Natalie Wood's Sister Wants Death Case Reopened

Hypothetically Speaking

Although I strive to deal with facts at this blog, I'd like feedback on this hypothetical scenario:

Natalie is drifting and it's 4:15 in the morning and she feels she can no longer hang on to hopes of survival, but she hears a motor boat closing in on her, and then a light shines in her face. She knows she "reached" the water at about 11 PM and she knows HOW she reached the water, but she has no real idea of what time it is now, but she is feeling the elation of rescue, she will see her daughters this Sunday! The motor boat approaches her and pulls her onto their deck to safety. She is immediately taken to the cabin to be warmed as she is crying tears of relief. She sees on a radio clock that it is after 4 AM and realizes she had been in the water she feared her entire life for approximately 5 hours. She shudders, but is beyond grateful to be safe. She is told that no one looked for her until after a call came over the general island frequency at 1:30 AM mentioning that someone was missing from her boat. She's told that at approximately 3:30 AM, a call finally went out to the Coast Guard after the harbormaster encouraged her husband to make the call.

Hypothetically, knowing what we know, how do you think a rescue would have affected Natalie's choices for the rest of her life? This is not a poll...it is an inquiry to try to understand things from what might have been Natalie's possible reaction and perspective to what transpired while she was IN the water.

She struggled to stay alive that night, there's evidence of it. She did not want to perish. She called for help, she took advantage of her down jacket, she tried to survive. Anger must have enhanced her fear and vice versa for the hours she remained coherent.
I doubt she would've revealed details to the public, but privately, I believe she would have made intense life choices based on her experience. I also believe she might have understood Dennis's position, but that she would have fired him, and rightfully so. This hypothetical situation has actually helped ME to realize why some people can't get past Dennis's deference to Wagner. It may have been just as difficult for Natalie to believe that Dennis listened to his boss only because he thought she had to be in the dinghy, that he did not realize how grave the situation was. If Wagner didn't feel it necessary to make a call, Dennis hoped for the best. Maybe that's what bothers Dennis so deeply to this day, knowing Natalie probably never would have understood his postiion.
Yes, if Natalie had been saved, it still might have been Splendour's final social cruise.

It's hypothetical but an interesting perspective. Natalie would not have tolerated what happened to her, so why should anyone allow her death to go unjustified, knowing what we know? Why does the law tolerate it?
And, don't forget: in REALITY, Natalie probably did realize all of the above. The only difference in reality is that there was no motor boat or light shining in her face for a rescue. We never got to hear her voice in this tragedy. She floated for hours, frightened, confused, desperate, and utterly alone.

Hypothetically speaking, could she--would she-- have ever forgiven the three men aboard the Splendour who did not help her?

11 Away from 500 - Reopen Natalie Wood Case Petition

We are only 11 signatures away from 500 on the petition to reopen the Natalie Wood Death Case. Email your friends, Tweet the petition to your followers, or mention it in emails, and hopefully by the end of Sept., we'll have 500 signatures. These signatures were acquired with virtually no publicity. The petition is mentioned in the new release of Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour, soon to be available. Hopefully, we can reach 500 before then. Thank you for signing.

Reopen Investigation of Natalie Wood's death Petition

My Evidence Testing Explained Again

Once again, I am hearing that my testing of the socks and down coat theories were unnecessary, perhaps ridiculous. People can't seem to grasp the meaning of the important tests, so I will explain again.

MY TESTS WERE PERFORMED ONLY TO SHOW THE SHORTCOMINGS AND MISTAKES OF THE CORONER'S THEORIES!

THE COAT TEST: Coroner Noguchi was adamant that Natalie's down coat "weighed her down" and "hindered her ability to stay above water" -- he calculated her down coat weighed over 50 lbs when wet: my weighing showed only about 15 lbs OUT OF WATER.
My down coat testing proves how ridiculous a theory Noguchi's is. I WORE THE COAT WHILE IN WATER and weighed it out of water.
He claimed Natalie probably drowned fast because she didn't think to take off the jacket. Again, ridiculous. The jacket served as Natalie's life preserver because down jackets are 100% buoyant in water and I performed my test to prove it. I know of others who also tested down's ability to keep one afloat in water and their results were the same as mine...it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to sink yourself while wearing a down jacket in water. THIS MEANS: until hypothermia overcame Natalie and she lost her ability to hold her head above water, the DOWN JACKET KEPT HER ALIVE. THERE WAS PLENTY OF TIME TO SAVE NATALIE HAD A RESCUE EFFORT BEGUN IMMEDIATELY.

Is this so hard to understand? Why do people ridicule this test I performed that proves an entire medical staff WRONG!?

The SOCKS TEST: Again, Coroner Noguchi instead of TESTING, blurted out THEORIES of Natalie's condition. Natalie's autopsy indicates over 25 bruises, scratches and abrasions on her body, many of them shown on her lower legs. Noguchi's quick THEORY is that Natalie acquired the bruises while trying to mount a dinghy for hours to save her life, but that her coat "dragged her down" --- he also SURMISES that she kicked her way across the cove trying to get to shore.

