Natalie Wood's death: a mainstream conspiracy?

[Reter]

By mainstream I mean you don't have to be a "woo" to believe something may have gone foul here. To those of you old enough to remember, what are your thoughts? Accident? Murder? Manslaughter?

[Ford_Prefect]

1. What's your favorite speculation Reter? I admit it seemed mysterious at the time.

There have been all sorts of CT attached to this including one that states Robert Wagner and Chris Walken are both gay and "helped" her drown to avoid being outed.

I don't have a preference and have no reason to consider that she could not actually drown on her own. I note the investigating office insists neither man is a person of interest in the case.

I think this does come down to what facts can be shown and proven, not " what might have been".

What evidence exists or existed then which could point to other causes, or motives of any of the people on board that night?

[kickysnana]

2. Three very drunk, volatile, angry people on a boat at night.

Anything is possible including the leading speculation.

[Lil Missy]

3. I had a major girl-crush on her and was devastated when she died.

I remember it quite well.

[kag]

4. I remember being suspicious at the time, but...

As I kept reading about it, I'm pretty confident now that it was a tragic accident. Perhaps Wagner wasn't as mournful as he could/should have been, but that doesn't mean he killed her.

[jberryhill]

5. I'll take "Woods that don't float" for $200, Alex

[zappaman]

6. Too soon! n/t

[frogmarch]

7. I’ve always thought that

Natalie and Robert, who'd both been drinking (with Christopher Walken, who was with them on the yacht), may have had an argument and that Natalie, in a huff, decided to leave the yacht in the rowboat but was unable to maneuver herself into the rowboat and fell in the water - or else fell out of the rowboat before she'd had a chance to sit down in it. Similar mishaps have happened to me when I was stone sober and tried to go from one fishing boat to another.

If there was a cover-up, it may have been to merely keep some of the Wagners' dirty laundry from being aired. I don't think anyone intentionally caused her death.

But I do wonder if the reports are true of some people in the vicinity hearing cries for help that night, and then hearing calm-sounding voices saying things like "We'll be right there."

I doubt this goes anywhere. It's intriguing, though.

~~

I wrote and posted that on DU in 2006, and it still seems plausible to me.

[Mc Mike]

8. She and Walken were doing a movie vs. CIA MKULTRA

Brainstorm

1983 Movie

Brainstorm is a 1983 science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumbull and starring Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher and Cliff Robertson. It was Wood's final film appearance, as she died during... wikipedia.org

[undeterred]

9. The captain of the yacht may know what happened to her...

and he may have been paid off not to reveal it.

[frankfacts]

10. Wood would have made an interesting presence in today's scene,

having had a three-way friendship with Nick Adams and Elvis, too. My first post, here, thank you.

[Number9Dream]

11. Welcome to DU

[Number9Dream]

12. Unless proven otherwise, I believe it was an accident

I essentially agree with what frogmarch said upthread.

As a lifelong Natalie Wood fan, I've read a lot about her life, and that tragic night in 1981. From Suzanne Finstad's biography of Natalie, it was reported that the bay was blustery and choppy that evening. The inflatable dinghy had been tied to the yacht after they'd returned from Doug's Harbor Reef. It seems reasonable that Natalie either had tried to secure the dinghy from bumping the hull, or had tried to climb into the dinghy. She was wearing a down jacket, which kept her afloat, but was so heavy when saturated with water (later weighed at 30 pounds), that it prevented Natalie from pulling herself into the dinghy. The bruises mentioned in the second coroner's report could have been caused by her struggle to climb into the dinghy.

Suzanne Finstad warns that captain Dennis Davern's recollection may be "tainted by his profit motive and riddled with his own inconsistencies".

I still miss her, but thankfully we have her many wonderful films.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/14/natalie-wood-death-coroner-report_n_2472840.html

http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/nataliewood/nataliewood.htm