Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Natalie Wood death mystery episode 2: Sister Lana speaks

Episode Date: June 22, 2017

After Natalie Wood's body washed up on an island beach Nov. 29, 1981, the Los Angeles County coroner quickly concluded the 43-year-old actress's death was an accidental drowning. The sheriff reopened the investigation in recent years and her death certificate was revised with the cause of death listed as "undetermined." Crime Stories is presenting a series of interviews with those responsible for re-heating this cold case. This episode features Lana Wood, the younger sister who has never given up finding justice for Natalie. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Natalie Wood was one of the most popular, sought-after actresses in Hollywood. This is America's sweetheart. This story is huge. It was Thanksgiving weekend, 1981, when Wood and her actor husband, Robert Wagner, went sailing on their yacht, The Splendor. They were joined by actor and friend Christopher Walken. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Wagner notified Captain Dennis Davern that Wood was not on board.

And I said to Robert Wagner, I said, let's turn on the searchlight to see if we can see her. And he said, no, we don't want to do that right now. Do you believe that maybe Robert Wagner has been hiding the real truth of what happened that night all these years? I fully believe that. We have received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case. It's old information that was never looked at that should have been looked at. I will not rest until she gets justice. Those are the words of Natalie Wood's beloved sister, Lana. I will not rest until she, Natalie, gets justice. Lana even revealing that she has received death threats to lay off RJ, Robert Wagner, the husband who was with the Hollywood star Natalie Wood

on Wood's yacht the night she mysteriously drowned. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. And joining me, our special guest, Lana Wood. Ms. Wood, thank you for being with us. Oh, thank you. Thank you. My first question is one I've addressed you so many, many times, but I've never known.

Do you like Lana or Lana? Lana, please. Okay, I thought so. I tried it both ways, and when I got no response from you, I had to break down and actually ask you. Oh, I always tell people it really doesn't matter, but my birth name is Svetlana. It's a Russian name, and my parents just sort of cut it in half and made it Lana. So, um, it's, um, I've met some, uh, some Russian women and they always call me, uh, they cut my name in half the other direction. A member of the Bolshoi Ballet called me Skata and I thought, who on earth is she talking

to? So, uh, it doesn't matter. You can call me whatever you'd like. I respond. Now, are you the younger sister were you younger than Natalie are you older I was I was I was the baby there uh we had a different I thought you were the baby that must have been hard and I'm certainly no shrink but growing up with Natalie well of course you were an actress in your own right.

You know, so you were the toast of the town yourself there. Now, let me get the, were you a Bond girl? Yes. Ah, yes, yes. Ooh. Va, va, va, voom. I always tell people if I had known that the Bond role would have followed me for the rest of my life, I would have done a better job. You did a great job.

You know, when I heard that Natalie's case became a cold case, at first I was a cold case. I was disheartened. But the case is heating up again. And when I spoke to you about your recollections of the night Natalie died, and what unfolded over the next 72 hours and since. It is amazing. I want to take you back, and I know everybody does this, but I want our listeners to hear it from Lana Wood, Natalie's sister. What possessed Natalie to go out on that dark water at Thanksgiving? Why would she go out there? Where were we going in the first place? Natalie, it was their Thanksgiving plan for quite

a while. She had been filming. She wanted Christopher and RJ to get to know each other it was it was a plan and she refused to change to change it around even when her daughter Natasha was begging her not to go the night before was rainy and nasty and nobody wanted to go out on the boat and everyone thought that it was silly for them to be going but it was just you know that was the plan and she was just definite about it nope those are the plans and we're not going to change them and that that's the end of it now how old were her Oh, dear. Approximate. Courtney was about five. She was about the same age because my daughter, Evan, is the same age as Courtney. They're at six months difference in age. And Natasha at the time was about 12.