My socks test proves that Natalie could NOT HAVE ACQUIRED HER ANKLE BRUISES PER NOGUCHI'S THEORIES, because even with slight movement, socks WILL NOT remain on your feet with even slight activity in the water. While wearing a down jacket in water with socks on, the jacket somehow places you in a "sitting position" thus securing the socks even more. Had Natalie tried to mount a dinghy, her socks could not have stayed on her feet.
CONCLUSION: HER ANKLE BRUISES HAD TO HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED IN A DIFFERENT MANNER THAN TRYING TO MOUNT A DINGHY. Knowing about the stateroom argument, it's likely Natalie's bruises were obtained while still aboard the Splendour.

Some people have tried to say that debris in the ocean could have caused her bruises. That is absurd. Natalie FLOATED, and nothing in the ocean caused the circular "hand print" type of bruises her ankles showed.

How can I explain this any better? How am I missing my mark here? Is there a better way to explain these tests? Is there any neutral point that can be reached with the people who simply cannot grasp this LOGIC?

MY TESTS PROVE THE MEDICAL EXAMINER TO BE TOTALLY WRONG. HIS THEORIES HAVE THWARTED JUSTICE!

Protecting Natalie

I may be opening a can of worms with this post but I am so frustrated with hearing every now and then the notion that Wagner hasn't spoken in detail about the night Natalie died in an effort to "protect Natalie." With that absurd theory, only one question comes to my mind: protect her from what? Even in your wildest imagination, what can anyone come up with as an explanation for such an absurd excuse for his silence? Make NO mistake about it, Wagner stays silent to protect himself and for no other reason. I'll give him an inch on protecting Natalie's daughters from hurtful truth, but then again, if he had exerted one drop of restraint that night, chances are their mother would still be with them today. That's all I have to say about this topic, but I welcome CREDIBLE input. How could anyone suggest such a thing?

Why was Christopher Walken aboard the Splendour?

Some people were occasionally intimidated by Natalie Wood, but not because she intimidated them deliberately. She was a strong woman who had learned to protect herself, thus she rarely had a problem voicing her true feelings. She was protective of her family and of her world. She had built her world, alone. She was the person everyone in her world depended upon, for all of her life.

She helped friends, family, and peers, but she had learned how to not be taken advantage of. She acquired friends she loved and trusted. Her name alone was something to cling to and many did, but for those in her circle, they indeed had a protective, caring, and honest friend in Natalie. But maybe they were also a tad envious and intimidated by this vivacious, directed, and steadfast woman who, finally, had come to terms with what was important in life. Natalie loved her family but also loved herself and she valued her lifelong Hollywood career. Is there really anyone who can find fault with that? Natalie was not career-driven to the point she ever neglected her closest loved-ones. But RJ had been intimidating her, making her feel guilty for working away from home.

Natalie, however, could be influenced to a degree, but only from or by someone she respected and was willing to allow influence her. She resented having to explain to RJ that working away from home was nothing more than a job. Natalie allowed Christopher Walken to influence her ideas about work because she liked his ideas. He was an Oscar winning movie actor whose career was on the brink of wonderful things when she and Walken crossed paths at a time she was trying to turn her career in a new direction. Natalie admired Walken and thought she could learn some of the "new tricks in the film business" from him. She listened to his ideas about the screenplay they were working on: Brainstorm. She liked his ideas only because she believed they were good ideas. She wanted the film to work.

Christopher was a bit starstruck, too. Natalie Wood was playing his wife. There were certain names in the business you would jump to work with as an upcoming, rising star, and the name Natalie Wood was one of them. Christopher knew this.  But, when a script is poorly executed, problems can and will arise and those problems existed within Brainstorm. It got to the point where the lead actors just wanted to get it over with.  Natalie missed her daughters while she was working on Brainstorm in North Carolina, and she wanted to get home.
Daughter Natasha cried and pleaded with Mom to not go on the Thanksgiving Splendour excursion, but it was a weekend in-between finalizing scenes on Brainstorn. Work on Brainstorm was not yet completed and Natalie and Christopher had work to finish at the studio the following week. Natalie was still in working mode. She knew she would be spending the complete month of December with her daughters, catching up, shopping, and doing all the fun holiday things with them.

Natalie had liked working with Walken, was glad to have met him, so keeping Walken as a family friend was not a bad idea in her opinion. She thought RJ would like him as well if only there was time to get to know him. Christopher took his work seriously but was also a personable friend. He liked to joke and laugh and he, too, wouldn't have minded befriending RJ as he had Natalie. He had set no designs on Natalie. Natalie wanted RJ to get to know Christopher, as people in their particular fields of work normally do. Where better than aboard the Splendour to help develop a relationship with this new family friend? THAT was Natalie's purpose in having invited Christopher for a holiday shopping weekend cruise. She wanted RJ to like him, too. Decades later, RJ finally admits that he does.

The Wedding Gift

A few posts ago, I wrote about my friend Kathleen McKenna's new book released titled "The Wedding Gift" -- I finally wrote my review of the work, and if you care to read the review, here's the Amazon link below. All of the reviews for her book are fantastic, deservingly so. Kathleen wrote about Natalie Wood, too, and I am really hoping that manuscript is soon published. Both Kathleen and Natalie both deserve it to be published! In the meantime, this fantasy work is one of the best I've read in a long time. Honestly. Fortunately, in "The Wedding Gift" there is humor relief like you've never experienced before. I guarantee it. "The Wedding Gift" includes an "out there" twist on justice, but justice is definitely its theme.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: The Wedding Gift

Interesting Diagram for Natalie Wood Case

This is a diagram Dr. Lyndon Taylor created about 10 years ago. His way of simplifying things made it easy to see that if the authorities had done just a little more investigating all of these components may have surfaced. Lyn cannot understand how all these factors were overlooked. This diagram was his way to show the mockery of justice in Natalie's case. I had wanted this in the book on its own page, but again, it was something bounced by the editors.

