Coroner releases new report on Natalie Wood death
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, Associated Press
Jan 14, 2013 2:02 PM CST
FILE - A Dec. 1, 1981 file photo shows actress Natalie Wood. A new report Monday Jan. 14, 2013, shows coroner's officials amended Natalie Wood's death certificate based on unanswered questions about bruises on her upper body. (AP Photo/File)   (Associated Press)

Some of the bruises found on actress Natalie Wood's body may have occurred before she drowned in the waters off California more than 30 years ago, according to a newly released coroner's report on one of Hollywood's most mysterious deaths.

Officials on Monday released an addendum to Wood's 1981 autopsy that cites unexplained bruises and scratches on Wood's face and arms as significant factors that led officials to change her death certificate last year from drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors."

Officials were careful about their conclusions because they lacked several pieces of evidence.

The renewed inquiry came after the boat's captain, Dennis Davern, told "48 Hours Mystery" and the "Today" show that he heard Wood and her actor-husband Robert Wagner arguing the night of her disappearance and believed Wagner was to blame for her death.

Wood, 43, was on a yacht with Wagner, co-star Christopher Walken and the boat captain before somehow ending up in the water.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the newly released autopsy report does not change the status of the investigation, which remains open.

Whitmore said Wagner is not considered a suspect in Wood's death.

Conflicting versions of what happened on the yacht have contributed to the mystery of how the actress died. Wood, Wagner and Walken had all been drinking heavily before the actress disappeared. The original detective on the case, Wagner and Walken have all said they considered her death an accident.

Bruises on Wood's arms, a scratch on her neck and superficial abrasions to her face may have occurred before Wood ended up in the waters off Catalina Island in November 1981, but coroner's officials wrote they could not definitely determine when the injuries occurred.

"The location of the bruises, the multiplicity of the bruises, lack of head trauma, or facial bruising support bruising having occurred prior to entry in the water," says the report, written by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran. "Since there are unanswered questions and limited additional evidence available for evaluation, it is opined by this Medical Examiner that the manner of death should be left as undetermined."

Officials also considered that Wood wasn't wearing a life jacket and had no history of suicide attempts and didn't leave a note as reasons to amend the report and the death certificate.

The newly released report also says there are conflicting statements about when the boat's occupants discovered Wood was missing. The report estimates her time of death was around midnight, and she was reported missing at 1:30 a.m.

Wagner wrote in a 2008 memoir that he and Walken argued that night. He wrote that Walken went to bed and he stayed up for a while, but when he went to bed, he noticed that his wife and a dinghy attached to the yacht were missing.