EXCLUSIVE: Robert Wagner's Natalie Wood Tribute Sparks New Questions

Robert Wagner has broken his silence on social media – memorializing the anniversary of his wedding to late wife Natalie Wood over four decades after her mysterious death, in what one critic calls a come-to-Jesus moment while alleging the 96-year-old Hollywood legend is "going to hell," RadarOnline.com can reveal

Wagner posted a sweet pic on Instagram of himself and Wood leaning in for a kiss with the caption: "Memories Happy Anniversary Nat! More Than Love."

The digital tribute was shared on July 16, four days shy of what would've been the West Side Story star's 88th birthday.

However, sources said hiding behind the emotional post is the stark reality that fed-up Wood was on the verge of dumping the Hart to Hart stud in November 1981 before disappearing from her yacht, Splendour, off California's Catalina Island following a vicious brawl with hotheaded hubby Wagner.

Investigative book writer Marti Rulli scoffed at the Instagram post, accusing Wagner of stonewalling Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) homicide investigators, and suspects the aging hunk is preparing to meet his maker.

"Wagner is getting near his end of times and wants to make amends with the other world," said Rulli – coauthor of Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour with skipper Dennis Davern, who reported the alleged domestic dust-up between the couple to authorities, leading to the 2011 launch of a homicide investigation.

"Is he trying to show they were madly in love? Well, they weren't!" she added. "She was ready to leave him. She was sick of his drinking, and she didn't want to put up with his jealousy. He killed her, and I think he's going to hell."

On that fateful night, the Rebel Without a Cause beauty, 43, was on the 60-foot Splendour with Wagner and her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken when her husband allegedly flew into a jealous rage, leading to the reported altercation that Davern claims to have partially witnessed.

Wood's lifeless body was later found floating face down in the Pacific Ocean, and her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning.

But in 2012, the L.A. County coroner changed the cause of death to "drowning and other undetermined factors," citing unexplained bruises, along with new information uncovered during the LASD investigation.

A 2025 probe by RadarOnline.com exclusively unearthed 240 pages of investigator files showing suspicious bruising on Wood's forearm, wrist and knee, a neck abrasion and a facial scrape – injuries the coroner said were "not necessarily consistent with a simple, accidental fall."

The files also contained crime scene photographs giving a graphic glimpse of the chaos inside the yacht that Davern described as if a "storm went through the bedroom."

What's more, Rulli exclusively told RadarOnline.com that she wants Wood's body exhumed so investigators can examine the Splendor in the Grass star's skull for possible fractures.

Wagner, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, was labeled a "person of interest" in 2018 – but no criminal charges followed, and in 2022, was officially cleared of involvement. The case remains open.

Rulli, who is set to publish the upcoming follow-up book Natalie Wood and the Devil She Knew, also questions Wagner's motive for the Instagram post, noting his current wife, Jill St. John, 85, had moved into his home weeks after Natalie died.

"What about Jill?" Rulli told RadarOnline.com. "What would Jill think about the Instagram post? All of the sudden, he wants to make this appearance on social media describing how much he was in love with Natalie. There is a reason behind it. Robert Wagner does not make a move like that without there being a reason behind it."