Never Forget

Today is the ninth anniversary of the tragic day terrorists attacked our nation, a day that innocent plane passengers became contents of aircraft turned into bombs, a day too many people lost loved ones for no comprehensible reason.

I've told some of you in private emails how that day related in a sense to GNGS, and today I feel compelled to post about it. I had included a little of this account in GNGS but editors thought it distracting, and I agreed, but because of the Natalie story, I almost perished with many other innocent people on Tuesday 9/11/2001.

Not only was I a near miss once, but twice. Suzanne Finstad's book Natasha had just been released in Sept. 2001. Although she and Lana were doing the standard publicity tour, many producers and reporters started contacting Dennis and myself, and Inside Edition (IE) had located the Splendour in Hawaii. The owner had restored the boat to the way the Wagner family kept it, and had also restored the name to Splendour as a tribute to Natalie. The owner had agree to allow IE to conduct an interview on the yacht. Ironically, IE preferred interviewing Dennis and me over Suzanne and Lana. Dennis and I decided to not participate. I was ready to get back to work to finish GNGS and Suzanne had inspired me to do so. I thought interviewing would be premature, but I also felt it would help Suzanne's research to be known. I was torn.

After numerous calls from producer Josh Paris of IE, he convinced us to participate. I was looking forward to actually being on the yacht, too. All arrangements went through our agent (same one we have today) and IE was going to pay all expenses. Like many reporters before him, Josh started to act like IE was doing us a favor, sending us to Hawaii. Yes, not a bad to place to visit, but we really resented that kind of attitude, as it wasn't something we had initiated. To begin with, the thoughts of returning to Splendour haunted Dennis still and I had already been to Hawaii years before, and to be honest, the loss of time for such a long trip was not convenient to either of our everyday work schedules. But, we wanted Suzanne's book to succeed, too. We wanted the truth about Natalie's death known, and the media is the most helpful way for that to be accomplished.

Flight arrangements were being made Thursday, Sept. 6th. My husband worked in North Jersey at the time, so I asked for the first flight out of Newark in North Jersey so he could easily drop me off at the airport on his way to work at 7 AM. Dennis was flying from Florida and we were to fly Tuesday morning, the 11th, pre-interview on the 12th in Hawaii, then film the interview on the 13th aboard Splendour.

I worked for a magazine at the time and had taken the week off for the interview. I remember thinking I wanted to visit Pearl Harbor again if I had time in Hawaii.

Thursday night, when producer Josh was booking the flights, he called and we got into a little argument over what they expected from the interview. He, like most reporters, was interested in the word murder. I refused to use the word and told him Dennis would not use it either. That word, like always, we wanted reserved for authorities to decide upon. Josh kept pushing and I said that we would cancel if the attitude continued and then he made a snide remark to the effect of yeah, right, like the two of you would cancel a free trip to Hawaii.
I asked him, "Josh, why would you even want to interview us if you feel that way?"
He apologized, but then I said, "Josh, we won't be doing your show. We agreed to this trip for Natalie, not for the sensationalism you want, so goodbye."
He said, "Yeah, right, like Dennis will cancel."
I said. "Watch and see."
I hung up, called Dennis, and Dennis said, "I didn't want to go anyway, Marti."

Josh called us over a hundred times, apolgizing, pleading, and groveling, but I went to work the next day in Howell, NJ, about an hour south of NY City and said I wouldn't be taking off for Hawaii the next week. The editor, Alicia Ellis, asked me to go to NY with her Tuesday morning for a Hewlett Packard presentation. We went to NY often, so I said no problem. A car was being sent for us early Tuesday morning at work and we talked about possibly having breakfast at the top of the tower while we waited for the presentation on 10th and Broadway at 10:30 AM. Dennis and I did not answer any of Josh's calls.

That Tuesday morning, I got in my van, thinking how strange it was that I would've been flying to Hawaii that morning. My van's gas pedal started acting up ... it had no pick-up. I turned around and took the van to my auto mechanic and called and left a message for Alicia that I had to cancel NY. I waited for the mechanic to arrive and couldn't reach anyone by cell for a ride home. My husband Bob was working in New Brunswick, as usual on a Tuesday. So I walked a mile home, in heels, and saw the McGuire Air Force Base jets soaring overhead, nothing unusual in our area, but rarely on a Tuesday morning. Cars were speeding by...there was an eerie quality in the "air." Sound wasn't "right."

When I got home, my daughter-in-law, who lived across the street, called and told me to put on the TV. She said, "America is being attacked."
That's when I saw the second plane crash into the second tower hit.  I was freaking out because I couldn't get in touch with Alicia. All phone circuits were busy.

Turned out, my van was checked every which way and they could find nothing wrong with it. It's still in their computer system that I was there that morning and that no mechanical problem existed. (wow, that still blows me away.)
Finally, around 2 PM that terrible day, I got hold of Alicia and she had decided to not go when she got my message because she wasn't feeling well. We experienced "survivor guilt" and we cried our eyes out for those who were in that tower. But, we were spared, and glad our families weren't suffering having lost us.

