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A place to update and discuss facts surrounding the controversial, tragic death of legendary Hollywood film actress, wife and mother, Natalie Wood who drowned mysteriously Nov. 29, 1981 off Catalina Island. Thank you for visiting.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

My comments on GMA Interview

You can watch the 09/23/08 GMA Interview with Wagner at YouTube and I posted it here at the blog last week:


In the 09/23/08 GMA Diane Sawyer interview with Wagner, what is most upsetting is that Diane Sawyer doesn't have her facts organized for proper questions so she puts her questions into inaccurate statements, and Wagner sure doesn't stop to correct her misinformation.

Example: Sawyer states that Natalie went missing while "you and Chris Walken argued on the deck"

Both avoid commenting on what the argument was about, Wagner doesn't deny arguing, but he also doesn't correct her that he and Walken's argument was not "on the deck" but that the argument occured in the main salon, and that Walken really wasn't arguing anything. Wagner makes no attempt in this interview to claim what they argued about. This is incompetence on an interviewer's part to not ask what the argument was about, but I'm fairly certain it was preestablished that those kind of questions are off limits.

Example, Sawyer STATES in reference to the arguing that Natalie "went downstairs" -- this conjures the image of Natalie distancing herself all the way down the stairs that do not exist on Splendour. The master stateroom is right next to the main salon, ONE DOWN STEP away toward the rear deck. Chris's guest room was a few steps away from the main salon toward the front of the boat.

In the interview, Wagner says the dinghy was banging into the hull (LOWER outside of boat) but that is impossible for many reasons, but Sawyer doesn't know enough to ask more detailed questions about this.
(I am not using nautical terms such as aft and starboard, port, etc do this is more comprehensible for non-boaters)

Wagner says a few times in interview "we never heard anything" then he clarifies who "we" means: he and Chris Walken. I suppose Dennis Davern is a non-person when Wagner tells the little he tells of the fateful Thanksgiving cruise.

Wagner mentions Natalie's bruises. On the head, hip and legs is what he mentions. Again, nothing is said about the 25 superficial black and blue marks, the 4-inch wrist bruise, the scratches at the neck and ankles, and the large facial abrasion's implications. But this interview is for his book tour, not an inquest into Natalie's death, so I wouldn't expect details about her bruises, but I don't even think Wagner realizes that it's what Sawyer wants to talk about most: and I give Sawyer credit for pushing the envelope in bringing up the Warren Beatty episode, where Wagner waited for Beatty with a gun. Wagner brushes it off but gets in the insult that three men in a relationship doesn't work. Anyone who knew Natalie, knows that three in a relationship was NEVER her style. Wagner had a tendency to consider the men Natalie co-starred with as men invading their relationship, as he also did with William Devane in later years. His own insecurities are what I see, even with THIS 2008 interview, to make it appear as if Natalie had a tendency to cheat on him with her co-stars.

I noticed at YouTube that one comment a viewer left of this video said the look on Wagner's face is priceless as he watches an old video of himself and Natalie that Sawyer shows. In my opinion, the expression on his face is sheer terror: he doesn't know what's coming and I do commend GMA on catching this, as they the camera flashes back to him watching and you only see his half-smile appear in relief that it's only an innocuous clip of something lighthearted between him and Natalie.

All of his obvious inflections and word-phrasing, image-enhancing propaganda is something experts one day will study I'm sure. I am only offering my opinions of this video, watching it from the viewpoint of my own amateur investigation, but certainly not amateur involvement. I say this with no implication other than its truth: no one has delved more into EVERY aspect of this tragic event than I have, and maybe that's because it all started for me with an eye and ear witness to all the circumstance revolving around Natalie's tragic death, but it certainly took me to areas of the case where no one has gone. THIS CASE NEEDS TO BE RE-OPENED!

And lastly, what bothers me more than anything, and Wagner uses it in virtually every interview: He always refers to Natalie's death as "when she left us." Maybe that's exactly what Natalie did that night. She "left HIM" -- maybe she said, "This is it, RJ, I'm DONE." But one thing for sure: she didn't intentionally leave that boat.

Input welcome.

9 comments:

  1. Marti, can you take a quick peek at my 1st and third comments under the Wagner/GMA interview and tell me what you think. Thanks to you and Dennis for fighting so hard to get this far. Dennis has provided most of the pieces of the puzzle and if the investigation were to be reopened, I'm sure the whole truth will be revealed...Justice For Natalie!!!!

