Natalie Wood's yacht captain alleges Robert Wagner held him 'hostage'

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Robert Wagner a 'person of interest' in Natalie Wood's death

Fox411: According to investigators, actor Robert Wagner has been named a 'person of interest' in then-wife Natalie Wood's suspicious drowning death that occurred nearly four decades ago.

Dennis Davern, the boat captain who was there on the night Natalie Wood died, is speaking out about the enigmatic death.

During an appearance on "Megyn Kelly Today" on Wednesday, Davern, who was joined by Marti Rulli, co-author of the 2014 book "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour," detailed his most recent conversation with police about what happened the night Wood died, noting that it was a "lenghty interview."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the co-authors, who appeared on the show as part of a promotion for their podcast "Fatal Voyage The Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood," allege that Wagner pushed Wood off the boat.

"I was interviewed by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. ... I gave them all the information that I could give them," Davern explained. "After I gave them all that information, they asked me if I'd be willing to take a polygraph from the L.A. Sheriff's Department and I said, 'Yes, I would.'"

Davern, who says he then immediately took the polygraph test and passed with "flying colors," went on to allege that Wood's husband at the time, Robert Wagner, now 88, held him "hostage." (Following Wood's death, Davern continued to work for Wagner for a year.)

"When I was at Robert Wagner's house, I was actually there for just about a year," Davern explained. "Robert Wagner got me a job at the studio. He was doing the TV series called 'Hart to Hart.' If I would have a morning call, or something like that, to go to the studio, his driver would pick me up and take me from the house to the studio."

"At the end of my work day, the driver would bring me back to the house," he continued, alleging that when he "would go to bed for the night, my room, you'd close the door, and there was sort of like a magnetic lock to where you couldn't open the door. I couldn't get myself out of my own room."

"I thought maybe the whole house has a security system," he added. "Whether it did or not, I don't know, but to me it was a very locked-in feeling."

Wagner's representatives did not immediately respond when Fox News asked for comment on Davern's claim.

During the "Megyn Kelly Today" appearance, Rulli came to Davern's defense over not going to the police for years.

"The first year after [Davern] stayed with Wagner, he wanted Dennis under his wing. So it was very hard for Dennis to talk with his family, his friends," Rulli said. "And when I finally did get involved, and that's when [Davern] planned to move away from L.A., we started early. This has been decades of effort."

In 1981, Wood was traveling on the family’s yacht, Splendour, with Wagner, as well as Davern and Wood’s friend, actor Christopher Walken.

“The West Side Story” star’s body was found floating in the water off Santa Catalina Island on Nov. 29, 1981. She was 43.