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Nancy Grace
Natalie Wood Investigation Heads to Hawaii
Aired November 25, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Hollywood beauty, actress Natalie Wood, dead in a boating accident. For years, the case remains closed, believing Wood goes overboard by accident during a private cruise. In the midst of allegations she`s part of a volatile love triangle with both men on board the night she dies, a witness from a nearby boat swears under oath she hears a woman in the water screaming for help. Another witness says the Hollywood star`s body still warmed when pulled out of the ocean water. Tonight, case reopened.
Bombshell tonight. Torpedo to the timeline as questions surface about the condition of the star`s body at the time she`s found dead. The yacht captain on board that night passes a polygraph. This as cops head to Hawaii to forensically examine the movie star`s yacht for themselves. The star`s sister with us tonight, taking your calls, insisting she, too, has suspicions about the drowning. Cops full on the case of the Hollywood beauty and movie superstar. Suspicion, murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within a split (ph) second (ph), Robert Wagner picked up a wine bottle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Natalie Wood was one of the most popular, most sought-after actresses in Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smashed it on the coffee table.
GRACE: Natalie Wood allegedly part of a very volatile love triangle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he yelled out, What are you trying to do, blank my wife...
-- blank my wife...
-- blank my wife...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Thanksgiving weekend when Wood and her actor husband Robert Wagner were sailing on their yacht, the Splendour.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boat captain says...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We necessarily really didn`t lie, we just didn`t tell everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently, we have received information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That at about 11:00 o`clock, he actually sees Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Enough to make us take another look at this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about the reopening of the Natalie Wood case?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Davern also says Wagner waited four hours after Wood disappeared before calling the Coast Guard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I was -- I was in shock (INAUDIBLE) total shock.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Insisting the "Splendor in the Grass" star died of accidental drowning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robert Wagner a suspect?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Hollywood beauty dead in a boating accident. The case now reopened. Torpedo to the timeline as questions surface about the condition of the star`s body at the time she is found dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Natalie Wood apparently slipped, hit her head and drowned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She apparently attempted to get onto the dinghy, slipped and fell in the water, unable to return to the dinghy or the boat.
GRACE: Isn`t it true, Dennis Davern, that the oars on the dinghy were still locked down? She had not been rowing at all?
DENNIS DAVERN, YACHT CAPTAIN: The oars were still in place and the key was still in the off position in the dinghy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A heated argument had ensued between Wood`s husband, Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken, a guest on the yacht.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A short time later, Wagner notified the fourth person on the yacht, Captain Dennis Davern, that Wood was not on board.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I was in -- I was in shock, you know, I mean, total shock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just knew that Natalie was so deathly afraid of water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Suspicions about the death of a Hollywood start, gorgeous actress Natalie Wood, dead after she falls off a private yacht, the yacht called the Splendour, named after her blockbuster movie "Splendor in the Grass."
Somehow that night on board, all three members of an alleged love triangle, Woods, along with her husband and alleged lover, all three on the boat. In fact, the yacht captain told me to my face it was so tense the night before, the star had him take her to a hotel rather than endure the tension on board. The next morning, she`s back. And within 24 hours, she is dead.
We are taking your calls. First to Tom O`Neil with Goldderby.com. Tom O`Neil, a lot of problems -- problems, let me say, with the timeline. What have we learned?
TOM O`NEIL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Well, we`ve learned that her body was fished out of the water at 7:45 AM and did not have rigor mortis, which means that she was alive probably two hours before that. So let`s put that at 5:00-something AM. She had been missing since 11:00. That means, Nancy, in those six intervening hours, if this search had only been conducted earlier on, she may be alive today.
GRACE: And to Rob Shuter, Popeater`s "Naughty but Nice," you know the story as well as anyone after all of your research. An independent witness comes forward, Rob Shuter, and says -- and she said it at the time, too. She didn`t just make this up for somebody`s book coming up. Rob, she says that night, she heard a woman calling out, Help me, help me, I`m drowning, somebody help me, a woman`s voice.