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  2. Ever since Natalie died this man has reeked of guilt and unable to put a coherent sentence together in reference to Natalie's death. The injustice to Natalie is disgusting. I wonder if her last thought was something like 'well at least the law will make him pay for this.' God, I can't believe it.

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  3. in this video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X17lu3mVWE&feature=fvw

    Wagner says of Jill St John "she came into my life at such a great time." WHO would describe the weeks after the tragic untimely death of the supposed "love of my life" that left 2 motherless children "a great time?" Spoken as the true narcissist that this man is.

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  4. WE know this but when is the truth going to be "official" ? I don't want to lose hope, this case needs to be reopened. It's hard to even think about Natalie without getting angry. What an injustice towards her. There is nothing but lies attached to her.

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  5. Just wanted to know if you could explain something about when Natalie and Wagner were arguing on the back deck. How long did Dennis see them arguing? How long did he look away before going down to the deck before Natalie disappeared? I just can't figure that part out. Is there any chance Natalie was so afraid that she untied the dingy and jumped into the dingy to get away from him? He told her to get off of his boat. I know she was terrified of the water. Just trying to figure out how she ended up in the water other than Wagner doing something.

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  6. Bottle smashing occured about 10:35, Natalie was alone in her stateroom until near 10:50 when Wagner went to her. Dennis knocked on their door when the screaming was unbearable about 10:55 and was told to go away. Maybe Wagner figured Dennis went to his own stateroom far forward but instead Dennis decided to go to the bridge right above their stateroom. He was concerned.

    The fighting continued and things were being thrown around. Then, the arguing broke out to the rear deck. Dennis looked out and saw both Wagner and Natalie on deck, Natalie was wearing her nightgown, not her coat. The yelling became louder, Dennis truned on music to try to drown out the yelling. He looked out a few minutes later and saw both of them still on deck.

    At 11:06, Marilyn Wayne heard cries for help. Dennis did not hear those cries as music was still playing, but after a few minutes he went down to the deck and there was Wagner, nervous and anxious to rush Dennis off the deck. Dennis says this all happened so fast, and he wasn't timing anything.

    That's the way it happened. It's not "convenient" for Dennis (and certainly not for Natalie) that Dennis didn't hear the cries. He just didn't hear them. He wishes to this day he had. Maybe when he was on the deck with Wagner for a brief minute Natalie hadn't cried out then or maybe she had been carried far enough away where Dennis couldn't hear it. He doesn't know why he didn't hear her, but Marilyn Wayne did, and if anyone else had been crying out that night, wouldn't they have come forward by this time in this horrible story?

    Dennis searched the entire yacht and met up with Wagner in the wheelhouse but Wagner refused to allow Dennis to make a call or turn on the searchlight. He convinced Dennis that Natalie probably took the dinghy. With the dinghy gone, Dennis was all the more confused, and apparently, Wagner wanted him more confused, so he poured him a drink and convinced Dennis to wait it out with him. Dennis felt helpless.

    It's terribly sad that a few seconds one way or the other could've made such a difference, but we all know the tragic result. As I said, there's nothing "convenient" whatsoever involved for Dennis in his account, and certainly nothing convenient for Natalie, but because he wasn't looking out of the window the entire time, it IS convenient for Wagner. See the boat photo posted a few days ago. It shows the exact position Dennis was (on the bridge). He was no further than 10 feet away from the rear deck argument. The crucial moment Natalie left the yacht was not seen by anyone but the person who was with her.

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  7. It would have been very difficult for Natalie, who was very dimunitive, to have released the dinghy in the dark. However, her intention must have been to leave the yacht because (I assume) she slipped on her coat.
    Thank you, Marti, for writing this book. I just found-out about the book today and I plan on reading it very soon.

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  8. I noticed somedstancing language on his part. When Diane Sawyer directly asks, "Is that what you think happened?" (Natalie going to tie the dinghy), he says, "that was the conclusion". Even though he constantly directly lies about this (although note how he is mostly vague and indirect when he is talking about details of what happened), I think it is notable that when Diane Sawyer tries to pinpoint a final, conclusive answer from him, he cannot bring himself to directly say "yes, I believe that's what happened".

    From Wiki:
    "An indirect statement implying an answer, rather than a direct answer, may indicate lying. For example, replies such as "would I do such a thing?" or even "I wouldn't do such a thing", rather than "I didn't do it". Referring to someone known well by the speaker as "that woman" instead of using a name or "her" is another example".

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  9. Sorry, that first sentence should say 'I noticed some distancing language on his part'.

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