Natalie Wood Death Book Triggered Homicide Investigation 
 
 Natalie Wood's Death -- Marti Rulli's Book Triggered New Homicide Investigation 
 
 's death has been reopened as a homicide investigation, primarily because of a book written by the captain of the boat where Natalie Wood spent her last minutes ... a book suggesting foul play ... this according to sources close to the investigation.We've learned Marti Rulli -- who co-authored the book -- has been in regular touch with the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. over the last few months. She has given Sheriff's investigators documents supporting material in her book, and we're told the Sheriff is so impressed he has assigned 2 full-time homicide detectives to the case.In the book -- "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour" -- Rulli and Splendour Captain Dennis Davern write about the night Natalie drowned. They say before Natalie disappeared from the boat, she was drinking and taking Quaaludes with her husband,and actorAccording to the book, Wagner became enraged when he saw Wood and Walken speaking, and smashed a wine bottle, yelling at Walken, "What do you want to do, f**k my wife? Is that what you want?"At that point, Walken returned to his cabin and Natalie and Robert went to their state room. According to the Captain, he heard a loud argument between the couple and thumping sounds, and eventually silence.A short time later, the Captain went to the deck and was told by Wagner, "Natalie is missing."The book claims Wagner refused to let the Captain call the Coast Guard.Wagner told the Capt. the dinghy was gone, along with Natalie, but some doubted that because she was deathly afraid of dark water.The death was ruled an accident, but Rulli was like a pit bull since the book was written in 2008.We're told the homicide investigators have already traveled to Catalina, as well as New Jersey to interview Rulli. They've also gone to Augustine, Florida to interview the Captain, and they're going to Hawaii to look at the Splendour.A source familiar with the investigation tells TMZ the Sheriff's Dept. has not called anyone a suspect in Wood's death. It is a general homicide investigation for now, and will take "a long time to complete." The source adds, supporting documentation in several books about Wood's death -- including Marti Rulli's book -- triggered the investigation because the witnesses accounts of circumstances surrounding Wood's death did not square with what they told officials immediately after her death.We're told no one from the Sheriff's Dept. has spoken with Wagner, nor has an interview been requested ... at least so far.-- Robert Wagner's rep released a statement to TMZ ... saying, "Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept."The statement continues, "[The Wagners] trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death." ||||| Officials ruled that Wood's drowning death while boating off Santa Catalina Island was an accident. But there has been much speculation about the circumstances surrounding her death. 
 
 A law enforcement source added that the department had recently received a letter from an unidentified "third party" who said that the captain had "new recollections" about the case. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing. 
 
 L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca told The Times that homicide detectives want to talk to the captain based on comments he had made recounting the case on its 30 th anniversary. Baca did not detail what the captain said regarding the case 
 
 Detectives decided to reopen the investigation into the death of actress Natalie Wood in part because of statements made by the captain of the boat Wood was on at the time of her death. 
 
 "Recently sheriff’s homicide investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning. Due to the additional information, Sheriff’s homicide bureau has decided to take another look at the case," the department said in a statement. 
 
 Wood and Robert Wagner first married in 1957 and divorced five years later. Both went on to marry other people -- and have children. They remarried in 1972. 
 
 ARCHIVES: Natalie Wood's death 
 
 On Thanksgiving weekend 1981, Wagner and Wood had invited actor Christopher Walken to be their guest on Catalina aboard their boat, the Splendour. On the evening of Nov. 29, they had dinner and drinks at Doug's Harbor Reef. They returned to the boat and continued to drink until a heated argument erupted between the two men. 
 
 Wagner told The Times in 2008 that the argument concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career; he was upset that Walken was advocating that Wood give her all to her art, even at the expense of her husband and children. 
 
 Wood left to go to the master cabin's bathroom. Wagner says he and Walken eventually calmed down and said good night. When he went to bed, he says, Wood wasn't there. It is believed that the yacht's dinghy had come loose and that Wood came up on deck to tie it up. 
 
 "I have gone over it so many millions of times with people. Nobody heard anything," Wagner told The Times in 2008. 
 
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 --Andrew Blankstein, Richard Winton and Sam Allen 
 
 Photo: 1981 Los Angeles Times front page. ||||| Natalie Wood's drowning death nearly 30 years ago came after a night of dinner, drinking and arguments but the question remains _ was it anything more than a tragic accident? 
 
 FILE - In this April 27, 2009 file photo, actor Christopher Walken attends The Film Society of Lincoln Center gala tribute to honor actor Tom Hanks in New York. Clashing versions of what happened on... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - The 55-foot yacht "Splendour," belonging to actor Robert Wagner and his wife, actress Natalie Wood, sits in the waters off Catalina Island in Santa Catalina, Calif., near the site where Harbor... (Associated Press) 
 
 Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department speaks during a news conference at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park, Calif., Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. The Los... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - A Dec. 1, 1981 file photo shows actress Natalie Wood. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which Wood was aboard on the night she died, said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In a Nov. 28, 1981 file photo, "Prince Valiant," the inflatable dinghy used by 34-year-old actress Natalie Wood on the yacht Splendour, sits pierside in Catalina Island, Calif. Yacht captain Dennis... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this April 9, 1979 file photo, actress Natalie Wood is shown at the 51st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In a Nov. 25, 1959 file photo, Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner are made up for their roles in "All The Fine Young Cannibals," in Los Angeles. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In an image from video provided by NBC News, Dennis Davern appears on NBC's "Today" show via video on Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which actress Natalie Wood was aboard... (Associated Press) 
 
 Conflicting versions of what happened on the yacht shared by Wood, her actor-husband Robert Wagner and their friend, actor Christopher Walken, have contributed to the mystery of how the actress died on Thanksgiving weekend in 1981. 
 
