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Woman Who Said She Heard Natalie Wood's Screams Was Threatened Three Days Later
Since the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopened its investigation into the death of actress Natalie Wood, it has gone out of its way to explain it still considers her death an accident.But a statement to the sheriff's department from Marti Rulli — the author of a book about the night (who most certainly stands to gain something by a high-profile investigation) — obtained by TMZ contains some intriguing details from a woman who says she was an "ear witness" to Wood's death.
Marilyn Wayne said she was not far from the boat Wood was on the night that she died, and she believes that she heard Wood's screams for help. She said that investigators never questioned her during their initial investigation or took her claims seriously.
Media Bistro points out an interesting and disturbing tidbit from the statement to the sheriff's department. Wayne said she worked at a stockbroker at a firm servicing Wagner and just days after Wood's death she received a threat:
I had a “client box’” designed for clients to drop off their messages through a slot in the front. The boxes were opened in the back, labeled by broker name on each end. Three days after Natalie died, I found a scribbled message on a torn piece of paper in my box that read, “If you value your life, keep quiet about what you know.”
I immediately suspected it was related to Natalie Wood’s death because that’s all anyone had been talking about. I was disturbed and even told an attorney about the threat.
How this new revelation may influence the reopened case remains to be seen.