Natalie Wood's Death Should Be Reinvestigated From Square One

THE DOCTOR IS IN ______________

LAS VEGAS- Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

There is new information in the Natalie Wood case. After thirty years the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department say they are going to look at Woods death once again. I say, it's about time, but I fear it's thirty years too late.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department has been star struck for decades and generally give celebrities a free pass when it comes to investigations and jail time. An example, lets look at Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, just to mention two cases. These two ladies get in trouble over and over again, they commit crimes but when it comes time for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to incarcerate them so they will do time, the star struck sheriff lets them skate with only hours at the jail facility rather than serving 30, 60, or more days for their crimes. Come on, a thirty day sentence in jail is reduced to approximately FOUR (4) HOURS by the pandering sheriff.

I suspect that is what happened thirty years ago in the Natalie Wood death. The sheriff's department only performed a cursory examination, accepted the word of two celebrities, Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken and accepted the conclusion that Natalie Woods death was an accidental drowning, based on their statements. Then the Sheriff's Department went their merry way.

Last night on 48 Hours television show the sheriff investigator that said he conducted the investigation thirty years ago said that he believed and accepted the the word of the celebrities and the yacht captain at the time. Really? What other steps did this star struck sheriff's investigator take to check the veracity and truthfulness of the statements of the celebrities and the employee, yacht captain, Dennis Davern.

And now, according to the evening news, a Los Angeles County sheriff representative being questioned in front of cameras was asked the question: "Is Robert Wagner a suspect?", he replied with a very strong and clear "NO." Again, really?

I would think in any investigation, whether it is one day old or thirty years old the law enforcement agency would have said something like: "everyone is a suspect" or "everyone is considered a person of interest"and we cannot rule out anyone or anything until the investigation is completed.

The yacht captain, Dennis Davern came forward and admitted he lied thirty years ago and went o to say that Wagner would not allow him to use the yacht flood lights to search the waters when they could not locate Woods on the craft. Wagner also allegedly told Davern not to contact authorities when Davern said they should do so. In fact, it was hours after Woods was known to be missing that Wagner finally contacted the Coast Guard . Then, there was the woman in a boat near the Wagner yacht that stated she head a woman yelling and screaming for help. Folks, there is a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Natalie Woods death.

Lets look at the situation: There were only four people on the yacht-Wagner,. Walken, Woods and captain Davern. One of those four people wound up dead. That leaves three people that knows what actually happened on board the yacht. That should be a simple investigation for any law enforcement agency. It's not like someone being killed in any city or town and the suspects might be anyone out of thousands of people. The crime scene was a 60 foot yacht and only THREE people that should have been investigated.

It has been reported that the night Woods died Wagner was jealous from the moment Walken boarded the craft for the outing. It was further reported that Wagner expressed his jealousy that Walken was trying to possible sleep with Wood and Wagner became very angry . The anger resulted in a loud, drunken confrontation and apparently Wagner was so enraged he smashed a bottle of wine into a table, thereby breaking the bottle. That was something Wagner later admitted in his biography but had failed to tell the sheriff's investigators at the night of the death.

As a person that worked in law enforcement for years and who had worked for the Los Angeles Police Department I can say that in all likelihood the investigation into Woods death would have in all likelihood been handled differently. Why? For one, having personal knowledge of how precise investigators at LAPD generally approached their task at hand and based on death investigations handled by competent officers I can imagine a scenario such as:

First, the investigating officers would have taken statements from the three men that were on board at the time Woods was said to have gone missing.Second, Use the SID unit to go over the yacht from stem to stern. Third, have all three men (celebrity or not) consent to an LAPD polygraph examination so as to confirm their truth and veracity as to their initial statements.

I submit, that if the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department did just those three things when they initially responded to the scene, they clearly could have determined if all three men were being truthful as to the events surrounding Woods death. If in fact, yacht captain Davern was lying then as he now claims he did, you can be sure that the LAPD polygraph examination would have determined he was lying about the incident. And, the examination would have also determined if Wagner's and Walken's version of events of Natalie Woods death were accurate.

While I was employed with LAPD, It was not uncommon for the investigating officers to verify the statements of any victims, witnesses and suspects by bringing them to our polygraph section.

I would suspect that the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department did not verify the statements of the three men involved in the situation. It appears the investigator(s) on the case probably took everything at face value, became star struck and skimped on investigation protocol. For one, I would certainly like to actually see what the sheriff investigators did do in handling this investigation back in 1981. How in depth is the sheriff departments report on the incident? What did the Sheriff's office do as to forensics regarding the yacht?

I submit that if one or more of those three men on the yacht were actually lying as to the circumstances surrounding Natalie Woods death, it could have been determined back in 1981. And, if the investigation of the yacht and polygraph examinations showed that all of the statements were true - - CASE CLOSED. But I suspect because of a shaky,sloppy and probable incompetent investigation a mystery of Woods death will always be there.- And, that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com