It later hit me that I could've been on a plane this very morning on my way to Hawaii on the first available flight out of Newark. Turns out, that flight was Flight 93, the one that went down in Shanksville, PA with all the heroes aboard, the first to actually fight back on terrorism, the first to die for it. Flight 93 was the connecting Hawaii flight that morning, on its way to California. One of its empty seats would have been mine! If Alicia and I had made it to NY, we might've been on the top floor eating a bagel and having coffee when the pane hit.

Being a near-miss once was hard enough to handle emotionally, but being a near-miss twice was doubly upsetting. It was devastating to think about. It really affected me. It's almost, well, almost unbelievable. But everyone around me knows about it, everyone was so glad I hadn't made either trip...to Hawaii or NY.

Although I had been in the middle of trying to finish GNGS at that time, I quit my magazine job and interviewed other near-misses of the 9/11 tragedy. I met the most wonderful people during the year I took to talk with them and record their stories. We all got through the first year after together, leaning on one another, and many have remained my friends. I always thought about trying to get the journal published for the 10th anniversary of the tragedy which would be next year, but I've worked so hard on GNGS in-between that I've allowed the 9/11 manuscript to sit in a file, too. Today I am going to look at it. I am going to never forget.

It feels like we are so far removed from that tragic day now, but I know it is and will remain a day none of us will ever forget. In my journal of all the stories I collected, I know I will be reminded of the beauty of life. I guess that's why I am still so obsessed with what happened to Natalie. She was robbed of the beauty of life, and her life was beautiful in so many ways.

I know how my family, my friends, my work, my life, all became more meaningful to me after 9/11. Things took on new meaning, fuller meaning, and I've since appreciated like never before. Although I neglected Natalie for a while because of 9/11 (one of the other reasons GNGS took longer than hoped for), I always felt like I was spared to make sure GNGS made it to publication, too. That's just one of those things we all sometimes "think" -- that things happen for a reason. Sometimes, maybe they don't. Those are elusive things, abstract thinking if you will, but I know when I think about Flight 93, I still shudder, and I am always grateful for life.

I'm sorry if this post is a little long, but it does relate to all of us. My computer wall still shows a picture of the standing towers, with our American flag waving over them -- it represents our culture for all the good and bad it entails, but that day still comes down to all the empty seats at dinner tables because of the mindless acts of terror we collectively experienced. Terror is terror whether we experience it together or all alone, as poor Natalie endured. Thanks for reading this. It's personal but not without sincere meaning, and I really am glad to be here.

It's Labor Day Weekend: "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" in production

I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend and for those of you in the upper Northeast region, I sure hope Hurricane Earl passes you by. We're having mild winds in NJ but hardly any rain. We're more inland from Earl's path, but it's not looking so for Cape Cod at this point.

Production is in the works for the new release of "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" and I look forward to announcing its release date soon.
Coast Guard Lieutenent Roger Smith's account is included in the new issue. As promised, I will tell you about the new information that is explained in more detail in the new epilogue for the book, but basically, when Roger got to the Splendour the morning Natalie was missing, it was past 5 AM. Roger was accompanied by Deputy Sheriff Knoll.

Roger was told in the phone call he took that Natalie had been missing since 1:30 AM. He didn't know at that time that she had really been missing since 11 PM. Roger was angry enough about not being called until after 3:30 AM for a woman missing for two hours. The actual 4-hour delay, had ANYONE mentioned it, might have made a difference in how Rasure eventually handled the surviving cruise members, but, as with most information about Natalie's death, EXACT and VITAL information was kept confusing and vague and/or UN-corrected, the way Wagner preferred it.

When Knoll and Smith arrived at the Splendour, Knoll asked Wagner why he delayed in calling the Coast Guard, and Wagner replied, “You’re a public agency, and I didn’t want this to become public. I have my image to think about. We thought she took off to go boat-hopping and was out screwing around because that’s the kind of woman she is.”

Roger was astounded and furious with Wagner at that point, and he was thinking she had been missing only from 1:30 AM!! Roger is who dove beneath Splendour to look for Natalie. He thought the water was cold, but not cold enough to cause instant death...in fact, he figured there was a good chance Natalie could still be alive (based on his false knowledge that she might've been in the water for only four hours at that point) if she was clinging to the missing dinghy or IN the dinghy. He set out immediately by rescue boat to start the search, but knew it would be a difficult task until full daylight would help. 

An interesting information-discovery from Roger is that Wagner told Knoll that he and Natalie had been arguing...he also immediately offered up the banging dinghy theory to Knoll and said he REMEMBERED Natalie getting up to go adjust the dinghy!! This is SO DIFFERENT than the story he had available for Rasure, who, remember, did NOT press for information. Wagner told Rasure that he had no clue how or why his wife went missing. He said he and Walken had had a political debate and Natalie had gone off to bed in boredom. So how does he then remember her getting up to adjust a dinghy? (Just another one of the many lingering questions you would think the authorities would be concerned with.)

Roger Smith is 100% behind seeking truth and justice for Natalie Wood and will stand behind his information as he has tried to tell his account since 1981 only to be demoted, transferred and ignored, and treated like a troublemaker as all people who tell truth about the circumstances surrounding Natalie's death are. Roger Smith is a decent, caring, honest man who did not deserve to become another scapegoat in a scarcely investgated death case. Island politics and a husband desperate to not have truth exposed turned life around in an unfair and challenging way for an innocent Coast Guard Lifeguard/Paramedic who only cared about saving lives.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department should be ashamed to this day for this embarrassment of a case.  