Oh, my stars. Lana, I never thought it through about how young they were. Yeah, yeah. It makes it even worse. I mean, losing a parent at any time, I suppose, is horrible. But they were so young. The thing that saddened me so much not that long ago is Courtney was asked for a memory in an interview, and she said, I don't remember my mom.

I never knew her. And that broke my heart. That broke my heart. You know, you can't, none of this can be undone. It just can't. All the ripple effects of that one night where were you the night they went out on the splendor where were you um i was home now at that time you were getting along with wagner correct um yeah i didn't i absolutely um i just accepted him as part of the family.

Now, they had been married before. Yes. Divorced. Yes. She married another guy. Married again. And then after that divorce, remarried her first husband, Robert Wagner. Right.

What did you think about the remarriage? Quite honestly, I wasn't happy about it. Then I made myself very clear about my feelings. I do have a habit of voicing my opinion on my feelings. And I took Natalie's side the night she announced it to my mom and dad and me. And I said, what on earth are you doing? Because I remember the breakup of her marriage I remember her coming into the family home late at night I was in bed I remember

her coming with her hand bleeding why was her hair bleeding um she she broke a a wine glass that she was holding and and sliced her hand um during an argument with Wagner yes yes and I remembered all that you know I remember everything after that did he know how you felt I don't really know I this is a terrible admission to make i don't think i spent much time talking to him when i was with natalie i was there for natalie i didn't go to visit we were normally on our way out there we were going shopping or we were going to do a girl's lunch or we were going to we were going to go to a movie we were going to do something do you know what i mean yeah or i was there with something specific and it would be the two of us. Do you think he was jealous of her?

I know he was jealous the night of Christopher Walken, but I mean because of her huge, huge box office success. And he was a TV star. I think he would have to be some sort of saint not to feel how difficult that would be, because I think it's part of the male ego. Yes, I'm making a blanket statement. To be a man, the man likes to be in charge, be the breadwinner, be the decision maker. It's a guy thing.

And I'm sure you've got to agree agree with me on that that's how they feel let me ask you a question this is completely on a different topic hold on now at the time natalie passed away was wagner already starring with stephanie powers um yeah he was already doing heart to heart yeah, he was already doing Heart to Heart. Yeah. So he was already starring with Stephanie Powers. And that was his was that his biggest show? That was a big show. It was a very successful show. Absolutely. Very popular, very successful show. So that evening, what do you recall of it? I had a regular evening. My mom was over. My daughter had gone to bed.

I tried to go to sleep and couldn't sleep. I was up all night long. I finally got to the point where I just surrendered and went and looked into my mom, and she was awake, too. And I said, I can't sleep. And I said, let's go in the kitchen. We went in the kitchen. We had tea, and we sat there for a while, and after 5 o'clock, I think suddenly I had to go to sleep.

I don't know what had happened. This is not like me at all. I don't have problems sleeping. I went to bed, and I was awakened by a phone call from a friend of mine that I've known since elementary school. And she called me, and she said, you know, Natalie's been found dead in the ocean. And I said, what? I said, you know, you're crazy.

You're wrong. It's a mistake. And I hung up on her. And she called me back, and she said, you better turn on the television. And, you know, she was found dead. Everything after that, I don't really know. I remember snippets of things. It's like you're just like your world begins to crumble.

I don't I wasn't aware of too much. You know what's funny Lana? Funny odd. I have a I cannot remember. I started to say I have a hard time remembering but I cannot remember huge chunks

of time just before and after my fiance's murder. I'm talking like about a year or two before and a year or two after. I remember bits and pieces, but I remember a few parts of the funeral I remember is walking in and smelling this overwhelming smell of carnations, which to, you know, the fake carnations. To this day, if I smell carnations, I almost vomit. When you remember, when you said snippets, that really hit home. That's the perfect way to describe it, snippets. So when did it start sinking into you that everything did not, gee-haw,

everything did not exactly line up correctly? I don't even recall brushing my teeth. I don't know when. I know that I was on automatic pilots. There was arguing going on. My mom passed out from high blood pressure. Guy McIlwain, who was a friend of Natalie's and a former boyfriend of mine, suddenly arrived at the house.

