L.A. County coroner changes Natalie Wood's cause of death

Citing bruises found on the actress' body, the medical examiner questions the original findings and revises the cause from an accident to 'drowning and other undetermined factors.'

He said the cold water may have delayed any bruising. Smith said he examined the dinghy, which was found beached nearby, and saw dislodged seats and what appeared to be "nail marks along the inside of the raft," as though Wood had tried frantically to reach in and pull herself up.

"She probably couldn't pull herself in because she was so weak," Smith said. "It looked like she was maybe grabbing things. I just think she was trying to get in."

Smith said he had doubted an earlier claim by yacht captain Dennis Davern that he had seen bruises on Wood's body. "He could not have seen bruises on her because out of decency, I covered her up with a disposable blanket," Smith said.

Wagner has said his wife hadn't been suicidal and called her death a tragic accident. According to the account given by Wagner's spokesman, when he noticed his wife missing he believed she had taken the dinghy, and he went looking for her after 10 to 15 minutes, then contacted the Harbor Patrol when he couldn't find her.

Wagner could not be reached for comment Monday.

"I have gone over it so many millions of times with people," Wagner told The Times in 2008.

christopher.goffard@latimes.com

kate.mather@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.

Comments (31)

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Pamela Valemont at 10:47 PM April 16, 2013

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oceanresq at 8:48 AM January 16, 2013

I worked with the Paramedic on scene and pictured above, he had relevant information about the scene and the incident and was never interviewed. He was also ordered by higher ranking officers in the department to stay silent about the incident. He was also ordered NOT to respond to the incident yet responded anyway. He was then removed from Catalina Operation and forced to work the mailand for the rest of his career.

contraryjim at 8:05 AM January 16, 2013

Bob Wagner was the fair haired boy in school - got what he wanted. Was he unable to deal with rejection?

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