ROB SHUTER, POPEATER.COM: Yes. Oh, absolutely. She`s said this before, but now it`s being taken very seriously. And I think what this indicates to all of us is that Natalie was probably that woman screaming for help. And if she was, that means that she was alive in the water. She did not hit her head and black out and drown. She was in the water for maybe hours, desperately fighting for her life.
GRACE: Joining me right now and taking your calls is a Hollywood legend. Lana Wood is with us. She is Natalie`s sister. Ms. Wood, thank you so much for being with us. You are an icon to so many, most people familiar with you in your own right from all of your starring roles in movies. A lot of people don`t even realize you are Natalie`s sister.
You refer to her husband, Robert Wagner, as R.J. What is your understanding, Ms. Wood, of what happened on Natalie`s yacht that night?
LANA WOOD, NATALIE WOOD`S SISTER (via telephone): Well, I`ll backtrack a little bit, is -- when all this first occurred, no one had said anything to me. I heard the news second, third-hand through a friend of mine who called me on the phone, and then on the news on television. And the only thing that R.J. ever said to me was, It was an accident, you`ve got to believe me. And that was it.
I know that -- I really take a great deal of responsibility for not having pushed more, done more. But I was in such shock and denial and confused and -- as I -- as I still am to this day, actually. It was then years later Dennis Davern started calling me late in the evening, late at night Florida time, crying, speaking sometimes incoherently, running words together that didn`t always make sentences, very, very tormented. I mean, the man was absolutely tormented and started telling me what really happened.
I think he was -- he was upset to such a degree that he tried to find me at a telecommunications company where I was working at the time, and he told the same things to the receptionist because I wasn`t in at the time. He felt horribly guilty. He blamed himself for not being stronger, faster, more insistent.
What I gleaned from all of his -- his stories to me was that the entire weekend was quite tumultuous, very, very volatile, a lot of drinking going on, which is not a surprise. That`s what people back then did. There weren`t so much the drugs, it was -- you know, you drank.
There was a fight. R.J. broke a bottle. The fight continued. Natalie left the room and I guess, you know, started to prepare herself to go to bed. And evidently, they were not quite finished with the fight and R.J. followed.
Dennis told me that he heard bad (ph) physical noises, was his verbiage, coming from the stateroom. He then went to the stateroom and knocked on the door, and he said R.J. answered, you know, with a -- just opened the door a bit and looked very, very distraught, and you know, said basically for Dennis to go away.
And Dennis then walked through the salon, turned up the music so that nobody else would hear, and then began to make his way towards the back of the boat, where Natalie and R.J.`s stateroom is.
As he got to the back of the boat, the doors were open from the stateroom and R.J. was standing alone in the back and said to Dennis that she was gone.
Now, another time Dennis had also told me that there were things that he saw that went on before that, that would be too painful for me to know.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVERN: That night there was a -- there was an argument that actually started the day before. But that particular night, in the afternoon, Christopher Walken and Natalie, they had gone ashore to a restaurant, which was the only restaurant on that part of the island. The tension was building throughout the whole weekend of Robert Wagner being jealous of Christopher Walken.
We all went back to the boat. I tied the dinghy up on the swim (ph) platform with the a bow line and a stern line. And we all went inside the boat and opened a bottle of wine, put the kettle on for some tea because Natalie liked to have tea before she went to bed.
And the jealousy was just getting so, so tense that Robert Wagner had picked up the bottle of wine and smashed it right in front of Natalie and Christopher on the coffee table. And at that moment, Christopher stood up and went directly to his stateroom. That was the last I`ve seen of him for that whole night.
At that point, Natalie was devastated and she went into her stateroom, and Robert Wagner had followed. And they were arguing in the stateroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOOD: I can`t imagine that he purposefully would have done anything to hurt Natalie.