    

Why is Retired Detective Duane Rasure Lying?

This is a subject discussed in comments here that bears more attention. Rasure had told me that he would help every way he could if I could convince him that Natalie Wood deserves justice. Well, if a passed polygraph by Dennis Davern, a proven time line, and Wagner's admitted initial lies aren't enough, what might Rasure require to finally admit he hadn't been thorough enough?

Robert Wagner told Rasure he had no clue what had happened to Natalie. Wagner and Walken claimed it had been a pleasant weekend. Neither one of them admitted that it had been a tension-filled weekend. Walken and Wagner were simply allowed to go home.

Rasure knew that Natalie had slept on the Island with her boat captain Friday night and accepted an excuse of "rolling seas" as an explanation, even though Dennis had at first lied to his face about everyone's whereabouts Friday night. Rasure was handed a report from Pam Eaker that claimed the Coast Guard had been called immediately, information he never checked. Natalie's body was filled with bruises and no inquest was ordered: the bruises were virtually ignored. It wasn't until after she was buried that the fabricated story of the "banging dinghy" came into play. Rasure did not perform a body check on any of the three men surviving the cruise.

Years later, when Wagner admitted to smashing a wine bottle, Rasure still defended the closed case. Years later, when told about the true details of jealousy and fighting aboard the yacht, Rasure still defended his flimsy investigation. In 2010 Rasure FABRICATED information, claiming the weekend had been intended to celebrate Natalie having learned to swim. Where did such blatant false information come from? Did Rasure create the lie, or is it something that came from someone he IS willing to listen to?

Rasure has had ample opportunity to admit his blunders in regards to the Wood case. It is because of Rasure's shortcuts that Natalie Wood has not received due justice. I had not questioned Rasure's ETHICS until just this year when his outright lie stunned me (the fabrication in regards to the purpose of the cruise). Natalie had not just learned to swim, nor had she been celebrating anything remotely close to such a thing. 

Yes, Dennis Davern has remained a continual, convenient scapegoat for Rasure. Rasure made sure he insulted Dennis in most all public interviews through the years, as if all of the other suspicious details about Natalie's death could be erased because Dennis had consumed alcohol during the cruise. What kind of an investigation is that? What kind of a person can stand behind such nonsense? Why is Rasure lying?

I can't believe I missed this

Around Easter time this year, Debbie Barth of Three Wise Girls, Blog-Talk-Radio, had emailed me this video. It was hidden in my spam mail for months! What a lovely promotion, what a generous thing to have done for Natalie! And, I missed it until this very day as I've finally spent some time trying to clean up my mail boxes. This post publicly apologizes to Debbie for my oversight (and to mention my frustration with AOL for continually not putting through mail it should while letters of "opportunity" from Nigeria continue to get past spam mail!), as well as to thank her from the bottom of my heart.  Of course, at this time, GNGS is still temporarily out-of-stock, but that will be changing within days, announced with my next post. Thank you to all who have been with me through this endeavor. I appreciate all of you. Check out this link. Debbie is so personable, and so conscientious! Thank you, Debbie.   

Talk Fusion Studio UTC

Also, here is Debbie's profile page, and you will find her shows interesting and worth your time!

Debbie Barth Internet Profile

Author Kathleen McKenna "The Wedding Gift" release

Amazon.com: The Wedding Gift (9781453701973): Kathleen McKenna:…

My friend, Kathleen, is author of "The Wedding Gift". I haven't read it yet, but I've read a lot of Kathleen's work nearing publication. Kathleen did amazing research on Natalie Wood for a future project, and through Kathleen I was introduced to Roger Smith, the Coast Guard Lieutenent who retrieved Natalie's body and  offered me information for the new release of "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour."

I'm looking forward to receiving Kathleen's new book "The Wedding Gift" in a few days, and I will review it at Amazon. I thought I'd mention it here for interested readers. Kathleen is a fascinating writer, that much I do know, and her research ability for non-fiction cases and people, and her dedication to justice, is remarkable. Read the reviews about "The Wedding Gift" and maybe you might want to order and enjoy.  

Man missing in Catalina Island Cove

Man missing off Catalina Island, last reported in dinghy

Coast Guard ends search for missing Catalina boater | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Catalina Island Coast Guard have ceased searching for this man. He will most likely be presumed drowned and it may never be known how he fell out of his dinghy, even if his body is located in the future. His two dogs, on the dinghy with him, were found. 

Natalie's body, sans the down-jacket, may never have been found. It was the down-jacket that kept Natalie afloat. The red jacket helped the rescuers to find her body. Had she not been wearing the jacket, we may never have known about her multiple body bruises.

Had an immediate call for rescue been made in Natalie's case, she may have been found alive because the jacket served as a floating device. But, the Coast Guard was not called for over four hours after Natalie Wood was missing from abouard her yacht, Splendour.  What a difference an immediate phone call could have made!

Top FIVE reasons to re-open the Natalie Wood Case.

I've deducted the top reasons to re-open the Natalie Wood Case down to five. I've explained as briefly as possible in categories the details of why the case warrants another look. Also, a top-5 list works better for the new foreword for "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" and for media releases. Please look these over: your comments are welcomed. Thank you for all the comments in helping me to construct and condense this list, a difficult thing to do because the case is so complicated in spite of the fact it's so simple to recognize that the intitial investigation was botched!

