Secret Polygraph test of key witness turns up the heat in the NATALIE WOOD death mystery!
Robert Wagner has long maintained that foul play was not involved in the death of his wife Natalie Wood off their yacht Splendour – but a secret polygraph test administered to a key witness could indicate otherwise!
That’s the latest bombshell development in the decades-old Hollywood mystery, according to author Marti Rulli, who tells The National ENQUIRER that the witness easily passed a lie detector test.
The witness – Splendour captain Dennis Davern – took the test with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials in
October 2011, and Marti claims the results were conclusive.
“I think he (Wagner) is a liar!” Marti told The ENQUIRER after she learned of the polygraph.
“The police asked (Dennis) if a terrible argument occurred during the last 15 minutes that she (Natalie) was alive, and he (Dennis) said yes.”
Sheriff’s officers also asked Dennis if Natalie and Wagner were on deck together, and whether they were arguing, said Marti.
“They (police) asked if Wagner was the last person with her (Natalie) in the boat moments before she went missing, and he (Dennis) said yes,” said Marti.
“It’s important to note that he (Dennis) passed this test with flying colors.”
The “West Side Story” beauty was just 43 when she drowned on November 29, 1981, while she and Wagner entertained her “Brainstorm” co-star Christopher Walken aboard Splendour off California’s Catalina Island.
Dennis was the only other person aboard the boat, and he confirmed to The ENQUIRER that he passed the polygraph test.
“I wasn’t afraid of what they were going to ask because they weren’t things that they hadn’t already asked me,” Dennis said.
“It was all true. I wouldn’t lie on a polygraph.”
Dennis initially described Natalie’s tragic death as an accident, but in the 2009 book he co-authored with Marti, “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour,” he fueled speculation of foul play.
In the book, Dennis specifically implicated Wagner, now 84, in Natalie’s death, accusing the former “Hart to Hart” star of having a fight with his wife before she went missing off their yacht.
Those allegations helped prompt investigators to reopen the death probe in 2011, and in July 2012 – after re-examining Natalie’s autopsy report – they took the unprecedented step of publicly changing Natalie’s cause of death from “accidental drowning” to “drowning and other undetermined factors.”
Wagner has fully cooperated with authorities since Natalie’s death, and police have said publicly that he’s not a suspect.
While Wagner has admitted arguing with actor Christopher Walken that night, he claims Natalie left them and went to the yacht’s master cabin. Her body was later found in the water.
The ENQUIRER recently reported that after re-examining the autopsy report, police were considering a shocking theory – Wagner could have killed Natalie by tossing her unconscious body overboard after a violent fight, said a source.
Now, with the disclosure that Dennis had passed a polygraph test, a source said: “Circumstantial evidence is stacking up against Wagner. I think he’s been caught up in lies!”
In an April 7 letter authorities confirmed that the “case is still actively being investigated.”
SPLENDOUR CAPTAIN’s STARTLING CLAIMS DETAILED: Splendour skipper Dennis Davern’s dramatic recollection of Natalie Wood’s fateful last night.
In a sworn statement to homicide detectives seen by The ENQUIRER, Davern alleged that Wagner smashed a bottle of wine in a fit of rage and screamed at Christopher Walken: “Do you want to f*** my wife?” in the moments before she fell overboard.
Davern then claimed that he had heard, from the bridge of the yacht, Wagner scream: “Get off my f****** boat!”
He told homicide investigators that Wagner appeared “flushed, anxious, nervous and disheveled” after realizing his wife had gone missing.
Davern immediately wanted to radio for help and turn on the boat’s searchlight, but Wagner told him sternly: “We are not going to do that. We will wait and see if she returns.”
While they waited, Wagner “opened scotch and poured alcohol,” and encouraged Davern to drink, he told cops.
The actor’s main concern was what to say when questioned, said Davern. Wagner “repeatedly told me to remain quiet about anything I knew, again citing the importance of his public image. He demanded I say nothing if questioned,” Dennis claimed.
Wagner later “instructed me to never offer any details…surrounding Natalie’s disappearance from the yacht,” claimed Davern.
