Through the years, Dr. Lyndon Taylor and I had discussed every aspect of Natalie’s death. One night, Lyn emailed me questions he would like to ask Wagner—many kinds of questions an interrogation should have included. We instant-messaged each other and added to the questions in a natural flow.
Being that the authorities hadn’t asked enough questions after Natalie was found, and might not have known what to ask, we went further and imagined a court case for Natalie Wood, with Wagner as the defendant, but of course knowing he would never take the stand.
We role-played back and forth as a courtroom defendant and prosecutor might. We tried to imagine what Wagner would answer if ever questioned, so we could surmise the results of how a jury might react to his possible answers. We knew these questions would be easy for any liar to get around, but we also wondered if these kind of questions would spark a jury's interest. What would you think after hearing this possible testimony exchange?
We were sure to be truthful for “the defendant” when we knew he would have to be truthful (or caught perjuring), and we tried to press for information from our “defendant.”
This exercise was strictly ACTING for me and Lyn—our “mock trial”—because we believed that to one degree or another, Wagner knew more than he ever told. We switched parts a few times along the role playing. This is from a file I saved in 2005 after Lambert's book was released and Lyn and I were astounded at the fabrications it contained.
We called this 101 Questions for Wagner (with presumed answers from him).
(Where applicable, all questions established to be connected with the night and morning of Natalie Wood’s disappearance and death).
It was only the last question we couldn’t even fathom to mock.
1) Did you break a wine bottle across a table, accusing Walken of wanting to "ef" your wife?"
Something like that. I was angry Natalie was away from home so much, but that’s as far as it went.
2) Why did you wait hours to report a missing wife?
I thought she might return. I thought she was in the dinghy.
3) Then why did you cry, “She’s gone, she’s gone?”
Because she was taking far too long. I knew that something must’ve gone terribly wrong.
4) You allowed a public statement within a day of your wife's death, claiming that because she always took the dinghy out alone, you weren't immediately concerned. In fact, you were well aware of the truth that your wife, Natalie Wood, never took the dinghy out alone. Why would you have allowed such a statement?
The media is demanding and they don’t go away without statements. I was grieving. My attorney rushed the statement. I told Rasure she wasn’t in the habit of taking out the dinghy.
5) Your boat captain claims you wanted to protect your image, thus made a decision to not search for your wife. Was that egotistical fear worth the chance of losing your wife?
No, of course not. But, in thinking she might return, knowing it had been a mistake for us to argue, I thought she would return feeling the same way and we could patch up our differences.
6) What would be the harm in allowing your boat captain to turn on the searchlight then?
I thought it would draw attention. I thought it best to wait.
7) You were well aware of your wife’s fear of water and you still felt it best to not draw attention?
I thought she was in the dinghy, not in the water.
8) Okay, let’s presume she’s in the dinghy, not the water. How did she get into the dinghy? You didn't hear the dinghy motor, did you?
No, I didn't so I don't know how she got into it.
9) Then you wouldn’t know how she got into the water?
No.
10) Your boat captain claims you were with Natalie when she disappeared from the yacht. How could you not know how she got into the water?
I was elsewhere on the boat.
11) Marilyn Wayne heard a man’s voice say he would help a woman pleading for help, saying she was drowning. Natalie is the woman who was found floating the next morning—so how do you explain that man’s voice?
I don’t know whose voice that was or if there was a voice.
12) You told Doug Oudin your wife was wearing her nightgown. How do you know that?
She had gone to bed. I guess I saw that she had changed.
13) Did your late wife own different style pajamas?
What?
14) Did your late wife own pajamas with pants, pajamas with shorts, as well as nightgowns?
Yes, of course.
15) Then how did you know to tell Doug Oudin she was wearing a nightgown?
That’s what she usually wore on cruises.
16) Do you think your late wife would have taken a dinghy ride in a nightgown and socks, wearing no underwear?
No.
17) Then why didn’t you immediately call for help?
Because she was upset. I thought she might have left.