1) Dennis Davern, former Splendour captain, is the only witness to the immediate circumstances surrounding Wood's disappearance. He has offered to testify under penalty of perjury in a court of law that the three survivors of the November 1981 cruise aboard Splendour—Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, and Dennis Davern—all lied to authorities at the scene of Natalie Wood’s death. Dennis Davern has passed a certified polygraph test, including his vital claim that Robert Wagner was with Natalie Wood as they argued on the back deck of the yacht when she went missing. Wagner claimed at the death scene he had no idea how his wife and dinghy went missing. Wagner's initial vague statements are inconsistent with his later admitting his angry smashing of a wine bottle just prior to Natalie’s “disappearance.” Christopher Walken also witnessed the bottle smashing but has never admitted to it. The arguing and violence shortly before Wood’s absence changes the dynamics of the mood initially described aboard the Splendour. There was absolutely no interrogating of surviving witnesses, nor body checks to determine any bruising consistent with Wood’s body bruises.


2) There was never an effort to pursue how Wood received over 25 body wounds and bruises, nor an official effort to determine how or why she had left the yacht. The Chief Coroner, Thomas Noguchi, was fired for offering valid information to the public. Wood’s cause of death was moted as accidental drowning instead of “undetermined” as would have fit the known--and unknown--information  properly. There had been a rush to close the case to avoid valid media questions. Noguchi’s theory claimed Natalie's down jacket weighed her down. In fact, down jackets serve as buoyant life preservers and when wet weigh considerably less than Noguchi speculated. Noguchi theorized Natalie kicked toward shore and became bruised trying to mount a dinghy, yet she was found wearing socks. One simple “sock test” proves the improbability of Noguchi's theory. Wood's body bruises are consistent with domestic abuse.

3) Key witnesses were ignored by case detectives. Marilyn Wayne, moored next to the Splendour, could have offered vital information crucial to establishing a timeline that was never officially composed. Wayne was never interviewed by authorities even after calling and offering her account. Roger Smith, the Coast Guard Lieutenant who retrieved Wood’s body was never interviewed and was quickly transferred and demoted after being vocal about the Wood case. Former lead detectives in the case, Duane Rasure and Frank Salerno, refuse to accept and to report new, verifiable, vital information pertaining to Wood's death.

4) There was a drastic delay in calling for help from aboard the Splendour after Natalie was no longer on board. Wagner and Davern were fully aware of Natalie’s absence from approximately 11:05 P.M. on, yet a ship-to-shore, local call was not placed until 1:30 A.M. and the Coast Guard was not called until 3:30 A.M., a complete violation of maritime protocol. Davern wanted to call for help immediately but was forbidden by Wagner to do so. This inexcusable delay in reporting a person missing from a yacht was never officially examined.

5) The "banging dinghy theory" (what has become the unofficial explanation for Wood’s death) is a senseless theory, and can easily be proven invalid. The dinghy was tied securely at the STERN, with two lines. No questions were asked about dinghy procedure. Wagner has never volunteered the fact that the use of the yacht's swim step is unnecessary in securing a dinghy. Instead, he promoted the theory that Natalie, a woman deathly afraid of water, was in her nightclothes on a dark swim step performing a boat chore. There was no official effort to determine how, when, and by whom Splendour’s dinghy was released. Instead, the death scene was compromised. The dinghy was handled after being found, and detectives left Splendour under the watch of a restaurant owner. The restaurant owner and his employee entered and used Splendour while it should have been considered a sealed-off crime scene until determined otherwise. The master stateroom aboard the Splendour, despite being in peculiar disarray, was compromised rather than scrutinized.

Top 10 Reasons to Re-open the Natalie Wood Case

I have always called the Natalie Wood tragedy the "Natalie Wood Case." The official investigation into Natalie's death has been closed since approximately one week after her death, but I long ago started asking the question you've seen in some media: Natalie Wood's death: is it a closed case or a cold case?

Again, officially it's a CLOSED CASE. But, it should be considered a COLD CASE. A thorough investigation never transpired for Natalie. Regardless, Natalie's death remains "a case."  We still talk about it, we still examine it. It's a case.

Building on the hope to have the case reopened, I've been thinking hard about the details of the Natalie Wood Case, trying to reach the top ten most important elements that should be prominent and useful to get the case reopened. In other words: what top ten elements can help us to convince the media and authorities that the Natalie case should be re-examined? Some of the key points are obvious, but before I compose this important list, I want to be sure I've missed nothing. After I read suggestions, I will compose a final list to be used in the media. Thank you to all who will contribute.

I will greatly appreciate your help. This is something we can work on together. Two heads are better than one, and in this case, many heads are better than two. These key points can include "red flags" overlooked and anything relating to the investigation. Basically, it's a top ten list of

WHY THE NATALIE WOOD CASE SHOULD BE REOPENED.

Here are some of my key points (not in any particular order of importance). I will edit and shorten these... I am simply just listing the key points in more detail for this blog as it may trigger other points.

1)  Key witnesses were ignored and./or not pursued and questioned properly (Dennis Davern, Christopher Walken, Marilyn Wayne, Roger Smith, and Robert Wagner). Had all of these witnesses been questioned and/or interrogated separately, inconsistencies that later surfaced may have been detected immediately.

2) The three survivors of the fateful cruise all told different stories in the media, and each of those stories differ from what each survivor told the authorities at the scene.

