discrepancies those bruises, the investigators started
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  taking a closer look at Robert Wagner.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it makes sense he was right there on
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  the boat with her. But what about Christopher Walkin? Where
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  does he fit into all of this?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Wakins always insisted that Natalie's death was just a
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  terrible accident, you know, one of those things that could
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  happen to anyone. He's always cooperated with the police, even
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  drew this analogy about how we face the risk of
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  accidents every day in no matter who we are.
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  Speaker 1: Right right, Like you could slip in the baths ub.
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  Speaker 2: Or something exactly just like that. But I guess the
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  investigators weren't totally convinced, huh, Especially.
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  Speaker 1: That Lieutenant Karina, the one who reopened the case. He
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  seems pretty sure there's something more to the story.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Karina. He said publicly that he thinks Wood's
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  death was suspicious, that the evidence just doesn't add up
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  to her ending up in the water on her own.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he seems especially hung up on Wagner refusing
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  to talk to the police.
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  Speaker 2: Well that's got to raise some eyebrows, right, You've got
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  nothing to hide exactly.
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  Speaker 1: It's like, come on, you'd think he would want to
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  clear his name if he was innocent. So where does
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  that leave us? I mean, this whole thing, it's like
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  a tangled up mess of accusations, timelines that don't match up,
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  and then you've got Wagner clammed up refusing to say anything.
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  Speaker 2: It's a real head scratcher, that's for sure. Part of
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  you wants a simple answer, a clear villain, but real
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  life is way messier than that. So what do you think, accident,
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  something more sinister, or something in between.
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  Speaker 1: I gotta say, after everything we've uncovered, it's hard to
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  shake that feeling that something's not right. I mean, Wagner's
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  silence speaks volumes, doesn't it, jaws in his shoes, and
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  had nothing to hide, I'd be shouting it from the rooftops.
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  Speaker 2: That's a valid point, and it's something that's haunted a
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  lot of folks following this case. But you know, we
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  also got to remember that everyone grieves differently. It's been
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  decades and Wagner has stood by his story, and it's
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  important to note that his children with Natalie support his
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  version events.
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  Speaker 1: Right, That's true, and it's a sad reminder that no
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  matter what happened that night, there are families whose lives
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  were shattered exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's easy to get caught up in the mystery, but
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  at the heart of it is a real tragedy, a
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  life cut short and a family left grappling with unanswered questions.
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  Speaker 1: This case, it's like a giant puzzle and we're still
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  missing some pieces. We've got jealousy, alcohol, that creepy fear
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  of water, and then the conflicting stories. It's a lot
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  to unpack.
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  Speaker 2: No kidding, But that's what makes these deep dives so fascinating. Right,
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  we dig into the evidence, try to make sense of
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  it all, and sometimes we have to accept that we
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  may never.
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  Speaker 1: Have all the answers exactly. But by keeping these stories alive,
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  by talking about them, by asking questions, maybe, just maybe
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  we can get a little closer to the truth.
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  Speaker 2: Can I said it better myself? And who knows? Maybe
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  somewhere out there someone holds the missing piece of this puzzle.
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  Speaker 1: Well that's all the time we have for today's deep dive,
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  but the conversation doesn't have to end here. Head over
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  to our website or find us on social media to
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  share your thoughts on the Natalie Wood case. Do you
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  think it was a tragic accident or something more. Let's
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  keep the conversation going until next time. Keep exploring those mysteries, folks,
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  and remember sometimes the most compelling answers are the ones
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  we have to uncover for ourselves.