No new evidence in Natalie Wood death

Los Angeles - Police have found no new evidence that the mystery 1981 death of Hollywood actress Natalie Wood was a homicide rather than an accident, The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

The LA County Sheriff's Department re-opened the file into the screen icon's drowning in November, assigning two murder detectives to revive the case which has long fuelled speculation, despite being deemed an accident at the time.

But William McSweeney, the sheriff’s chief of detectives, told the LA Times that several weeks of new interviews and other investigative work had turned up no evidence that the death was a homicide.

Robert Wagner

"At this point, it is an accidental death. Nothing has been discovered to suggest changing that at this time," he told the newspaper.

The death of the West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause star at age 43 has long been a Hollywood mystery - but was thought to have been laid to rest, until November's surprise announcement that police were reviving a probe.

The captain of the boat on which the couple were holidaying said her actor husband Robert Wagner had a fierce row with his wife shortly before she vanished, and then delayed a search which could have saved her.

Dennis Davern, former captain of the Splendour - and who has co-written a book about the tragedy - said he thought Wagner was responsible for her death on the night of November 29 1981.

Wood was found drowned about a mile away from the yacht. Police reports said she was wearing a nightgown, socks and a down jacket, and had multiple bruises on her body and arms and an abrasion on her left cheek.

A publicist for Wagner said in November that his family supported the police probe, while warning against people "trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death."