3) There was never an effort to pursue how Natalie Wood received over 25 body wounds and bruises.
Nor was there an effort to determine WHY Natalie left the yacht.
  
4) The lead coroner in the case was fired for offering too much information to the public and has since remained silent after offering the public a theory that does not mesh with new and current information.
Noguchi made terrible mistakes in his theories. He claimed Natalie's down jacket helped to drown her immediately by pulling her under and sapping her strength whereas her down jacket is obviously what served as a life preserver.

5) There was a drastic delay in calling for help from aboard the Splendour after Natalie was no longer aboard the yacht. The delay is completely the opposite of what maritime rules call for.

6) There now exists a certified polygraph test passed by the last person to witness the circumstances surrounding Natalie "disappearance" and in that test is a question passed: Robert Wagner was with Natalie Wood on the back deck of the yacht when she went missing. Wagner told the police he had no clue what happened to his wife. It took him over two decades to admit there was a main salon argument where he broke a wine bottle in anger (something he never told the authorities) but he lied about the details of the argument, claiming Natalie was not in the room. Natalie was in the room when he smashed the wine bottle, something also passed by Davern on a polygraph test. Christopher Walken is a living witness to the bottle smashing who could be questioned to settle the issue.

7) The person, Marilyn Wayne, to last hear Natalie Wood crying out for help was totally ignored by the detectives. They claim to have interviewed her but she insists they completely ignored her even though she volunteered her input. Marilyn Wayne is willing to take a polygraph test.

8) Roger Smith, the Coast Guard Lieutenant who retrieved Natalie's body from the ocean tried to offer startling information but was completely ignored by authorities, then later transferred and demoted in what he believes was an effort to silence him.

9) The "banging dinghy theory" has since been proven virtually impossible. The dinghy was tied securely AFT, not PORT, with two lines.

10) A crime scene was compromised. Detectives left the yacht under the supervision of a restaurant owner. The restaurant owner slept aboard the yacht and allowed one of his waitresses to sleep aboard what should have been considered a sealed-off crime scene area.

11) The master stateroom aboard the Splendour was a mess, indicative of trouble aboard the yacht.

12) Wagner's demeanor since the tragedy includes proven lies and different versions of what happened the night of Nov. 28, 1981.

I look forward to your comments, suggestions, and input...I will post the top list soon.

Wagner called out on Chelsea Handler show "Chelsea Lately"

Chelsea Lately - Starring Chelsea Handler | E! Online

Several people have emailed me to let me know that Natalie Wood was part of a discussion on Chelsea's show. I didn't see it and am trying to look it up online. Apparently, Natalie's name came up and several  comedians were talking about how much they love and admire Natalie. One of the comedians addressed the camera and yelled out, "RJ, you know what you did!!"
Chelsea added that when she read Wagner's book "Pieces of My Heart" she felt that his version of the night Natalie died was BS.

It's about time some celebrities speak up. Last fall, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" made a few suggestive statements about the night Natalie died in one of their scenes. It was PLANNED for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" because I was notified more than a week prior to the show by our publicist that the reference related to "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour."  Now, another comedian called-out RJ on Chelsea's show and hopefully people in the celebrity world will stop feeling too intimidated to talk about the atrocity of Natalie's death.

The comedians on Chelsea's show prove that there are people out there--including those in the celebrity world--who have come to the conclusion that RJ knows more about Natalie's death than he has ever let on. People don't need the influence of GNGS to know that something sinister occurred the night of Natalie's death. It's the circumstances of Natalie's death coupled with RJ's actions that creates doubt and suspicion in people's minds. GNGS only fills in all the blanks and answers the questions of exactly what transpired just before and after Natalie was no longer aboard the Splendour. Dennis Davern's account is the proof and his account was passed on a polygraph test administered by an experienced, certified Polygraphist. Dennis's account makes perfect sense as truth usually does.

Chelsea's show is on E! Channel.

Natalie Wood

Born July 20, 1938, Natalie Wood would have turned 72 today had she survived a November 1981 cruise she took with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken, and her yacht captain, Dennis Davern. All three of the surviving men of that cruise lied to the police during an investigation into why Natalie Wood was found in her nightgown, socks, and red down jacket, floating in the Pacific with over 25 bruises to her body.

In current times we turn to the Internet for information about famous people. We Google names and usually read the Wikipedia info on people and things we research. Here's what it says at Wikipedia about Natalie Wood's death: (a summary filled with inaccuracies).

In September and October 1981, Wood and Wagner stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Wood did location work for the science-fiction film Brainstorm. Wood then spent most of November in California shooting interior scenes with Christopher Walken and other cast members on the MGM lot in Culver City.


