What Famous Actress Was Killed on a Boat?

This Google question probably refers to the 1981 drowning of 43-year-old Natalie Wood. Various conspiracy theories about her death have circulated for decades. But here are the facts as we know them.

Wood, along with her husband, Robert Wagner, and current co-star, Christopher Walken, were drinking and partying in a yacht. Wagner broke a wine bottle during a violent argument with Walken, and an embarrassed Wood left the party. A few hours later, her bruised and battered body was found near the boat’s dinghy. Scratch marks were on the side of the dinghy, as if Wood had fallen out and tried to get back in. Her BAC level was over twice the legal limit.

Her death was initially ruled accidental. But in 2011, officials re-opened the case, naming Wagner as a person of interest, after the yacht’s captain, Dennis Davern, said Wagner followed Wood to their cabin after he broke the wine bottle, and proceeded to argue with her. After she went missing, Davern says that Wagner waited four hours to call the Coast Guard, and told him not to turn on a searchlight to see if Wood was in the water. To this day, the investigation of Wagner is on again, off again.

Types of Boating Accidents

The tragic story illustrates the types of boat accidents and the factors that contribute to them.

Collisions, drownings, and falls are the most common kinds of boat accidents. Frequently, these kinds of boat accidents overlap.

Many operators assume that boats are like cars. They don’t understand that boats float. So they cannot turn sharply or stop quickly. If boaters are too close to other boats, collisions are almost inevitable. Collisions are especially common when lakes are crowded on the Fourth of July and other popular boating holidays.

Collisions often throw people overboard, and excursion-related drownings are common as well. Most people are used to swimming in controlled environments, like swimming pools. Even experienced swimmers cannot deal with hidden dangers, like strong currents and riptides.

Even if people don’t fall overboard, when they slip on wet, pitching decks, they hit their heads on hard surfaces. The resulting head injuries cause immediate bleeding and swelling. Additionally, in most cases head injuries are permanent.

According to the facts, a combination of water hazards and alcohol consumption caused Wood’s death. The same combination causes many fatal boat accidents today.

ALSO READ: Understanding California Boat Accidents: Types, Liability, and Settlements!

Evidence in Boat Accident Cases

The Natalie Wood saga also illustrates the different kinds of evidence in boat accident cases, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of these kinds of evidence.

Medical bills and other documents may be the most reliable kind of evidence in an accident claim. Doctors have no interest in the case, so their conclusions are rarely biased. Additionally, medical documents are objective.

This objectivity and certainty also creates weaknesses, especially in terms of damage proof. Medical records often don’t include notes about the victim’s pain level, which is critical to a determination of emotional distress and other noneconomic losses.

As the Wood story also demonstrates, witness statements, another important piece of evidence in personal injury cases, are often conflicting. A personal injury attorney must usually carefully assess the credibility of both positive and negative witnesses.

Official reports, the third major kind of evidence in a personal injury case, are much like the witness statements they’re based on. Like the statements, the reports are uncertain and subject to change at any time.

To make up for these weaknesses, a Boat Accident Lawyer in California often partners with medical experts, accident reconstruction engineers, and other such professionals.

Liability Issues

Finally, the Wood case illustrates the two types of injury torts in California, which are unintentional and intentional torts.

Unintentional refers to the result, not the action. A vehicle collision is the best example of an unintentional tort. Tortfeasors (negligent drivers) don’t “unintentionally” speed or get drunk. But they do unintentionally cause injuries.

These torts involve a simple you break it, you buy it responsibility. If Richard unintentionally hits his neighbor’s mailbox and destroys it, he must pay compensation (replace the mailbox). If he unintentionally hits his neighbor and injuries him, he must pay compensation (economic and noneconomic damages).

Assault, which is basically speculative as opposed to factual in the Wood case, is the most common intentional tort. The tort is intentional because the tortfeasor intends the conduct as well as the result. Somewhat different liability rules apply in these cases.

ALSO READ: Endgame: How Are Boat Accident Cases Resolved?

Contact Our Experienced Boating Accident Attorney Today!

Tort victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with a Personal Injury Attorney in California, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.

Credit: Photo by Midjourney