Our half-sister came. My mom was hysterical i remember i remember my mom turning around in my living room and saying the wrong one died while looking at me and i said don't even go there and i remember i remember somebody asking me for a drink and i said i was sorry i don't really keep alcohol i had some wine and i remember him being angry and saying, what the hell kind of home did I have if I didn't keep alcohol? I said, nobody drinks here. It's weird things like that.

I remember Ron Samuels and Linda Carter got into the limo with me and my daughter to go to the funeral, and I broke down either going there or coming back. I can't tell you which. I don't remember the funeral at all. Nothing. Why have you said that Robert Wagner has not cooperated with police? Why do I say it? Because he's never spoken to them. I don't know why he keeps saying he did. It boggles my mind. That day he's never spoken to them. I don't know why he keeps saying he did. It boggles my mind.

That day he didn't speak to them? When it happened, whoever arrived, it was somebody from the coroner's office, and there was that Detective Rasher. They arrived on the boat. They did not question anybody. They took an accounting from everybody. When did you see your last one? It's happened.

I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Mr. Wagner. Um, he was done. He and Christopher were flown back to the mainland and it was Dennis DeBurn who had to identify Natalie's body, which horrified me. I mean, I can't, I know it's wrong for me to want someone to react how I would. That's just flat out wrong. But it boggles my mind that you wouldn't, as a husband, as a lover, as a friend, as a dog owner, that you wouldn't rush to the side

of someone that's passed away and want to hold them and want to be there. I don't understand it. So since that time, he has not spoken to police? No. The only time he has spoken to police was that the day he has never spoken to them. Let me ask you this, Lana. Is it true that detectives told you they were very close to making an arrest in the case? Absolutely. They came to my home and said that they had everything they needed for an arrest and that the district attorney would not move forward. And I said,

I don't understand. And he said, please get that word out because they feel that there's something going on. And I said, fine, if somebody asks me, I will, I will tell them. So they came to your house and said they have enough for an arrest, but the DA is sitting on it? Yes. Did you believe that they were referring to Robert Wagner? Did they tell you it was Robert Wagner? Oh, of course. Yes.

Yes. They told you it was Robert Wagner? That's what they said. Have you tried to talk to Wagner? Oh, yes. I used to write notes. I was cut out from being around Natalie's kids and RJ very rapidly after her passing. I was concerned about his birthday, which was only months later. And I called the house and his daughter from another marriage, Katie, answered the phone.

I said, Katie, I'm very concerned about RJ. My boyfriend and I wanted to come and, you know, take him to dinner or do something or do or this or that or, you know, whatever. And she said, oh, don't worry about anything. There's a party here. I said, oh, wonderful. I said, that's great. I just wanted to make sure somebody was doing something.

And I said, what time is the party? And then there was this great hesitation. And she said, well, you know, it's just going to be like Natalie and RJ's friends. And I said, well, Katie, I would assume that. But those friends are also my friends. I didn't make, just so that you know, Nancy, I didn't make friends outside of my family. It was Natalie and I that were together who shared friends, shared a boyfriend, which we didn't know at the time. I mean, we had a very close relationship. Yes, we had ups and downs.

We were human. But for them to say that, I was like, oh, boy, oh, boy, okay, something's up. I bought him a gift. Alan, my boyfriend, and I, you know, went to the house and gave him a gift and had a glass of wine and left because I was very uncomfortable. But I was cut out back then. I used to write him letters. It was never answered. When my mom passed away,

I became hysterical and just called RJ and Willie May, the housekeeper, answered the phone. And I said, Willie May, I got to talk to RJ right now. And she said, she said, Lana, I can't. She said, you know, I can't, you know, that there's a problem. And said well he may my mom just died put him on the phone so she went and got him and um I don't know why I called him I it's difficult just so that you know when you've known someone since you were nine and ten years old and they've been a part of your life it's difficult to suddenly be without them i also want to understand something we were talking earlier about him now robert wagner was starring with stephanie powers on heart to heart and he then later married Jill St. John in 1990, correct? Yes. Did she, had she been a friend of Natalie's?