DAVERN: The tension that was going on the whole time between Robert Wagner, Natalie and Christopher, it was just getting to a boiling point.
WOOD: However, I know things happen.
DAVERN: Robert Wagner followed Natalie and they continued arguing and their voices...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Violence, yelling?
DAVERN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. New evidence torpedoes the timeline in the case of Hollywood superstar Natalie Wood.
I want to go back out to Lana Wood. This is Natalie`s sister. Now, you told me that you heard about Natalie`s death and disappearance on TV. Why didn`t her husband call you?
WOOD: As soon as you find out, would you let me know? Who knows? The whole thing was just, you know, a nightmare, a living nightmare. I don`t know.
GRACE: You know, you also stated, Ms. Wood -- everyone, with us is a movie legend in her own right, Lana Wood. You mentioned as part of your story, all of his stories -- quote, "all of his stories." What did you mean by that? Did his story change?
WOOD: Dennis`s, you mean?
GRACE: Robert Wagner.
WOOD: Oh, Robert Wagner. Yes, his story changed. I don`t understand why, you know, people are choosing to pick at Dennis, who is finally standing up and got the courage to say all this, when R.J.`s stories have changed constantly, from his interviews with the detective that came on board the Splendour -- that was one story, that Dennis told me when he got Chris and him together, that everybody was to tell the same story, and that was the story that was fabricated.
And then all of a sudden, many, many years later, when R.J. decided to write a book, all of a sudden, he did smash the wine bottle, whereas before, he told -- and this is a quote. He told the detective that it was probably broken due to high seas, and you know, it rolled off. Then there was the ridiculous, Oh, a bottle wine was left in the dinghy, and that`s what she went after.
I mean, it just -- why -- why does everyone choose to take Dennis to task? Do we only believe people that are charismatic and big celebrities, and the rest of us, it`s just kind of too bad? I mean, it hurts me. It hurts me that these stories are being told. I can`t bear it for Natalie, for Natalie`s sake. Obviously, doesn`t hurt me personally. It hurts my heart, but it`s -- I just -- I`m just beside myself, as I`m sure you can understand.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls. And with us, Lana Wood, Natalie`s sister, as new evidence emerges torpedoing the timeline that had been given in the death of Natalie Wood.
Out to the lines. To Roberta in Arizona. Hi. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. It`s good to talk with you. Yes, I`m just beside myself regarding this whole thing. My question is, where is Christopher in all of this?
GRACE: You know, good question. Out to Ellie Jostad. Weigh in, Ellie.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Christopher Walken has very rarely spoken about this. In fact, TMZ caught up with him just yesterday or today, and he said he just doesn`t know why this has been reinvestigated. He does admit there was a bit of an argument there that night, but he said it was nothing serious. And he claims that he went back to his stateroom and was asleep, apparently, when this whole argument between Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner occurred.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. To Jason in Canada. Hi, Jason. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you today?
GRACE: I`m great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s awesome. I have two quick questions. Why didn`t she...
GRACE: Go ahead, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did she -- OK. Why she wait 30 years to speak? And why didn`t she notify authorities when she heard Natalie screaming for help?
GRACE: That`s a good question, Jason in Canada. As a matter of fact, she called authorities the night she heard the screams. She gave an original police statement and stands by her story today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came back to the boat and they said they found Natalie Wood`s body floating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOOD: There are so many parts of Natalie that are still with all of us. It`s -- it`s the movies. It`s the smile. It`s the laughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The death of actress Natalie Wood.
WOOD: She shouldn`t have died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently, we have received information which we felt was substantial, enough to make us take another look at this case.
WOOD: You have no idea how painful this is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taking a second look at this mysterious case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. We are taking your calls. New evidence torpedoes the timeline of Natalie Wood. The star died, allegedly, after falling overboard after a heated argument with her husband. Tension had been brewing for days, as all three members of an alleged love triangle end up on the same yacht.
Unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Odom, Bradford Cohen, Randy Kessler. Of course, the husband, Wagner, has not been named a suspect in this case, but something has led to the reopening of her death investigation.
Eleanor Odom, never a good idea to have all three members of an alleged love triangle on board a yacht on days for end.
ELEANOR ODOM, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOC.: Well, that was their first mistake, Nancy. But you know what, Nancy? It`s so interesting to me, though. A lot of cases that maybe have been unexplained over the years have been given a second look.
And it`s really good to have a new pair of eyes look at this evidence and really examine that timeline because, Nancy, as you know, the timeline in a homicide case or in an involuntary manslaughter case, whatever, is so important, if you suspect that. And there are a lot of unusual things that happened in this case. For instance, her body and the fact that she probably wasn`t in the water for hours. So let`s look at it now.
GRACE: OK, Bradford Cohen, it takes a lot to reopen a 30-year-old police investigation. So cops obviously have something that has led them - - they`re traveling all the way to Hawaii to forensically investigate and examine the boat for themselves, Bradford.
BRADFORD COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I mean, you know, traveling to Hawaii to forensically examine a boat that`s 30 years old -- who knows how many times it`s been redone during those 30 years. I think it`s going to be -- I don`t see where they`re going with...
GRACE: Is that what I asked you?
COHEN: Excuse me?
GRACE: Is that what I asked you?
COHEN: I`m saying...
GRACE: That`s not what I asked you.
COHEN: ... it`s a waste of time, is what...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: I`m telling you what it is. It`s a waste of time, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, I appreciate that. I`m going to try to throw the same question to Randy Kessler.
COHEN: It`s going nowhere.
GRACE: My question was not whether the investigation would be fruitful as to the boat. It likely won`t be. But the reality is, whatever tips cops have gotten that have reopened this death investigation has caused them to travel all the way to Hawaii to forensically investigate the boat themselves.
We don`t know what they`re looking for. They could be looking for a feature on the inside of the cabin, for all I know, a door, a window. We don`t know whether it`s going to be fruitful or not. My point is how seriously they`re taking the reopening of this investigation, Kessler.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: True, but I`m going to agree with my brother counsel Brad because you know what? Thirty years is a long time. You better have a heck of a lot, and there`s no way that they`re going to convict this guy of murder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Natalie Wood, her death shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A boating trip off the California coast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yachting with her hubby Robert Wagner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She apparently attempted to get on to the dinghy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Wood`s somehow ended up in the water and drowned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The oars were in place and the keys were in the off position and the dinghy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still dressed in a night gown and socks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wouldn`t leave the house unless she was fully made up and glitters. It`s ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Natalie was deathly afraid of the water and not really capable of taking that boat by herself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only R.J. and Natalie know. An only one of them can speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Robert Wagner a suspect?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of Hollywood`s most enduring mysteries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is important is to get to the bottom of what actually did happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Welcome back everybody. Now, new evidence seems to torpedo the existing timeline in the case of missing Hollywood star, movie legend Natalie Wood.
You know, I`m going to try to get the law out of you Eleanor Odom, Felony prosecutor with the National D.A. Association, death penalty qualified. Eleanor, what I was trying to extract from Cohen and Kessler, but you know, I`m just a J.D., I`m not a D.D.S. I don`t know how to pull teeth.
Eleanor, one of the first cases I ever tried was the re-opening the re-trial of a 14-year-old murder, alright? Very hard to put back together. What does it take to reopen a 30-year-old death case?
ELEANOR ODOM, SENIOR ATTORNEY, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY`S ASSOCIATION: DEATH PENALTY QUALIFIED: Usually, Nancy, its new information. Somebody came up with something that may be a small little piece that alerts authorities and pushes them toward a new investigation. As with any cases as old as fresh pair of eyes can really help narrow down the issues. And it sounds like issues that were overlooked at the time of Natalie Wood`s death. It could have been because they were overlooked because of the celebrity status of Robert Wagner. Who knows?
