REPORT: Assault suggested in Natalie Wood reopened death investigation

Lisa Brenner | January 14th, 2013, 2:21pm

A Los Angeles County Coroner’s document was released Monday related to the unkillable death investigation of actress Natalie Wood.

The new coroner's supplement questions original forensic findings in the drowning case, and suggests the 43-year-old actress — found floating face down in the ocean off Catalina Island on Nov. 29, 1981 — could have been assaulted before entering the water.

DOCUMENT: Read the full report below

Wood's body was discovered at the time several hundred yards from the yacht "Splendour" where she had been spending Thanksgiving holiday with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken.

The newly released report notes injuries on the actress' arm, wrist and neck, initially attributed to Wood attempting to climb into an inflatable dinghy, could have occurred before she entered the water.

Natalie Wood's death certificate changed by authorities

Lisa Brenner with AP | August 21st, 2012, 5:41pm

The nature of Natalie Wood's demise, reclassified from "accidental" to "undetermined" in July, has been officially amended on the actress' death certificate, according to a revised document entered earlier this month.

Changes to the death certificate reflect 30-year-old questions surrounding Wood's drowning off Catalina Island in November 1981.

How Wood got into the water, is one of the lingering questions. According to the amended document, that answer was never clearly established.

Sheriff's investigators renewed the investigation last year, shortly before the 30th anniversary of the three-time Oscar nominee's death.

The case remains open, says LASD, noting that the coroner's office made the decision to amend the death certificate. Detectives placed a security hold on the document, and instructed coroner's officials to not discuss the case.

Courtney Wagner, daughter of Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, busted on drug charges in Malibu

Don Frances | May 1st, 2012, 9:22am

Staff/AFP/Getty Images

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood arrive with her child Natasha (center) and their daughter Courtney (right) at London airport on July 4, 1976.

Once again a child of movie stars has found trouble in Malibu.

Courtney Wagner, daughter of silver screen legends Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, was arrested earlier this month in her Malibu home on charges of possessing cocaine and heroin, TMZ reports.

Deputies were called to the house on April 22 after screaming and a gunshot were reported. What exactly happened remains unclear, but Wagner, 38, and a man named Matthew Cox, 24, were there when authorities arrived at the house on the 24400 block of Piuma Road in unincorporated Malibu, according to the LA Times.

Wagner was arrested on drug possession charges and is out on bail. The man, Cox, was arrested on charges of “negligent discharge of a firearm,” TMZ says.

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood met as stars in the 1950s. Wood is famous for such films as "Rebel Without a Cause" and "West Side Story," while Wagner is known for TV series like "Hart to Hart." In 1981, when Courtney was 7, Natalie Wood drowned in an apparent accident off Catalina Island -- though that case has recently been reexamined. Robert Wagner continued a successful career and is perhaps best known to younger audiences as “Number 2” in the “Austin Powers” movies.