Natalie Wood's death no longer ruled accidental
What really happened on the yacht with Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken?
The death of Hollywood star Natalie Wood has long been the subject of bitter conspiracies. In a surprising move, after nine months of investigation, today the Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner has stricken the word "accidental" from Wood's death certificate, and ruled her cause of death as "drowning and other undetermined factors." It's a small move, but for many, it is a move in the right direction.
Some of the facts are clear. On November 28, 1981, Natalie Wood boarded a boat along with her husband Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken and the captain of the boat. They were celebrating the end of filming the movie "Brainstorm," which starred Wood and Walken. All three of them reportedly got quite drunk at a restaurant before heading out on Wood's yacht to Catalina Island.
En route to Catalina, Wood went overboard during the night. The next morning, authorities found her body a mile away. A small inflatable boat was beached nearby. Wagner speculated that Wood had been annoyed by the sound of the dinghy banging against the side of the yacht, went out in the darkness to try and fix the noise, and instead slipped into the water and was lost.