But now, they are being look at and you know what, Nancy, it`s never too late for justice.
GRACE: You know, you`re seeing video of "West Side Story" starring Natalie Wood from you tube. You know another thing, when you mention that, a lot of detractors said you can`t go forward with the case because of the statute there is no statute on murder one, is that correct Eleanor?
ODOM: Right, Nancy. The first degree murder, there is no statute of limitations. You find out who committed that crime, you can charge whenever, even 30 years later.
GRACE: Let`s take listen to what the yacht captain said to my face about the night Natalie Wood drowns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENNIS DAVERN, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE YACHT: The arguing went on the F deck. And moments later, everything became silent. I`m going to go to the F deck and just see if everything is OK.
Robert Wagner was standing there leaning his back against the back of the boat facing the boat. He said that Natalie was missing and would I go search the boat. So, I immediately went to my state room thinking maybe she went to my state room because she felt maybe she was safe there because the night before, Natalie and I had gone ashore and we stayed at a hotel because there was arguing the day before, as well.
So I came back and told Robert Wagner that Natalie was nowhere on the boat. I looked at Christopher`s state room, I looked at the other empty state room and she wasn`t there. So, I said to Robert Wagner -- he said to me, he said well, is the dinghy is gone, too.
I just knew that Natalie was so deathly afraid of water, and not really capable of taking that boat by herself. But he said the boat was gone and she was gone. So, I said, let`s turn on the search light and let`s just see if we can see her.
So, after that it was like he said no. I thought that maybe she would go into my state room because the night before, Robert Wagner wants to make the decision to move the boat at night which Natalie did not want to do. The weather was raining, cold, windy and not a very good idea. Natalie refused and decided she wanted to go ashore.
So, that night before I had taken Natalie ashore in Avalon and we stayed at a hotel for that night. We returned to the boat the next day hoping things would be a little smoother. So Natalie and I, we returned back to the boat. And she made a nice breakfast. Then we moved the boat to the other part of the island where there was just only one restaurant.
GRACE: Why did Robert Wagner want to move the boat, Dennis?
DAVERN: I can`t answer that. I don`t know why because it wasn`t a very, very good idea. Maybe he was angry and wasn`t sure what to do or what. I`m not sure but it was definitely not the thing to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Everyone. We are taking your calls in the disappearance and death of Hollywood superstar Natalie Wood.
An independent witness stated at that time and to this day, insisted she heard a woman screaming out that she was drowning. You know, what`s interesting about that, to Lana Wood, Natalie`s sister, she stuck by her story from the very beginning. Her story never waived, Lana.
LANA WOOD, NATALIE WOOD`S SISTER (via telephone): No, it hasn`t. And also, Marilyn was a stock broker. And Marilyn will go to tell you what she has told is that she was threatened at her work if she continued insisting that she heard Natalie. She was threatened.
GRACE: What do you mean threaten? What do you mean by that?
WOOD: She said that there were like mail boxes were -- like slots where you could leave messages for the people on her floor in her -- at her work. And that she received a letter that said she would be you know, very, very sorry if she continued with her insistence on hearing Natalie.
GRACE: To Woodrow Tripp , former police commander, polygraph expert, what do you make of that, Woody?
WOODROW TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Nancy, there are so many discrepancies on this that is like where do you start from? You know, as an investigator, is this a situation that got out of hand? You know, no one intended for her to actually drown?
You know, I have a question of Dennis` statement and the fact that Robert Wagner wanted to move the boat. If you`re the captain and offering advice as to the fact that it`s storming, "are you sure you want to do that, Mister Wagner?" I mean, I can`t understand why there`s no conversation there as to why he did want to move the boat. Is this " I don`t know why".
So, there are a lot of discrepancies here. And I think, you know as an investigator looking at this, some questions beg to be answered such as that.
GRACE: Well, another issue, Woody, is that we now learn the yacht captain has just passed a polygraph.