No. I'd never even seen her at the house. No, not friends at all. Actually, I saw very little of Stephanie, but I saw more of Stephanie than I never saw Jill. So after all the years, he's never sat down with you and talked to you about what happened that night? Nancy, he didn't ever call me and tell me that Natalie had drowned or that anything had happened. He never called Natasha, Natalie's daughter, by Richard Gregson.

She was spending the night at a friend's house. She heard it on the news. Oh, my stars. He never called me. That's all I ever wanted. I don't know what his problem is with me. Seriously, I don't. What was Natasha's take on all of this? Where does Natasha stand?

I wouldn't know. I'm not allowed to speak to anyone, or they will not take phone calls or anything from me. I'm somehow, I don't know. If you ever find out the answer, let me know. What did you find odd about that night, other than the fact that Natalie Wood, who was always, no matter when you saw her, she was dressed to the T for her fans, and she was out in a flannel gown with knee socks and no underwear. Did they do a rape kit on Natalie? Do you know? I was told by Detectives Hernandez and Lowe that there was no rape kit. There were no fingernail clippings.

And I said, wow, that's really odd because that's standard procedure. I was then told later that there was a rape kit and there were fingernail clippings and somehow they're not accessible. Nobody knows anything about it. So who do you believe? I don't know. I really don't. Who told you that there was a rape kit and nail? An attorney contacted me personally not terribly long ago who has been speaking to various people that he knows.

He told me. What else was odd to you that you learned about the night Natalie drowned? Well, many things um first of all natalie would never never in a million years for any reason of any type leave her boat not dressed not dressed she with wool socks on natalie always had cold feet and hands. On the boat, it was intensified. She used to keep wool socks to sleep, to go to sleep.

She would have never gotten into the dinghy for any reason. She would never have gone out to tie it up. That's why they had a captain on board. He did all that. Somebody doesn't suddenly change their personality, their behaviors in a day. That's not Natalie. She would not have done that.

There is no earthly way. It's ludicrous to think otherwise. Do you recall at the wake that Robert Wagner was, you said, I've got to talk to you, I've got to know what happened. And according to one story I heard, he turned around, looked at you and said, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He did.

I went upstairs. RJ, I didn't see him. And I said, where's RJ? And somebody said upstairs. So I went upstairs into their bedroom. And he was sitting on the edge of the bed. And I said, RJ, what the hell happened? What happened? And he said, it was an accident.

Please, please believe me, I'm sorry. And then somebody grabbed me by the arm, I don't know who, and said, leave him alone, just leave him alone. And so I left. I went back downstairs. What has Walken ever said about this? Christopher Walken. Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. He's never said a word. I understand he passed a polygraph. Christopher Walken? Yeah. Ah, good. I don't think he had anything to do with anything. I don't think he did either.

But I find it interesting that he would go in and take a polygraph and Robert Wagner wouldn't. Because people, why is that interesting? If you have something to hide, you do so. If you have nothing to hide, when I go through

the security checks at the airport, we've got to pat you down. Go for it. Is there anything I can do to help to make this easier? Is there anything I can say? Is there anything I can do? That's what an innocent person does.

In all the years that Natalie has been gone, do you ever feel that she has tried to contact you or you have heard from her? I don't know. I've had strange dreams. I had one strange occurrence that I don't know. I would love to believe that she has, but I don't know. It would be great if she had.

I know she wouldn't be happy. You know, and I've never, how I've been somehow made some sort of bad guy just absolutely astounds me since I've never done anything. What do you make of the fact that they have essentially reopened the case? I didn't reopen the case. No. What do you say to the fact that police have said they have reopened the case? What do I say to that? Yes. I don't buy any of the circumstances with which she passed away.

