Natalie Wood's death: a convoluted case

One of the reasons Natalie's death information became so scattered is because many elements, or comparments, and PEOPLE, surfaced over the years that were right there from the very beginning. A thorough, INTITIAL investigation could have eliminated the "mystery" and convoluted information the case has grown into, but, as we all know, there was NOT a thorough investigation into Natalie's death. There were a few questions asked of the three surviving cruise participants and then an "accidental drowning" ruling from a coroner's office that was put under pressure to close the case fast.

The compartments of the case are:

1) The LA County Sheriff's Department: Rasure felt there was no need to investigate further than the three survivors and he bought their answers of "We don't know what happened" even after catching Dennis Davern is a contradictory statement about having spent Friday night in a motel room with Natalie in Avalon. He ignored the horribly messy master stateroom and shattered glass all over the main salon, calling it "rolling seas." He didn't check any of the cruise survivors for corresponding scratches or bruises. He did not issue a breatalyzer for any of them. He sent them home and dealt with their attorneys.

2) The medical examiner's office announced there had been an argument aboard the yacht, but was quickly contradicted by the LACSD. Noguchi went on to theorize -- He claimed there were scratches on the dinghy, Rasure says Noguchi fabricated the scratches. (Roger Smith saw scratches we later find out)
  a) Noguchi says Natalie's jacket weighed 50 lbs when wet (out of water) .. an exaggeration of more than 60% -- down jackets don't weigh 50 lbs out of water, nor do they drag a person down IN the water.
  b) Noguchi THEORIZED Natalie received her numerous bruises while trying to mount a float-away dinghy. If so, she could never have kept the socks on her feet.
 c) Noguchi THEORIZED there was a banging dinghy distrubing Natalie's sleep. She never went to sleep. She also didn't perform boat chores in the rain in the middle of the night. Nor did she ever go "star-gazing" in the dark ocean in the middle of the night (especially with a broken headlight on the dinghy...easily discovered IF questions had been asked.)
 d) Noguchi THEORIZED Natalie died around midnight. A PROFESSIONAL Coast Guard Captain (Roger Smith) tried to be vocal and let authorities know that he believed Natalie had drowned just shortly before being pulled from the ocean.

3) Roger Smith: tried to be vocal but was totally ignored. This Coast Guard Captain who cared about safety and TRUTH had wanted to let the detectives know that Wagner's PRIMARY concern when Smith showed up with the Avalon Sheriff was that his image not be affected. Wagner said, "I didn't call for help because I have an image to protect and didn't want publicity...I thought she (Natalie) was off somewhere partying on another boat because that's the kind of woman she is." The detectives never heard this information because they IGNORED Roger and the medical examiner's office.

4) Marilyn Wayne heard, along with two others, Natalie's cries for help from drowning. She was accused of wanting her fifteen minutes of fame by Detectuive Rasure...then and later on various documentaries. She CAME FORWARD and was totally ignored.

5) Lyndon Taylor sat next to the Wagner party at Doug's Harbor Reef Restaurant. He saw the bitterness and coldness in Wagner's eyes that night..he saw the anger mounting, the trouble brewing at the Wagner table.  He worried about them. He was never questioned and was moored only a football field away.

6) Paul Wintler, an Island worked, was the first to responed to the scene after Wagner's lame call, "Someone is missing" -- over TWO HOURS after Natalie was "missing." Wintler thought Wagner was overacting with screams of "Where is she, where is she?" as he took Wagner ashore. Why hadn't Wagner screamed "Where is she?" to Dennis? A few good detective questions could gotten to the bottom of that question, but Paul wasn't interviewed until Suzanne Finstad was writing a biograpghy 20 years later.

7) Harbormaster Doug Oudin should have called the Coast Guard immediately but deferred to Wagner. 

8) Pam Eaker: first to write a report for Detective Rasure. She reported (per Wagner's answer) that an immediate search started for Natalie. A makeshift search didn't start until 2:00 A.M. and a professional search not until close to 5:00 A.M. That's a far cry from "immediate." (NATALIE HAD BEEN MISSING SINCE SHORTLY AFTER 11:00 PM)

9) Doug Bombard. He was the "big help" -- he went searching for Natalie by boat, and said he'd watch over the Splendour when everyone left the scene. The LACSD did NOT secure the yacht properly. One of Bombard's waitresses (and her boyfriend) spent the night on the Splendour to help Bombard "watch over it" -- can that get any less professional?

10) Everyone bought "accident" -- WHO COULD HARM NATALIE? was the going speculation.

11) Christopher Walken was not forthcoming about the bottle smashing, nor about the true atmosphere of the weekend. He has told a few different stories throughout the long years.

12) Robert Wagner contradicted himself numerous times since the fateful cruise. His contradictions have been excused by authorities throughout the years.

13) Dennis Davern: the only eye and ear witness who is willing to cooperate with authorities...has been willing to cooperate for decades ...but falls into that list of those the authorities choose to ignore and continue to ignore.

14) It was a bungled investigation. No question about it. No one communicated...no one investigated ... no one interrogated.

FOUR of the above people have submitted their official statements to the authorities, along with our petition. Dennis, Marilyn, Roger, and Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, have all now asked, by written statement, that the authorities look into the convoluted mess Natalie's Wood's death scenario has become, all because they closed the case way too soon, way too fast.  Back in Novemebr 1981, it would've been so easy to determine that Natalie's Wood's husband was involved with Natalie Wood's death. To what degree was THEIR job to determine. A mother of two, a legendary actress, a beautiful person, was denied her due justice.  Her death was not a convoluted case: it was a rather simple one.

How sad and tragic, to this very day.
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