WOOD: He has, Nancy, but he passed a polygraph as by his own admission, that he, in fact, set up. Not to any way insinuate the polygraph examiner was - but you are setting your own polygraph up.
GRACE: Everyone, amid allegations of homicide, Natalie Wood`s body, we now learned still warmed when pulled from the water.
We are taking your calls as the case launches into a new phase of investigation. At this hour, detectives headed to Hawaii to forensically examine the yacht from which Natalie Wood falls to her drowning death.
Very quickly everybody. Our photo family album is back. Please share your photo with us to ireport family album. We are going to feature them on special segment right here. Go to hlntv.com/nancygrace then click on Nancy`s family album.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: L.A. homicide investigators are taking another look at the mysterious death of Hollywood legend Natalie Wood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have reopened the case of Natalie Wood`s mysterious drowning in 1981.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: the movie star drowned 30 years ago this month during a boating trip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She drowned at night. Yachting with her husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That they re-open the case of Davern`s account which he detailed in the he co-wrote two years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The captain said the efforts they should have taken weren`t taken that night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was contacted of police. He has said, Woods` death was a result of a fight with Wagner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is fascinating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From that a heated, but nonviolent argument hadn`t suit between Wood`s husband, Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a lot of questions that remain unanswered in this case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
We are back and taking your calls. Straight out to the lines. Ann in Connecticut.
Hi Ann, what`s your question?
ANN, CALLER, CONNECTICUT: Hi Nancy, how are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear.
ANN: Hey, I was wondering, and you brought this up earlier with your guest about how hard it is to prosecute an old case. So my question to you is, if the reports come back that it was suspicious and they would be going for it and you were still prosecutor, is this a case would you take on, Nancy? And that you would prosecute?
And if so, do you think Robert Wood would be convicted and if he would be convicted, what would you ask for as far as the penalty phase for a sentence?
GRACE: Well, there`s so much more to be investigated. The yacht captain`s story is very damning. And now that we know that her body was still scientifically warm, Rigor had not set in when it was cold from the water, shows that she in either just been thrown in or that she has been alive for a long time out there in the water. That confirmed or corroborates the independent witnesses` story.
The woman on the nearby sailboat that hears Natalie Wood calling out for help. And claiming she`s drowning. During the night, she calls authorities at that time. I think that there is enough evidence between those facts right there to open a full-fledged homicide investigation. That`s not pointing the finger at anyone. There were three adult men onboard that night in addition to Natalie Wood.
Also, if I were prosecuting this case as murder one, and no one has been named suspect right now. I would absolutely seek life without parole. I think in the case this calls, it would be not as feasible to seek a death penalty, but life behind bars is an absolute possibility.
To Lana Wood, this is Natalie`s sister, what do you want to see happen in the case?
WOOD: I just want the truth, for once and for all. I mean, I just find this whole thing a living nightmare. He said/she said, people getting on sides. There are no sides. There is the truth and there`s lies. That is as simple as that.
No one is trying to profit, benefit. It`s just - it was time for everybody to tell the truth. None wanted to listen to Dennis before. Dennis was afraid to say anything. And I, you know I hate to tell you all this, but you know, why didn`t he object to the boat being moved? Because it`s R.J.`s. and because R.J. is R.J.
And if he says I want to move the boat, you go, it`s not really a good idea, but OK. You know, there again, you forget who people are dealing with. They are dealing with a charismatic, you know, movie star. Television star. It isn`t -- oh, dear.
Well, I don`t know. There is so much to say. I want to hear the truth. That`s what I want. Detectives that are on this case, homicide, to be able to do their jobs. They are not going to take sides. They are going to get to the bottom of this. And I want them to be allowed to do so.
I would -- what I would dearly love if R.J. just, you know, said, hey, I will hold a press conference and I`ll say what happened or call me and tell me. I don`t know. I don`t know, Nancy. I`m such a mess over all this. It`s terrible.
