Natalie Wood murder speculation has been revived by the new podcast "Fatal Voyage: The Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood" that debuted last Friday. The podcast’s creators promised to "break new ground" on the actress's 1981 drowning and suggest a "larger conspiracy" was behind it.
American Media Inc. Celebrity Group calls its "Fatal Voyage" a documentary. Parent group AMI publishes the National Enquirer and is alleged to be involved in burying stories about women who claimed to have had affairs with President Donald Trump.
The death of Wood, 43, was initially ruled an accidental drowning after her body was found floating in the Pacific Ocean about a mile from the yacht she shared with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, USA Today reported.
Actor Christopher Walken was also on board the yacht anchorded off Catalina Island at the time Wood went missing. In 2011, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopened the case and altered its findings.
In 2012, Wood's death certificate was changed to "drowning and other undetermined factors" and in February, the sheriff's department named Wagner as a person of interest. Her death has now been labeled as "suspicious" by authorities, USA Today said.
Wagner has long denied having anything to do with his wife's death.
Podcast host Dylan Howard, chief content officer at AMI Celebrity Group, claimed the information could help close the case.
"The compelling new evidence we've uncovered as part of this 12-part series is damning and could help to finally solve this case," Howard said. "We'll be taking listeners on a real-time investigation over the next 10 episodes and will deliver stunning revelations that will help to once and for all unravel one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.”
"If Natalie didn't jump, or slip, who pushed her, or worse still, tossed her overboard? Why? Was it murder? These are questions we intend to answer," Howard said.
Wood's sister Lana said in the debut episode that Natalie Wood could not swim and feared the water, according to USA Today. She suggested that there was a fight on board and her sister was struck or pushed.
Lana Wood urged Wagner to talk to the police about the incident, adding that she doesn’t “want to think that (Wagner) was a part of this," USA Today said.
Wagner's rep, Alan Nierob, declined to comment on "Fatal Voyage" or Lana Wood's request he speak with investigators, USA Today said.
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