Report: Robert Wagner named 'person of interest' in wife Natalie Wood's death

Did the It Takes a Thief star have something to do with his late wife's tragic passing?

CBS News reports that Robert Wagner is now being considered a "person of interest" in the investigation of Natalie Wood's death. Noting that Wagner is not a suspect in the case, 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty told CBS This Morning on Feb. 1, 2018, "He's a person of interest. [The investigators are] calling him that for the very first time because they believe that this is a suspicious death and they now believe, on what they've gathered, that he was the last person to see her alive. They also say that his accounts over the years just don't match the evidence that they've gathered and the witnesses."

According to Moriarty, Wagner's account of what happened has changed multiple times since Wood's death. She also stated that investigators, who reopened the case in 2011, have found two witnesses that claim they heard Wagner and Wood fighting and one witness who allegedly saw the fight happen.

In an interview for 48 Hours, shared by CBS News, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant John Corina stated, "As we've investigated the case over the last six years, I think [Wagner's] more of a person of interest now," adding, "I mean, we know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared."

Detective Ralph Hernandez noted that, judging by her autopsy report, Wood appeared to have been "a victim of an assault," as indicated by multiple bruises found on her body. He stated, "We have not been able to prove this was a homicide. And we haven't been able to prove that this was an accident, either."

As People reported, Wood, an actress known for her roles in projects like Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and West Side Story (1961), died on Nov. 29, 1981. She had been sailing near Catalina Island with Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken, and their yacht's captain Dennis Davern, when she somehow allegedly fell off of the boat and died. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning at the time. However, in 2012, Wood's death certificate was changed to state that she died of "undetermined factors" (via the New York Post).

In his 2008 memoir, Pieces of my Heart, Wagner stated that he'd had an argument with Walken regarding Wood's career shortly before her death. Regarding how Wood fell into the water, Wagner wrote, "Nobody knows. 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."