GRACE: Let me ask you this. Everyone, with me is Natalie Wood`s sister, Lana Wood, a movie start in her own right. Having this dredged up again, this many years after your sister`s death, how is that affecting you personally?
WOOD: Personally, I`m a mess. I spent, you know, most of the time in tears. It`s tough for me to do interviews. I really didn`t want to. I`ve been, you know, roped into some I didn`t care to do and others that didn`t want to. I wanted to speak to you because I have a great deal of respect for you and admiration.
It`s difficult to function. It really is. It`s like reliving her death initially all over again. And it`s all the things that I have pushed to the back of my mind. That I didn`t want to admit to myself. That I didn`t want to look at because I do have a life to continue and I can`t. You know, it`s all out in the open again. I got to examine my feelings. And try to speak the truth about my being concerned about politics and what`s right to say and what`s wrong to say. Truth is easy. Life is tough. You get caught in lies. Truth is easy.
GRACE: To Doctor , psychologist, joining us out of New York. What effect is this having on family members, friends, relatives, the re-opening of the murder case - of an alleging murder case?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE DOCTOR: Well, as Lana was saying, it brings up all the memories she had. You mind up reliving the trauma of having gone through this death and the loss of her sister. On the other hand, if she can see some kind of resolve, which I can`t imagine with will really happen, but if Robert Wagner would come forward and say what would happen or something would say what would happen, that would help a lot.
GRACE: Doctor Vincent Dimaio, joining us from San Antonio. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Doctor Dimaio, what do you make of the fact rigor had not set in and Natalie Wood`s body?
DOCTOR VINCENT DIMAIO M.D., FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BEXAR COMPANY: Don`t make anything of it. Here`s the whole thing. She was at water at 62, 63 degrees. That solves the chemical process that produces rigor mortis. In addition, if you look at the liver temperature it was taken about 1:35, it was 65 degrees, which means that her body temperature had fallen 33 degrees, which would suggest the time of death was probably, you know, 10 to 12 hours prior, which would have put it somewhere 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 the prior morning. I mean, that morning.
So, you know, and the people doing the evaluation of rigor mortis, they are nor expert at that. Actually people say there`s no rigor mortis, someone looks at it and says there is.
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WOOD: The prior explanations, but I don`t think that`s going to happen. And as I said, very painful.
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GRACE: The death of Hollywood beauty, actress Natalie Wood. Accident or homicide?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of Hollywood`s classic leading ladies, one of Hollywood`s most enduring mysteries. Authorities in Los Angeles say they reopened the investigation into the death of actress Natalie Wood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently we received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stars such classic movies as "West Side Story", and "Rebel Without a Cause." Wood drowned 30 years ago, thanksgiving weekend, during a boating trip off the California coast. Her husband, Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken were on board at the time. The coroner ruled Wood`s death an accident. But the circumstances have always been mysterious. The boat captain, Dennis Davern, co-wrote a book about the night Wood drowned. He said her death was a direct result of a fight with Wagner.
DAVERN: Wagner picked up a bottle of wine and smashed it in front of Natalie and Christopher on the coffee table. Let`s turn on the search light and see if we can see her. He said no. They found Natalie Wood`s body floating, and the dinghy was somewhat nearby her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wood once told an interviewer her greatest fear was dark sea water. Her sister Lana later claimed Natalie didn`t know how to swim. 30 years later, the question remains, how did Natalie Wood end up floating in the pacific.
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GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Captain Clayton Adamkavicius, 43, Fairdale Kentucky, killed Afghanistan. Awarded breaking news star, purple heart. Remembered as devoted family man. Leaves behind a father Edmond, brothers Craig and Clint, and sisters Selina and Cindy. Widow Bonnie. Daughters Amanda Marie and Amanda ray. Clayton Adamkavicius, American Hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us.
And happy birthday to a little crime fighter, Bethany. Loves ballet, painting, Ariel, and her mom and dad. Here she is with her favorite uncle josh. Happy birthday, Bethany.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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