In the mysterious death of Natalie Wood, numerous conspiracy
theories are possible. One of the theories implies that her husband Robert
Wagner killed her in a jealous, drunken rage. However, the second conspiracy
includes Natalie herself, could she have tried to commit suicide? The third
possibility also includes Robert Wagner and the fact that Natalie may have
questioned his sexuality.
Natalie Wood was a child prodigy; she was “born Natasha Nikolaevna
Zacharenko on July 20th, 1938, in San Francisco, California, to Russian and
Ukrainian immigrants by way of China where her oldest sister Olga was born, (Lambert).
With big brown eyes and beautiful brunette hair, she would end up being about
5'2" and would wear 6” heels to make herself seem taller (1). The only
another thing she hated more than being short was leaving the house without
makeup. She had to be presentable at all times when in public (1).
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| Miracle on 34th Street 1947 |
With Natalie's mother’s ambition for her to be a child prodigy,
she had no issues pushing away the rest of the family. Around, this time Olga
left the family home in order to live permanently with her father in San
Francisco because of her mother's inconsistency of staying in one place and the
uneasiness of the household. Natalie has a younger sister, Lana, who was born
in 1946 and still resides in California to this day, (Lamber). Lana's father
was said to be a director of one of Natalie's earlier movies. Later on, in
Natalie's career, she was cast in more of his films (Lambert). Natalie attended many grade schools due to
the nomad lifestyle her mother subjected to the family, also. During this time,
Natalie attended a ballet class with soon to be co-stars Jill St. John, who
ended up marrying Wagner in 1990 and is still married to this day, and they
reside in Colorado (1). Stephanie Powers co-starred with Wagner from 1979-1984
on the tv show Hart to Hart (1). Natalie went on to Van Nuys High School in
California, where she graduated in 1956 (1). In Natalie’s life of being and
child prodigy drove the household, so everyone had to fall in to place.
Natalie and Elvis
As a child prodigy, Natalie's first
acting role was in "Happy Land" at the age of four years old, with a
fifteen-second scene in the film that started her career, (Los Angeles Times).
When Natalie was seven years old, executives David Lewis and William Goetz of
RKO pictures suggested her name be changed to Natalie Wood after the famous
director Sam Wood. Later, she was quoted saying she hated the name Wood (Lambert).
Like many Child prodigies, Natalie’s
romantic life was scarred. In 1956,
Natalie dated Elvis Presley, whom she said was “boring” (Lambert). In 1957, Natalie at age 19 married Robert
Wagner, who was 27 years old at the time: “Wood Admitted to having a childhood
crush on Robert Wagner who was eight years senior,” (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
IN..). In 1973, Wood filed for divorce citing "mental cruelties"(1).
One source cited that the divorce was due to Wagner's sexuality being
questioned (Lambert). Natalie then married Richard Gregson in 1969, which
resulted in a daughter Natasha Gregson (1). The couple divorced in 1972, due to
Wood overhearing what she said was an “Inappropriate conversation between
Wood’s then secretary and Gregson (1). Wagner and Wood remarried in 1973 and
had a daughter Courtney Wagner in 1974. The couple remained married until her
death in 1981(WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN...). Even though she was considered a
brilliant child prodigy for her time, she didn’t truly have a chance to live
life to the fullest.
Did Robert Wagner kill Natalie Wood in a drunken jealous rage, and
why? Robert Wagner was the last person
to see Natalie Wood alive. Since Robert
Wagner was the last person who saw Natalie Wood alive, shouldn’t he be able to
explain the bruises the Corner found on her body? The autopsy stated:
These were microscopically
examined from histopathological slides and confirm to be subcutaneous
hemorrhages that can only occur while the subject was alive. They were also very fresh, indicating they
occurred immediately before Wood’s heart stopped by drowning. (WHAT REALLY
HAPPENED IN...)
These bruises could have
possibly come from the confrontation that Wagner and Wood’s had earlier in
their cabin. Alternatively, perhaps the bruises are from Wagner trying to force
her overboard. Was Natalie so aggravated with Robert Wagner that she jumps
overboard to get away from him? At this
point, Wagner and Woods have been bickering all weekend. At some point, a person would get exhausted
from the never-ending arguments. That may have been the reason for the
over-consumption of alcohol on Natalie’s part. Also, in the early years,
Natalie tried to commit suicide more than once.
