Police to re-examine 1981 death of actress Natalie Wood

Nov 18, 2011, 19:08 GMT

Los Angeles - One of the greatest mysteries in the history of Hollywood is about to be re-examined.

Los Angeles police said Friday that they were re-opening the investigation into the 1981 death of screen star Natalie Wood, who drowned during a yacht cruise off Southern California with her husband, actor Robert Wagner.

The decision follows claims by the captain of the yacht, who told a TV news show Friday that he had lied to investigators to hide Wagner's responsibility for Wood's death.

The star of West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause, Wood was found floating in the Pacific Ocean about 1.5 miles from the couple's sumptuous yacht on November 29, 1981, dressed only in her nightgown and socks.

At the time, Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled the death an accident, saying that Wood had slipped while trying to enter a dinghy and drowned. Bruises on Wood's left cheek were consistent with her having fallen and striking the yacht as she went into the water, he said.

But in an interview Friday on NBC's Today show, former yacht captain Dennis Davern said that Wood drowned after a bout of heavy drinking and a fierce argument with Wagner, and that neither he nor Wagner made any great efforts to locate her once they realized she was missing.

'We didn't take any steps to see if we could locate her,' Davern said. 'I think it was a matter of, 'We're not going to look too hard, we're not going to turn on the searchlight, we're not going to notify anybody right now.''

'I made some terrible decisions and mistakes,' Davern told NBC News' David Gregory. 'I did lie on a report several years ago.'

He added, 'I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report.'

Davern first detailed the allegations in a 2009 book he co-authored on the incident, and it is unclear what information prompted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to re-open the investigation. Authorities were holding a news conference Friday to detail the case.

A statement issued by Wagner's publicist said the actor and his family supported the LA County Sheriff's Department '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.'