Part of what we learn from this book and from various other sources, is something that most of us have already known for a very long time anyway, and that is (that) an alternative cover version of events (going down on this yacht around midnight when some movie stars were intoxicated) was put forth to soften the edges on the truth of what really occurred. Okay, so maybe there’s an easier way to say it, Natalie’s death was covered up!
A very bad row took place on the deck of the yacht, between Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner, whereas he tries to leave out this small item when talking to the police and press, saying he last saw her in her room gazing into her vanity mirror. Yet Dennis Davern saw and heard the spectacle of an argument, when Robert Wagner was most angry with Natalie over her communications with Christopher Walken, her co-star on the film Brainstorm.
Oddly enough, the authorities ruled Natalie’s death an accidental drowning, in spite of the fact that the coroner found as many as two dozen suspicious bruises on various parts of her body, including her face and arms. How could she ever have sustained these bruises, other than if someone had hit her? Who could have hit her, other than Robert Wagner? See the road where this logic leads you; it’s not such a pretty path, it has curves and bumps?
I know you will read all of them, since what is reported completely doesn’t jive with the official version, which chisels down the jagged edges, that are the reality of some most intoxicated movie stars who seemed to lose a grip and went over the edge, literally (or, perhaps, figuratively, if you prefer). One old article is Heard Cries for Help Near Wagner Boat, Woman Says. This one is shocking, since Marilyn Wayne actually heard Natalie crying out for help, presumably, when she was already in the water!
But why didn’t anyone on the Splendour hear her pleas for help? I’m certain this is a question that homicide detectives, who have been charged with the task of digging up this old dirt, will want to address. The fine line between what looks like an accident and what may be something all together different, is very often a nebulous line. I sense that enough of the original evidence has yet weathered the ravages of times, however. For example, we still have some revealing print news’ pieces from the archives of The LA Times. Here’s a good case for the importance of records preservation, where the truth is frozen in an inky print news column, 30 years after the ink dries.