18) To where, Mr. Wagner? The island was closed.
I didn't know. Maybe to another boat, or to just get away for a while, to cool down.
19) Dennis Davern heard you fighting with your wife. He saw you on the rear deck with your wife. Minutes later, your wife is missing. Do you stick with your banging dinghy disturbing her sleep theory?
Yes.
20) Did you fight with your late wife in the stateroom? And when was the last you saw her?
No. After I broke the wine bottle is the last I saw her.
21) You mean shattered the wine bottle, but we have a witness who claims differently. Mr. Davern says he even went to your stateroom to break up the fight. What did you say to Dennis Davern when he came to your stateroom to control the fighting?
I didn’t say anything.
22) Did Davern come to your stateroom?
No.
23) If you weren’t with your wife, where were you?
In the salon, maybe to the wheelhouse.
24) With your captain?
Yes. Maybe here and there.
25) What were you doing?
I was feeling embarrassed. I had a drink.
26) How long were you in the salon with your captain?
About a half hour.
27) Your captain states otherwise, but where was Natalie?
I thought she was in the stateroom.
28) Why was your stateroom in such disarray? Remember, we have photographs.
Don’t know. Maybe Natalie had been looking for something.
29) You interviewed with Gavin Lambert and told him that the dinghy had been tied port, thus conveniently supporting your banging dinghy theory. Was the dinghy tied port.
Yes, I believe so.
30) If you think Natalie untied the dinghy because it was banging, do you agree that it would have been virtually impossible for the dinghy to escape unless she untied both lines at once which makes absolutely no sense?
Yes
31) Davern claims to have tied the dinghy with two lines, at the rear of the boat. Where was the dinghy tied?
I remember it being tied port.
32) Okay, see you're sticking with that. The cleats the dinghy ties to are accessible from the deck. Is it absolutely necessary to retie the dinghy from the swim step?
No.
33) So, with your wife’s known fear of water, do you believe she would choose to use the swim step over the safer deck, in the rain, while she’s in her nightgown, to re-tie the dinghy?
I don’t know what she decided to do.
34) You say you believe the dinghy was tied port. When tied port, are the dinghy ropes accessible from the swim step?
No.
35) Do you realize then that your theory of tying the dinghy from the swim step—as you claim your late wife might've done—doesn’t fit with it being tied port?
Yes.
36) You were an avid boater. Do you know the first thing a person is supposed to do when someone is missing from a boat? Isn't it to call for immediate assistance from qualified lifeguards?
Yes, but I didn't think she was actually missing. I thought she went somewhere.
37) For over four hours in a nightgown and no underwear?
I don’t know.
38) You don’t know? If the retying the dinghy theory is eliminated, Mr. Wagner, we may be able to figure out what happened to your wife. Can you be more helpful?
I don’t know how she fell.
39) What do you know, Mr. Wagner, about the night Natalie Wood drowned mysteriously? Do you know none of the theories make sense?
No.
40) You got your boat captain an acting job, correct?
Yes.
41) Why?
I was going to sell the boat. I liked Dennis. I wanted to help him.
42) You like Mr. Davern?
I did.
43) Was Mr. Davern a good boat captain?
We were getting to the point we might not need him anymore.
44) Yes, that’s what you said in Lambert’s book. So you were going to let him go soon. Maybe. But, he stayed in your life for over three years after Natalie’s death, and for over a year after you sold the boat, correct?
Yes.
45) How much money did you give him after Natalie Wood passed? And why?
I don't know how much. He maintained the boat. It was salary.
46) From your personal account?
Yes, I believe so.
47) Why?
Odd jobs. He took care of the boat until it was sold.
48) Why didn’t you give your landscaper an acting job after Natalie died?
My landscaper didn’t lose his job because of my wife’s death.
49) But you were going to soon get rid of Davern had Natalie lived, you just claimed. Didn’t you sell your house soon after Natalie died?
Yes.
50) Did you keep the same landscaper?
No.