Natalie was terrified of open water, and she did not know how to
swim. Would a legally drunk person who did not know how to swim intentionally
walk the deck of a boat? The night of her death it was 48f° and misting. With Natalie’s terror of water, she would have never
willingly jumped in open water or even tried to pilot a dingy on her own. A few
nights before her death she did ask to be removed from the situation, “Wood
Stated she had enough from Wagner and asked the boat skipper Davern to take her
to ashore in the dingy” (Natalie Wood Death Probe..). The third possibility
also includes Robert Wagner and the chance that Natalie may have slipped and
fell. Perhaps he just refused to report it promptly. The Coroners reported:
The only thing keeping her from sinking was her red down jacket
which acted as a buoyancy compensator or floatation device. Aside from the jacket, Wood was only dressed
in a blue and red flannel nightgown and calf-length, blue argyle socks. She had no shoes or underclothes. (WHAT
REALLY HAPPENED IN...)
With what Natalie was
wearing could she have possibly slipped and falling overboard. Alternatively, if
Wagner grabbed her and she pulled away, and she fell overboard by accident. If
this is the case, why not call for help? Why not render aid? Why not let Davern
turn on the spotlights to check the waters.
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| Vanity Fair Article March 2000 |
This brings one to think that Wagner was distraught with Natalie
and killed her in a jealous rage. Natalie may have questioned Wagner's
sexuality, and he became outraged with her.
She may have just spoken her peace and was over the whole situation, and
he was too angry to let it go. Also, with Natalie being intoxicated, she might
have just wanted to sleep, and he was not done with the conversation and made
some threats. Natalie may have gone out on the deck to get away from him.
Wagner being enraged by this tussled with her, and maybe she slipped and fell
overboard.
I did a survey of 27 random people, and the results were:
1. Do you think Robert Wagner killed her? 15
2. Do you think she committed suicide? 1
3. Do you believe her death was an accident? 2
4. I didn’t know who the couple was. 9
This poll was
interesting because of the wide range of opinions but, then you had people who
didn’t even know who they were. Makes
you really think about how many things that go on in the world that some people
are totally oblivious to.
In conclusion, the autopsy stated that:
Choi based his estimated time of death on three factors. One is
that approximately 500 ccs of undigested food remained in Wood’s stomach. Based on the witness evidence that she’d
eaten around 9:00pm, that digestive sequence is consistent with a 3-hour period
before digestive system stopped. Second,
the water temperature and Wood’s physical size (120 pounds) would have quickly
brought on hypothermia. Third, the rigor
state was consistent with death occurring about 8 hours before her body was
found. (WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN...)
There was also a mention
of Natalie's bladder having "300 ccs in on of fluid in" (Nancy Grace
Weighs in on...), which brings one to think about how the human body works. The
fight or flight reflexes in the human body would make the bladder release its
contents. So, if Natalie were fighting and trying to save her own life
possibly, she would not have had any substances in her bladder. For example,
when you were young and about to get in big trouble with your parents, you
always needed to go to the restroom. That is the sympathetic nervous system and
its fight or flight response. So, if one were to know these things about the
body, you would take these things into account.
 |
| Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner |
For each person killed by domestic violence, collateral victims
suffer too. The Dallas Morning News last
year noted that in Texas in 2016, 146 women were murdered in domestic violence
incidents (about one every other day) and 24 "bystanders" were killed
in these incidents. Additionally, 183
children lost a parent. (Lissner)
In this case, Natalie
Wood's kids lost their mother. The
question remains, who did it? Who took
these innocent little girl’s mother from them?
Could've very possibly been their father. We will assume it was an accident and with
Robert Wagner being the main suspect.
Works Cited
Lambert, Gavin. Natalie
Wood. Knopf, 2012.
Los Angeles Times
Staff. "How The Times Covered Natalie Wood's Mysterious Death in
1981." Latimes.com, 1 Feb. 2018, www.latimes.com/local/la-me-natalie-wood-story-stack-20180201-story.html.
"Nancy Grace
Weighs In on the Natalie Wood Mystery." The Dr. Oz Show | The Dr. Oz
Show, 8 Feb. 2018,
www.doctoroz.com/episode/true-crime-exclusive-breaking-news-natalie-wood-s-sister-speaks-out.
"Natalie Wood
Death Probe Yields More Unanswered Questions."
latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/natalie-wood-death-probe-yields-more-unanswered-questions-.html.
"WHAT
REALLY HAPPENED IN NATALIE WOOD'S DEATH?" Dying
Words, 23 Feb. 2018, dyingwords.net/what-really-happened-in-natalie-woods-de
Lissner, Caren. "US Domestic Violence Murder Rate
Rises." OZY, 11 Oct. 2018,
www.ozy.com/acumen/us-domestic-violence-murder-rate-rises/89868.
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