Fatal Voyage: The Mysterious Death Of Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood has grown profoundly unhappy in her marriage to Robert Wagner in the years leading up to her suspicious demise — a death for which cops have labeled R.J. a “person of interest.” Now, the Oscar winner’s close friends and sister – as well as experts and investigators who have probed her case – open up about what they see as both a prelude to her divorcing Wagner — and a motive for him to do premeditated murder. In this bonus episode, we examine evidence and whether it supports that conclusion, as Wagner makes a series of strange and otherwise inexplicable decisions that end tragically with Natalie’s death.

Is Robert Wagner deceiving the public when he says Natalie Wood's death was an accident? Thirty-seven years after the Oscar winner’s inexplicable demise, the question lives on with the same vigor as when it was first asked—and the main person of interest continues his stonewalling. Now, we come as close to an answer as the world may ever come. In two explosive, face-to-face exchanges—one with a reporter from our investigative team and another with Natalie’s still-grieving sister, Lana—the Hollywood star is asked, point-blank, “Did you kill Natalie?” You’ll never believe his reply. Or the results of a lie detector test, performed by one of the world’s foremost experts. We also hear shocking final statements from those closest to the case who believe Natalie’s death was no accident and was, in fact, murder.

With the probe into Natalie Wood’s death officially reopened, shocking new details are made public as speculation mounts about what truly happened that night -- and her husband, Robert Wagner, is officially named a “person of interest.” In this episode, we look at how possible bungling by the coroner and the police — notably the mishandling of key witnesses and crucial evidence — impacted the initial investigation. We also explore how a fresh examination of the severe bruising on Natalie’s body and the emergence of new witnesses from the night she vanished forced detectives to take a closer look at the first investigation’s faulty findings.

Dennis Davern — the skipper of Natalie Wood’s death yacht — has made a dramatic escape from the virtual house arrest under which Robert Wagner placed him following the starlet’s suspicious demise. Nearly two years pass, but Dennis remains haunted by that night. Finally, he places a call to a good friend — author Martin Rulli. Dennis is finally willing to tell the truth and revise the statements he made to police. What he said, related here and accompanied by new and world exclusive details, including how he passed out Quaaludes to all aboard, will blow open the case into Natalie’s disappearance and lead to homicide cops to reopen the matter and ultimately name Wagner a person of interest.

With his wife, Natalie Wood, dead, Robert J. Wagner desperately tries to control the public narrative of what happened aboard the death yacht, The Splendour, lawyering up and coaching his boat skipper Dennis Davern on what would become his official version of events. Now, in a stunning first person account, Davern opens up about those bizarre and sinister days immediately following the tragedy — dramatically explaining how Wagner held him hostage in his estate with the help of bodyguards and a complex system of magnetic door locks.

Natalie Wood is dead — her body washed ashore off California's Catalina Island. But very quickly — perhaps too quickly — the sordid episode is deemed an accident and her husband, Robert Wagner, permitted to move on. Now, "Fatal Voyage" probes the evidence for proof of the cover-up, sinister and sprawling, that many in the know say shut the lid on the death investigation before it could even get moving. Who was to blame? The answer to this question — everyone from the coroner, to the cops, Frank Sinatra and even then-President Ronald Reagan — is truly shocking. Did Ol’ Blue Eyes threaten both the original Coroner and a potential witness in order to keep them quiet … and RJ safe?

After confiding her plans to leave husband, Robert Wagner, and failing in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to flee via seaplane, Natalie Wood begrudgingly returns to the Splendour. It was a decision she would not live to regret. Now, in world exclusive interviews, the harbor master and lifeguard on duty describe the chilling moment they recovered the legend’s lifeless body — and a stunning new ear-witness comes forward to recount having heard anguished screams – “Somebody please help me, I'm drowning!” – coming from The Splendour at the same time Natalie vanished from the boat! This the beginning of the end for one of Hollywood’s most storied actresses … but was it murder?

Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood and her latest co-star, actor Christopher Walken, are moored off the shore of California's Catalina Island on the yacht, Splendour. But envy-stricken Wagner's behavior grows erratic — so much so a "petrified" Natalie begs the ship's captain, Dennis Davern, to take her ashore in a dinghy. Once there, she confides her plans to leave her husband Wagner and desperately flee by way of a sea plane. But her efforts to secure a plane are stymied. Instead, she and Davern return to the yacht — and Natalie's final day of life commences back on board.

Natalie Wood reunites with her first love, Robert Wagner, following her second divorce from director Richard Gregson — and more than a decade after she discovered Wagner rendezvousing with another man. Now, in a world exclusive interview, the starlet’s sister, Lana, recreates the bizarre family dinner at which Natalie reintroduced her first hubby to both her and their parents - plus the chilling reason she gave for reigniting their already failed affair! Meanwhile, Natalie, herself, provides additional insight into why she inexplicably did what she did in passages from a never-before-seen-or-heard diary exclusively obtained by this podcast. Finally, Natalie returns to show business after a hiatus in a move that will seemingly fulfill the fateful words she told Lana at the family dinner.

Robert Wagner - all-American boy-next-door or conniving manipulator who’d stop at nothing to achieve Tinsel Town fame and fortune? That is the question we answer by charting the actor’s rise to stardom, as well as examining the havoc such obsessive pursuit left in its wake. As his first marriage to Natalie Wood - some would say one of convenience - lay tattered, Natalie attempts to carry on with her “Splendor in the Grass” costar Warren Beatty. But the devastation left by Wagner - and the end of her romance with Beatty - prove too much, and result in a harrowing suicide attempt recounted here in vivid detail by her sister, Lana. But Natalie emerges stronger than ever from the near-fatal episode and finally takes control of her life.

Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner marry in a fairy tale Hollywood union — but beneath the shiny surface of their romance lurks rage and jealousy. In a fit of envy, Wagner rushes to the home of Natalie’s costar, Warren Beatty, with a gun and the intent to do murder. Nothing happens, although Natalie soon makes a shocking discovery — her husband in a romantic rendezvous with another man! The couple conclude their first marriage — but the deck of fate still had a future reunion waiting in the cards.

From her earliest years, Natalie Wood was bred for fame and fortune – and also destruction. We’ll chart how her mother, Marie Gurden, would stop at nothing to see her daughter’s name in lights, once even looking away after her daughter’s rape for fear it would anger the studio system that would decide her fate. Ironically, these decisions pushed Natalie on to a path that ended with Robert Wagner — and a tumultuous romance that ended in tragedy.

She was gorgeous, glamorous — and doomed. But who really was Natalie Wood – the Hollywood super-siren who was enormous in life – and even bigger in death? Now, learn the real story, from her early years as a child star to her zenith as red carpet royalty – as well as the story of the L.A. Sheriff’s homicide detective who has made it his cause to bring peace to her soul. In a chilling revelation, Detective Ralph Hernandez reveals new – and explosive – facts about Natalie’s death, including a never-before-heard autopsy report that will change everything you have ever known about the case that has haunted Tinsel town for almost four decades.