51) So why didn’t you give your old landscaper an acting job when he lost you as a customer because you sold your house?
That’s different.
52) How is that different, Mr. Wagner? There are plenty of other boats at the marina Mr. Davern could have applied for work with. Why did you take him under your wing and give him an acting job?
I was just helping him. He was connected, you know? He was on the boat when it happened…
53) So you paid for his therapy, too, we have on record. Was that maybe to help him deal with the truth he was expected to bottle up?
Absolutely not.
54) I’m sure the death of Natalie brought pain to many people, including a pallbearer, Bob Lang, who was your handyman and Natalie’s one time business partner. Why didn’t you ask Bob if he needed a gift of therapy?
Again, that’s different.
55) So you agree that Davern was close enough to your late wife that it warranted you paying for his therapy?
Yes. It was only a few sessions…to help get him through it.
56) How long after your late wife was buried did you start dating? We have evidence of the exact date, so please, let's hear it from you. What month and year, Mr. Wagner?
I had dinner with a friend in February 1982 if that's what you're referrng to. We later became closer.
57) Sure, lots of people have dinner dates with friends on Valentine's Day, especially grieving widowers twelve weeks after losing the love of their life. Scratch that. So, Davern identified your wife’s body?
Yes.
58) How long did Davern stay at your house after your wife died?
A few months steadily, then in and out for about a year.
59) Did you provide him guards and chauffeurs?
Yes.
60) Why?
The media hounded us.
61) The media hounded Marilyn Wayne, too, who had heard a drowning woman cry for help. Why didn’t you provide her guards?
I don’t know Marilyn Wayne.
62) Mr. Davern witnessed a lot the night your late wife went missing from your boat. Are you saying you provided him guards so that the media couldn’t get to that information?
I was helping to protect him.
63) Why didn’t you want to cooperate with the media?
They wanted to sensationalize the tragedy.
64) Do you think that’s what Marilyn Wayne, an innocent bystander, wanted to do? Sensationalize your wife’s death?
I’m not sure.
65) Weren’t you interested in possibly learning something about how your wife might have died? You wanted to keep the media from asking about how your wife may have died?
Yes. It was too personal. I was grieving.
66) Up until Valentine's Day, at least. Scratch that. Did you ever ask Davern what he might know about how your wife got off the boat?
No.
67) Because you say you’re not sure if it was a banging dinghy or a choice to leave the yacht for Natalie, why wouldn’t you ask your boat captain if he had seen anything? Weren’t you curious enough about your wife’s disappearance to ask the captain if he had seen or heard anything?
Yes.
68) But you didn’t ask him. Why?
We were both wondering what happened to her.
69) Did you ever suspect an intruder upon your boat the night your wife went missing?
No. Not in weather like that night. It didn't cross my mind.
70) Why not?
It was unlikely. I just didn’t think like that.
71) But you had a missing wife and a missing dinghy. You had put bars on your windows at home. Kidnapping didn’t even cross your mind?
Yes. No. I was confused. I knew she was upset.
72) And you still think she was re-tying a dinghy, being that upset?
Yes.
73) What did you think was more likely: that she left in anger because you had broken the wine bottle, or that she had fallen in the water while retying a dinghy?
Either or, I suppose. I didn’t know.
74) An intruder wasn’t in the realm of possibilities? You had it narrowed down to the two most illogical theories?
They didn’t seem illogical at the time.
75) And you don’t know that night what you thought was most likely?
Yes. I thought she had taken the dinghy.
76) That’s good. Because you told Lambert that you didn’t suspect banging dinghy until weeks later. Is it something your wife did often…take the dinghy? Did she often "star gaze" as reported in a statement?
No.
77) But you thought taking the dinghy was most likely because she was mad. Did she ever leave in the dinghy when she mad before this night?
Well, she had left the night before because she was upset.
78) Thank you! Yes, she had left the night before with your captain because she was upset you wanted to move the boat in the dark. Why didn’t you tell the police this fact instead of claiming she had left the night before because of rolling seas?
