Natalie Wood’s Sister Lana Wood Wants Robert Wagner to ‘Own What Happened’
Dec. 25 2018, Updated 1:17 p.m. ET
Natalie Wood’s sister Lana Wood pointed the finger at Robert Wagner in a new interview while discussing the mysterious death of the actress.
“I want him to tell the truth. I want him to be a man and to own what happened and to be strong enough to do that,” Lana, 72, said during an appearance on Megyn Kelly Today on Wednesday, July 25.
Natalie drowned at the age of 43 while on a yacht trip off the coast of Santa Catalina Island with her husband, Wagner, and their friend Christopher Walken on the evening of November 28, 1981. Her body was recovered one mile away from the boat the next morning. After a two-week investigation, Natalie’s death was ruled an accident. The case was reopened in 2011, and Wagner, now 88, was named a person of interest this February.
When host Megyn Kelly asked Lana whether she believes Wagner murdered her sister, she steadfastly responded, “Yes.”
Lana also questioned Wagner, who has long maintained his innocence, for stating that he will not speak to police because of his age and failing memory. “How could something like that not be in your memory? That’s a traumatic, tragic thing,” she said.
The Diamonds Are Forever star told Kelly that her relationship with the Two and a Half Men alum was “almost nonexistent” during his marriage to her sister. “I would come to the house, but I would come to the house because Natalie and I had something planned. We were either going to do makeup or go shopping or run out to lunch or sit in the kitchen and gossip and do something. So I never really had a lot of interactions with him,” she said.
Lana said she confronted Wagner about a year ago at a bar in Palm Springs, California. “I had a waitress bring him a note saying, ‘R.J., it’s Lana. I really need to talk to you. I’ll sit here and wait,’” she said. Lana said Wagner finally came over about 45 minutes later and asked her, “Why don’t you talk to the police?” which left her “a little puzzled.”
Lana recently sat down for an exclusive interview with investigative journalist Dylan Howard for his podcast, “All Rise.” She revealed that Natalie “was terrified of water, going all the way back to when I was a kid and Natalie was a teen.” Lana also begged Wagner to “tell the truth for once and for all.”
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For more on Natalie’s death, download the 12-part podcast series “Fatal Voyage: The Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood,” available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play.