On the night of August 9th, 1999, Actor William Shatner had just gotten home from a trip to Orange County. When he got home, he was shocked to find his wife, 40-year-old Nerine Shatner motionless and at the bottom of the deep end of their pool. Shatner called 911 and pulled her from the pool to begin CPR. He would later say that when he went to pry her mouth open, it was stiff, and he knew she was gone.
Paramedics quickly arrived, but Nerine was beyond help. Because there were no present signs of foul play or suicide, LAPD Det. Mike Coffee stated that this was an accidental drowning in the family pool. However, an autopsy report and other details of her life and marriage would later reveal that Nerine’s death was slightly more suspicious than a simple accident.
Nerine Kidd
Nerine Elizabeth Kidd was born on July 13, 1959 in Lake Worth, Florida, but was raised in Boston. She was the 2nd of 5 kids and was described by siblings and friends as bold, fearless, loyal to family and friends, full of energy, and a “wisecracker.” Nerine had aspirations of becoming a model and actress so after high school, she moved up to New York City. In 1985, Nerine moved to Los Angeles to hopefully further her career. She was determined and even worked hard to lose her thick Boston accent. She was able to use her beauty to obtain modeling contracts and TV spots. She was in a commercial for Brut cologne that was aired nationally.
With her new found riches, Nerine was reportedly generous toward her family. She made sure to take care of them and send them gifts frequently. In November of 1997, the 38-year-old Nerine married William Shatner 28 years her senior, aka Captain James T. Kirk on “Star Trek” aka the host of Rescue 911 aka Stan Fields in “Miss. Congeniality” aka the face of Priceline.com. The two met on the set of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues” in 1994. Shatner was directing Nerine and the two began dating. Shatner said that Nerine “pummeled her way into my heart.”
They married in Pasadena with Leonard Nemoy as Shatner’s best man. It was Nerine’s first marriage, but it was Shatner’s third. Shatner’s wedding gift to his new bride was a $50,000 horse. Not everyone was pleased with the union. Nerine’s father said that he never liked that she married Shatner, because he was the same age as him. He said that he thinks their marriage was the point when Nerine’s life started to fall apart. Being so much older than Nerine, Shatner came with a lot of baggage.
William Shatner Before Nerine
William Shatner was born March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to Ann and Joseph Shatner. He grew up in conservative Jewish household with his two sisters Joy and Farla.
Shatner has been working in film and TV since 1951 and in 1966 he was cast as the legendary Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek.
On August 12, 1956, Shatner married his first wife Gloria Rand and they went on to have 3 daughters; Leslie (1958), Lisabeth (1960), and Melanie (1964).
In 1989, Shatner was sued by a former personal assistant who said that Shatner fired her after their 2 year romantic relationship ended. A month later, an actress claiming to have been in a six year relationship with Shatner demanded $9 million dollars.
In 1994, Shatner divorced his 2nd wife and was ordered to pay her $23 million in the settlement.
Nerine and William’s Marriage
Despite their age difference, Nerine and Shatner appeared to be a loving couple. Neighbors reported seeing them strolling down the streets with their arms linked like a happy couple. They traveled the world and both kept acting. However, Nerine’s rich and famous life wasn’t the fairytale that it would seem. While she was married to “The Shat” and lived in a mansion and rubbed elbows with other celebrities, Nerine was struggling with substance abuse issues.
She was reportedly in and out of rehab centers. Including one stint in the Betty Ford Rehabilitation Center right before the two filed for separation one month before their first anniversary. Friends and relatives were actually surprised to hear about these stays in rehab centers saying she drank, but wasn’t an alcoholic. They did admit that she did occasionally get very drunk.
Nerine went to rehab 3 times for 30 day stints according to Shatner. Once RIGHT after their wedding. Shatner said that she almost “drank herself to death” twice and that Leonard Nemoy actually tried to help and took her to AA. Nemoy had struggled with alcoholism as well and he tried to support her and his friend, Shatner, in this struggle.
Nerine also had multiple drunk driving arrests and once attempted to take pills that would make her sick if she drank. Shatner said that Nerine would hide bottles of alcohol around the house and put vodka in her water bottles. He also said that Nerine begged him to have a baby, but he wanted her to be sober for at least 6 months before he’d be willing to agree to that. Warren Cowan, Shatner’s agent, confirmed this and reported that Shatner told Nerine she wasn’t responsible enough to have a baby.
Then later, on October 21, 1998, Shatner filed for divorce and asked the judge not to award alimony to Nerine. Nerine didn’t respond to the divorce papers and Shatner didn’t really push it any further. Though he didn’t drop it.
Nerine’s agent, Pam Loar reported that the couple actually began to reconcile. They continued to participate in their favorite hobbies such as horseback riding, waterskiing, and parasailing. Nerine also enjoyed swimming laps in the pool behind their house. She was a very strong swimmer who had been swimming and water-skiing most of her life at the family lake house in New Hampshire.
In the days before Nerine was found in the pool, Shatner had told her he was leaving her. Shatner said in an interview that Nerine’s therapist was actually the one who told him to seek out the divorce.
Shatner said that the night before she died, they went to dinner and Nerine secretly ordered a vodka cranberry, but told him it was just cranberry juice. He also said that on the way home she wanted to stop for some groceries, but she bought booze and hid it under her shirt. Back home, Shatner says that Nerine chugged the entire bottle of liquor.
The day of her death
The next day (the day she would die), Nerine was supposed to return to court regarding a drunk-driving charge from 1997, but she didn’t make it to that appointment for some reason. Her lawyer, Peter Knecht, said that he had called her the night before the court date and said that he “couldn’t understand a word she said. She didn’t appear to be in good health.”
The Shatners also had plans that day to go visit his daughter, Leslie, from his first marriage. However, Shatner told Nerine that he didn’t want her to come, because she was intoxicated. Shatner said that the last thing she said when he was leaving was, “Tell Leslie I love her and tell her I found God.” Later that day, Shatner called the house and told Nerine that he would take her horseback riding if she stayed sober. Unfortunately, when he called again around lunch time, the housekeeper told him that Nerine was passed out drunk in bed.
When she died, Shatner made a statement saying, “ My beautiful wife is dead. She meant everything to me. Her laughter, her tears, her joy will remain with me for the rest of my life.”
In his autobiography, Up Till Now, Shatner says that after he found his wife’s body, a detective told him that if there was any sign of foul play, he’d be the first suspect. Shatner then wrote that he said: “What are you talking about? This is the woman I loved more than my life. I wouldn’t hurt her.” He told police that Nerine had been showing signs of depression recently.
An autopsy would later reveal that Nerine had a blood alcohol level of .27 (more than 3 times the legal limit for driving) as well as having Valium in her system. She was apparently known to drink Gatorade and vodka cocktails before swimming. Nerine’s body also had bruising on her face and 2 cracked vertebrae. The theory was that she was drunk and high when she dove into the pool and hit her head. The autopsy seemed to support this and that this was an accidental drowning.
Shatner was questioned multiple times, but was also able to provide a receipt with a timestamp from the dinner he had with his daughter that night.
The case was officially closed and ruled as an accidental drowning.