I buy none. Dennis DeVern used to call me late at night, drunk, and this was maybe 10 years after Natalie passed. Maybe not quite that long. maybe four years five years um and say you know that he knows what happened and he was there and he he did this and he did that and i used to say dennis go go to the authorities and he'd say i can't because he felt guilty too and he'd say I can't tell you everything because you'll you know you'll hate everybody and I said just tell me and he he would tell me enough and then he would stop um and he wouldn't tell me everything ever but he said that there was a bad fight um rj has changed his story story twice and rj denied

that to my face which then i said you changed your story goes oh i never changed my story yes he did he said in one book that the there was no wine bottle he didn't break a wine bottle there was no argument everything was fine and suddenly he writes book, and in there he says he got upset and jealous and accused Christopher Walken of cheating and, you know, of Natalie cheating and this and that and broke a wine bottle. That sounds to me like a difference in a story. And I'm not, I can't tell you. It's like I just find this all bizarre and horrendous.

You know, what's interesting, though, is that the captain of the yacht passed a polygraph. And he also says that he believes Robert Wagner is, quote, responsible for Natalie's death. That's what Dennis Davern says. Yes. That's what he has said to me as well. And I think it wasn't until Dennis started calling that I then sat my mom down and said, you know, we started having long talks. And I thought, oh, dear. Because, you see, I honestly, from my heart,

never wanted to believe that RJ would ever do anything to harm Natalie. I didn't want to believe that. This is a member of my family that I've known since I was a kid. I don't want to think something like that of him. So it didn't enter my mind. I didn't want it to. I didn't want it to when Dennis started calling. But it was Dennis' calls. And he sounded so miserable um I gave him the name of an FBI

agent that I knew personally I said you can go to this man he's terrific he can help you he can get the ball rolling you can feel you know comfortable with him and he wouldn't Dennis wouldn't do it and I said well then I don't you know I don't know what to do to help. I don't know. But he felt burdened. He felt guilty because he felt that he, you know, should have raised the flag sooner. And he said that R.J. would not allow him to turn on the lights. R.J. wouldn't allow him to call Harbor Patrol. The captain said that he wanted to turn on the spotlights, look out on the water, and radio for help.

But Wagner told him they would wait to see if she returned. Wagner poured a drink for the both of them and talked to him about how important it was not to tarnish his, Robert Wagner's, image. The captain has made it clear he says Wagner was involved in Natalie's death. He has told me the same thing. You know what? Obviously, I wasn't there. I only know how my sister would think and would behave and would react. That I can respond to if anybody asks me.

Can I ask you why you didn't take the children with them on the Thanksgiving cruise? Natasha had made plans to go spend the night at a friend's house, to have one child alone. I don't know. That kind of hampers any kind of, you know, just relaxing and adults being together. I don't know. I was just wondering whose idea was it. Was it Robert Wagner? I don't know. I was just wondering whose idea was it. Was it Robert Wagner's?

I don't know. They leave the children ashore while he takes Natalie out. I think it was just there again. It was the way plans had been made. You know, Natalie thought a lot of Christopher as an actor. She was delighted to have met him and be working with him. And she wanted to share that with RJ, you know, here, meet my family. This is my husband, get to know each other.

You know, we're make, we're in the middle of making a movie. It's terrific. Acting meant the world to Natalie, but her kids meant more. What do you know about whether the drug Darvon, which is a pain reliever, a pain, a prescription pain pill had was in her system? I didn't know Natalie took painkillers. No, it, um, uh, from my understanding, from the autopsy report, it was not in her system.

It was in her medicine cabinet. Interesting. With me, the sister of Natalie Wood, Lana Wood, her beloved younger sister, who to this day is demanding answers, as are we. Lana Wood, it's always a pleasure, my friend. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace presents another episode

in our continuing focus on the Natalie Wood death mystery tomorrow. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.