Police: Robert Wagner not a suspect in Wood's death

Video: 'Goodbye Natalie' author: Captain's story 'makes sense'

Open in new window

2. Closed captioning of: 'Goodbye Natalie' author: Captain's story 'makes sense'

   Advertise | AdChoices

   >>> natalie wood 's sister is speaking out on the 1981 drowning death. her sister says she does not believe what happened was deliberate but she also doesn't believe wood fell on heir own from the boat she shared with robert wagner . investigators are dealing with conflicting reports of what happened that night. the boat's former captain told david gregory he believed wagner had something to do with it.

   >> was the fight between natalie wood and her husband, robert wagner , what ultimately led to her death?

   >> yes.

   >> how so?

   >> like i said, that's going to be up to the investigates to decide.

   >> was he responsible for her death in some way?

   >> yes, i would say so, yes.

   >> i'm joined by marty rolle, co-author of "good-bye, natalie , good-bye splendor," splendor the name of the boat. you co-authored this book with the captain we saw on the "today" show.

   >> yes.

   >> and he -- he's alleging robert wagner may are had something to do with natalie wood 's death. is the captain credible?

   >> i believe he's credible. his story is the only one that makes sense. and i set out a long time ago to substantiate what he told me because everything that had been put out there was based on theories. and i think a lot of people are missing the point here. this new re-opening of the case is not something that's based on what's new now. it's based on the fact that natalie 's case had never been investigated. her case was closed within days. her case was closed based on theories alone. everyone had theories. no one came up with logical conclusions. she was found floating in the ocean in her pajamas and a coat. so, now what i believe that with the new department, what they're willing to do, is take the case file, and it's an entire body of evidence, not just the captain's account, not just the other witnesses' accounts. there's forensics involved 37 why was natalie floating in her red down jacket and pajamas? there's lots of things to investigate here that was never investigated before.

   >> the captain said that he, robert wagner and christopher walken , got their stories together and they all put forth one communal voice.

   >> i asked dennis about that because dennis and robert wagner had waited four hours before calling for help, professional help for natalie . that was upon wagner 's request. and that was when robert wagner asked dennis to not be forthcoming with everything that had happened. there had been an argument --

   >> what was that argument about?

   >> just jealousy. they had had dinner, went back to the main salon. natalie was chatting with christopher walken and --

   >> who was upset, robert wagner ?

   >> robert wagner robert wagner was reall y upset, accused walken of wanting to have sex with natalie . it was a rainy, cold weekend. maybe a little more drinking than usual but that's what they did on their boating outings, from morning until night they would have cocktails. so it wasn't much different than any other pleasure cruise. but on that particular night the argument carried over to the state room and carried on on the back deck. wagner asked davern to tell anyone about that argument. they were flown off the island in a helicopter right away. and now with a new, fresh crew, ready to investigate this, i think they are going to see a lot of the old evidence.

   >> in part, because they have the three principles, they are alive and healthy and ready to talk about it. marty, thank you. i think we'll be speaking with you again.

   Show transcript