The day after Thanksgiving, Wood, Wagner and Walken went to Catalina Island for the weekend and on the night of November 28 their yacht (Splendour) was anchored in Isthmus Cove. Also on board was the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern, who had worked for the couple for many years. Wood apparently either tried to leave the yacht or secure a dinghy from banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. A woman on a nearby yacht said she heard calls for help at around midnight. The cries lasted for about 15 minutes and were answered by someone else who said, "Take it easy. We'll be over to get you". "It was laid back," the witness recalled. "There was no urgency or immediacy in their shouts". An investigation by Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning. Noguchi concluded Wood had drunk "seven or eight" glasses of wine and was intoxicated when she died. There were marks and bruises on her body which Noguchi speculated could have been received as a result of her fall. Noguchi later wrote that had Wood not been intoxicated, she likely would have realized her heavy down-filled coat and wool sweater were pulling her underwater and would have removed them. Noguchi also wrote that he found Wood's fingernail scratches on the side of the rubber dinghy indicating she was trying to get in. Wood was 43 at the time of her death and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

The only way to correct inaccuracies at Wikipedia is to keep trying, and sources must be cited for the new information you include. Anyone can try to update and correct info, and sometimes your corrections are maintained, and sometimes erased within a day. Many have tried to correct info at Natalie's Wiki page, only to see the info erased within 24 hours. Maybe we can all form a group and post the same facts at the same day. It's something to consider. In any case, maybe by Natalie's 75th birthday (hopefully sooner), the correct information about her death will be available at these Internet pages that should be accurate. Wouldn't it be nice to see a footnote stating that Noguchi had no idea it was the down jacket that kept Natalie afloat rather than the object he claims "dragged her under"? My down jacket test, indeed, is important!
 
We all wish Natalie had survived that fateful cruise. The world was robbed of one beautiful, decent woman that day in November 1981. She was robbed of the opportunity to have spent this day with her children, celebrating her legendary career and life. 
 
Some people will never be forgotten. Natalie Wood is one of them.

Mel Gibson Tapes

Will Robyn (and Australia) Take Mel Gibson Back? | PopEater.com

What a mess Mel Gibson is experiencing at this time. I loved much of Mel Gibson's work and always admired him in the entertainment industry. Up until his wife filing for divorce, I also thought he was a rare exception in the business, too -- one who could maintain a normal family life while being a prominent figure in the industry, but then things started to happen: his DUIs, his prejudices surfacing, his drunken words.

It goes to show that we never know the true personalities behind the characters we see on the screen. In one of the Gibson tapes, he says he could put Oksana (his girlfriend who released the damaging tapes, and also mother of his daughter) "in the rose garden" and that he "knew how to do it." It reminds me of what Charlie Sheen had said to his wife in Aspen, about knowing cops who would help him to cover up killing her and making her disappear despite how much money her family had. Some celebrities become so incredibly arrogant it is disheartening.  

Celebrities are not the characters they play. They are human and prone to all human tendencies. Sometimes their fans make excuses for them based on a "nice character" they once played. We never really know their true personalities because all we see is what they want to be seen, but sometimes they cross a line they can never retreat to. This has happened in Mel's case. TV still seems to think we want to see Charlie Sheen.
I don't.
It's really time to bring the Natalie Wood case to where it belongs. I assure you, it will be our priority in the coming months.

The media sure is giving the entire Gibson case a lot of attention. It's a shame that Natalie Wood never received the same, that there was no credible in-depth look into the man who was last with her when she mysteriously ended up in the Pacific.
No, it's not too late. Please bear with us.   

News about "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" availability.

I have been very busy preparing the new information for “Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour” which will be available to everyone much sooner than November as stated at book-selling sites. In fact, the new version of "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour” will be available in a few weeks.

Here’s what happened and an explanation for why GNGS is out of stock: Our book was purchased for publication in 2008 by Michael Viner, the president of Phoenix Books and Audio. Michael passed away just a few weeks before GNGS was released. Michael had so much planned for GNGS that never transpired, but now that we have acquired all rights of the book, we plan to continue the mission to bring Natalie Wood justice.

Phoenix was basically a “Michael Viner operation” but the owners of the independent publishing company decided to keep the company going after Michael passed. From what I’ve learned, Phoenix had made a few bad choices in book acquisitions and, coupled with the down-economy, the owners decided to close up shop. I was told that GNGS was their best selling book of all its fall 2009 releases and it has completely sold out. Unfortunately, no more hardbacks will be available, at least not at this time. There are only a few hardbacks left, available only from a few outside sellers (listed at Amazon). Because it’s now considered an out-of-print book, some are selling for more expensive amounts.

Kindle is also unavailable until we transfer to our new distributor, E-reads. E-Reads will be taking over all electronic downloads, and as the paperback has been cancelled by Phoenix, a printed version will be available for print-on-demand orders until further notice, and GNGS will soon be available in every format but hardback with the new information included.

I will make the exact date announcement soon.

Phoenix left many authors in a quandary after their sudden decision to close their doors. Some of the authors had just been published, therefore facing a mess in transferring to other sources. It was also a troublesome position for GNGS as the company had already put the paperback up for sale. For any who ordered the paperback, an email from the selling site should soon be coming to inform you of GNGS’s availability in all the new formats.

I may have a limited supply of hardbacks I intend to offer for sale (new and author-signed) at regular rates from this blog, and I will announce that at a later time. It depends on if there is any left-over stock, but it appears there is not. I will also have the option of purchasing the audio versions left over (the only leftover format) and I will offer them for sale at this blog, too, for the same price we might acquire them. More info to come on that.

But, as for the hardback, you may now consider it an out-of-print book.
So, that’s what’s been going on with the availability of GNGS. It has nothing to do with us: a publisher decided to go out of business after its company president passed away.

GNGS will be available for purchase in several formats within a few weeks. Thank you to all who purchased the hardback version. Dennis and I truly appreciate that you were interested in the truth about the death of Natalie Wood.

I will post the minute the availability is up and running with the new information included as a forward. Thank you!