 Two sheriff's detectives are now diving into the mysterious events on the yacht Splendour, although whether they reach any different conclusions than their predecessors remains to be seen. They recently received new, seemingly credible information and heard from potential witnesses who weren't included in the original investigation of Wood's death, sheriff's Lt. John Corina said Friday. 
 
 But he said nothing has happened to change the official view that Wood's death was originally an accidental drowning. Wagner, the star of "Hart to Hart" is not considered a suspect, he added. 
 
 Corina released few details about who investigators have contacted or plan to re-interview, but the inquiry will certainly lead them to speak with the three survivors of the trip _ Wagner, Walken and skipper Dennis Davern. 
 
 Wood's sister, Lana, was not on the boat, but told CNN's Piers Morgan on Friday that she has spoken with Davern many times and believes her sister did not fall off the boat. 
 
 "I don't think she fell, I don't know if she was pushed, I don't know whether there was an altercation and it happened accidentally but she shouldn't have died and that does stay with me and hurt," Lana Wood said. 
 
 "I would prefer to always believe that RJ (Wagner) would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did, and I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him," she said. 
 
 The captain said on NBC's "Today" on Friday that Wagner is to blame for the Oscar-nominated actress' death in the chilly waters of Southern California in November 1981, but didn't offer many specifics. For years he has maintained that he heard the famous couple arguing on the boat before Wood went missing and Wagner refusing to immediately search the waters nearby for his wife. 
 
 Davern's account is dramatically different from what he told investigators after Wood's body was found in 1981, when no mention of an argument between the couple was made. Wood was wearing a nightgown, wool socks and red down coat when she was found floating off Santa Catalina Island. 
 
 The renewed investigation comes at a time when plenty of attention was sure to be focused on Wood, whose beauty and acting in films such as "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause" made her Hollywood royalty. Her death stunned the world and CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" has been looking into the case for a special airing on Saturday. 
 
 Sheriff's officials denied the renewed attention prompted their review, which could take months. 
 
 "We're not concerned with the anniversary date," Corina said. "It may have jarred some other people's memories." 
 
 Davern and Wagner agree on one point about the fateful night _ there was a heated argument on the yacht after the group returned from dinner on Catalina. All had been drinking, and here is where the three men's accounts begin to differ. 
 
 Davern said he heard Wagner and Wood arguing and its outcome had horrific consequences. 
 
 Was that fight "what ultimately led to her death?" Davern was asked by "Today" show host David Gregory. 
 
 "Yes," Davern replied. 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 "Like I said, that's going to be up to the investigators to decide," Davern responded after a long pause. 
 
 Wagner acknowledges a fight took place on the Splendour, but in his best-selling 2008 memoir "Pieces of My Heart," he wrote that the fighting was between him and Walken. The disagreement began over the acting profession and led to Wood retreating to her cabin, while the dispute raged on between Wagner and Walken. Later Walken went to bed, according to Wagner, who, after staying up with Davern for a while, went looking for his wife and couldn't find her on board. He then noticed that a dinghy attached to the boat _and his wife _ was gone. 
 
 Walken, who has rarely spoken about the events that led to Wood's death, denied in a 1982 interview on "Good Morning America" that he and Wagner quarreled. 
 
 "No, that's not true," Walken said when asked if a fight was the reason Wood left the yacht. "They were very good to me, that family, and that's not true. 
 
 "We were having a Thanksgiving weekend, a good time," he said. 
 
 But Walken told sheriff's detectives that there was an argument, according to a 2000 Vanity Fair piece that included statements from a report by the investigating detective. It also included comments from Davern, who told the magazine that he heard Wagner and Wood fighting before she went missing. 
 
 The detective, Wagner and Walken and coroner's officials all have maintained that Wood's death was an accident, possibly caused by her trying to secure the dinghy to the side of the yacht. 
 
 "The people who are convinced that there was something more to it than what came out in the investigation will never be satisfied with the truth," Walken was quoted in the Vanity Fair piece as saying during an interview in the 1980s. "Because the truth is, there is nothing more to it. It was an accident." 
 
 Wagner too addressed the uncertainty about what happened in his book. 
 
 "Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened." 
 
 Wagner said through a spokesman that his family trusts the sheriff's department to conduct a fair investigation into Wood's death. 
 
 The couple were married twice, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Denise Petski contributed to this report. 
 
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 Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
– Los Angeles County homicide detectives have reopened an investigation into the 30-year-old mystery of actress Natalie Wood's death. The star's 1981 drowning was ruled an accident. But her last evening, which she spent on a yacht with husband Robert Wagner and movie co-star Christopher Walken, has long been the subject of speculation. Law enforcement officials have now decided to take another look at the case after receiving fresh information, and they plan to interview the boat's captain about comments he made about the case recently, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the captain's book Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour, he recalls that on the night she drowned, Wood was drinking and taking Quaaludes with Wagner and Walken. An argument erupted between the two men, apparently over Wood, followed by shouting between the couple in their room—and thumps, according to the captain. He says he was later told "Natalie is missing" by Wagner, who allegedly refused to let him call the Coast Guard. The captain's co-author, Marti Rulli, has been in touch for months with police, reports TMZ. An investigation at the time determined that Wood apparently fell into the sea after attempting to climb into the yacht's dingy or trying to secure it. Wagner has issued a statement saying he supports the new investigation.