It was a marital disagreement the night before and I kept it personal.
79) You kept the maniacal bottle smashing personal, too. So, you never knew of your wife leaving in the dinghy because she was mad, but on this night, you thought it was the most logical explanation for her disappearance?
Yes.
80) And you thought it likely that she was too mad to put on shoes and underwear, but not mad enough for a coat?
I didn’t know she wasn’t wearing shoes. It was cold enough for a coat.
81) But you told Doug Oudin in the middle of the night that Natalie was wearing a nightgown. You didn’t think this scenario warranted an immediate search? Wagner?
I called for help when I thought it was necessary.
82) Several Hours later, correct? Where do you think Natalie had gone?
To the restaurant or to the island to call someone.
83) In her nightgown. Okay, when you called for help, what did you say?
Someone is missing from our boat.
84) So, you didn’t say it was Natalie Wood missing. You didn’t specify anything. You just put out a vague message. Weren’t you afraid for your wife?
Very afraid for her.
85) But not as much afraid for her as you were for your reputation, correct?
I was waiting to see if she would return.
86) Answer the question, Mr. Wagner.
It's not really a question. I was afraid for bad publicity as well as for my wife. We were both famous. The media would've been all over it that night. I waited until I feared for her life.
87) That's a mouthful, finally. But you stalled to look for her because you wanted to protect your reputation, so your previous answer borders on perjury, Mr. Wagner. Want to answer it again? Did you put off looking for your wife to avoid bad publicity?
Um, well...you see...somewhat. There was more to it than that. I thought she would return.
88) Were you upset that your wife was "back to work" and not at home as much any longer? Her "career demons" talked about in Lambert's book weighed heavy on you?
No. Somewhat.
89) How do you think bruises, abrasions, and scratches came to be scattered across Natalie’s arms, legs, back, neck, and face?
I don’t know. The coroner thinks she may have clung to the dinghy and tried to mount it.
90) You believe a coroner that got fired? Scrath that. We have testimony from the lead detective claiming there were no scratches on the dinghy. Do you believe she acquired the bruises by trying to mount the dinghy?
I don’t know. I'm not that kind of an expert..
91) Dennis Davern claims he heard you fighting with your wife in the stateroom that you say you didn’t go to. He also claims he saw you and heard you and Natalie arguing on the deck. But you say you were with Davern in the salon. So, did you hear the same noises coming from the stateroom that Davern heard?
No. He was on the bridge.
92) Yes, claiming he saw you and your late wife on the rear deck. Were you out on the rear deck?
When I noticed the dinghy missing, yes. I may have been moving around the boat before that.
93) Do you wear ear plugs?
No.
94) But you didn’t hear—wherever you were—the noises Davern heard?
No.
95) You didn’t hear a woman’s cries for help from the ocean that Marilyn Wayne heard or respond to those cries?
No.
96) So, it wasn’t your voice that said, “Hold on, we’re coming to get you?”
Absolutely not.
97) Multiple witnesses have testified to your state of intoxication on the evening of November 28, 1981 and early morning of November 29, 1981. Harbormaster Doug Oudin claims you were intoxicated when he visited The
Splendour at approximately 3:30 AM on November 29th, 1981, as exemplified by your slurred speech and difficulty in moving in a coordinated manner. Why did you continue to drink alcohol after you knew your wife was missing?
I was nervous.
98) Why was it that upon hearing the news that Doug Bombard had found Natalie’s body near Blue Cavern Point, you immediately flew by helicopter back to the mainland and wouldn’t identify your wife's body?
That would’ve been too hard for me to do and I wanted to get to my daughters.
99) Too hard to see those bruises?
Yes. Impossible. Well, I didn't know, you know, how she would look, but I knew I couldn't bear to see.
100) If you loved your wife, why did you stand by and drink for over four hours while the mother of your children was dying in a way that you knew was her worst fear?
101) Mr. Wagner? Why?
