Mysteryof Marilyn Monroe`s death
MarilynMonroe was a famous Hollywood star during the 1950s. She thrilled herfans through films that she acted as well as her outgoing lifestyle.This aspect made many people fall in love with her. In just a decade,she had amassed a great following with people wishing to see her nextperformance in film. She died on August 5th1962. Her death came as a shock to most people who formed part of herfan base. Perhaps the one element that made her demise a mystery isthe fact that no conclusive investigation has ever confirmed whetherit was as a result of suicide or foul play (Howard & Don 7). Thegeneral information which is the public domain is that she was founddead in her hotel room in Los Angeles while holding a telephone inher hand. The cause of death was established to be drug over dose.
Thereare several facts that were established following her death. Herautopsy was conducted by Dr. Thomas Noguchi with the assistance ofspecialists from the Suicide Prevention Centre in Los Angeles. Thefindings established that she died between 2030 hrs and 2230 hrsAugust 4th, 1962. Her blood was found to contain about 8.1 mg percent of chloral hydrate as well as 4.55 mg per cent of pentobarbitalplay (Howard & Don 7). About 13.2 mg per cent of pentobarbitalwas also found in her liver. Police found empty bottles that wereconfirmed to contain these substances by her bedside. This painted aclear picture that the presence of the contents inside her body wasas a result of the ingestion of what was contained in those bottles.The autopsy results also indicated that there were no any signs ofexternal harm upon her body (Banner 63). From this information, itwas quite easy for investigators to settle for suicide as the causeof her death. In fact, Doctor Theodore Curphey stated that her deathwas a ‘possible suicide.’ This meant that although the findingswere not conclusive, but basing on the information that they had inhand, only suicide could be linked to her death.
Thereare many theories that revolve around her death. This is despite thelengthy investigations, tests and inquest that were conducted towardsthe same in a bid to confirm or rule out any possibility of anybody’shand into her death. Despite the general view by the investigatorsthat suicide was the cause many people are raising serious doubtsregarding the issue (Rollyson45).They do state that some details that the police released regardingher death do not add up to convince them that Monroe had chosen toend her life. They go ahead to point at these elements in a bid todisagree with what the investigators had put forth.
Theone factor that they bring out was the clear absence of a suicidenote. They expect that someone like Monroe would wish people to knowwhy she would decide to leave the earth while they still needed tosee her on screen. This, they argue, would be a small token that shewould at least accord them, following the loyalty that she hadobtained from her fans. Doctor Litman, however, indicated that thelack of the note was not something unusual (Rollyson45).He went on to indicate that at the time, Monroe was suffering fromsevere depression and other psychological problems that would pushher to end her life. He also argued that statistics indicate thatless than 40% of people who commit suicide leave behind suicidenotes.
Inthe year 1983, Coroner Noguchi published various reports in which hebrought up some limitations that were established from the autopsythat was conducted on the body of Monroe. He indicates that given allthe details that were on the autopsy reports, some element seemedquite inconsistent. One of them was that there is no way that Monroecould have ingested all those drugs by herself (Welkos 12). This isbecause the reports showed that her stomach was empty at that time. He also stated that the pentobarbitalresidues that were purportedly found in her blood would have leftsome yellow stains on her body, something that was not observed.Noguchi also had reservations that Monroe may have had beenadministered with an enema. The fact that the autopsy did not bringout any evidence of needle piercings also seemed suspicions. This isbecause her doctors stated that they did give her injections, so,there is no way such marks would not be on her body. Naguchi providedthese details in a bid to further the argument that was in manypeople’s minds that Monroe was murdered, and the people involved inthe autopsy and investigations of her death colluded in making thetruth from seeing the light.
Thedetails regarding enema being the method of introduction of drugsinto the body of Monroe were also brought out by John Minor,according to a Los Angeles Times article in published on August 5th,2005, 43 years after her death (Welkos 12). Minor stated that sincethere was no indication that Monroe received the lethal drugs orallyor through injection, it was, therefore, likely that she received thedrugs though enema. He stated that a “Mickey Finn” was slippedinto Monroe so as to knock her out by persons who were unknown. Thosepeople then went ahead to administer a bag which contained Nebutalthrough her rectum. Minor at the time was a Los Angeles prosecutorwho was well conversant with the developments of the case since itwas under his jurisdiction. Although he did not mention any names inhis reports, this left a lot for people to think about, given thefact that rumors were also going on that the death of Monroe waspre-meditated.
Oneof the most known theories following the death of Monroe is that shewas murdered by Robert F. Kennedy. At the time of her demise, Kennedywas the United States Attorney General. It was established that heand Monroe had been having an affair that had span for some period.In a report published by Frank Campbell known as TheStrange Death of Marilyn Monroe (1964),he states that Monroe took the affair quite seriously and could havethreatened Kennedy with taking it public and start up a scandal thatwould risk ruining his public image and career (Rollyson46).It was such an occurrence that necessitated Kennedy to order her tobe assassinated so that he would be able to protect the career thathe had worked so hard to build up. Campbell also indicated in hisbook that Kennedy was a communist enthusiast and so were most of thepeople who were around Monroe such as her doctors. This situationprovided an easy avenue through which he would be able to actualizehis agenda since it was quite easy to woo them, given that theyhappened to share the same ideology.
Althoughmost of the information that was provided by Frank was questionedsince it had a lot of credibility flaws, many other people still buythe argument he gave since he indicated that some information wasobtained from Jack Clemmons. At that time, Clemmons was an LAPDpolice agent and was the first officer to arrive at the Monroe home.He found the housekeeper washing the bedsheets of Monroe andaccording to his words he had a ‘sixth sense’ that something wasterribly wrong (Rollyson46).He later went ahead to ascertain the fears y finding that Monroe wasdead. He brought up the element of evidence tampering by thehouse-keeper quite well. This was very suspicious, given the factthat most people are always aware of the importance of a crime sceneand the need to safeguard it from contamination.
AnthonySummers a British journalist was also one of the most prominentconspiracy theorists regarding the death of Monroe during the 1980s.He states that Monroe had an affair with two Kennedy brothers JohnF. and Robert. It was the moment that she threatened to reveal herassociation with both of them that they came up with ways to whichthey would be able to silence her completely. They, therefore,enabled her addiction to drugs, through facilitating her access tosuch substances. It is an overdose from such drugs that would, lateron, turn out to have a fatal consequence upon her. Summers also goeson to note that Monroe became unconscious and was put on an ambulanceto be rushed to the hospital. She, however, passed on while ontransit, before they reached a health facility. Since Kennedy wantedto leave the state before the death of Monroe was made public, herbody was returned to her house and was later staged to look like asuicide by the Kennedys’ and their aides. Summers argued that theresults of his research were valid and reliable since he hadconducted intensive interviews with 600 people who were closelylinked to Monroe and, therefore, presented a close possibility ofrelaying information that was factual as it related to the life anddeath of Monroe.
However,some people poke holes into the information that was provided bySummers. They argue that he went on to contradict himself severaltimes in the biography that he wrote regarding Monroe. People statedthat Summers represented some of the information that the friends ofMonroe said concerning her (Lewis 12). They also indicate thatSummers stated some false statements and sold them as facts.Churchwell, one of the most vocal antagonists of the theory that wasgiven forth by Summers stated that most of the information that wasgiven by the biographer was as a result of mere speculation but notsound research. Churchwell also went on to provide an argument thatmost of the people who were interviewed could only provide second orthird-hand information that could not be relied upon. He also reliedon witnesses that were deemed as not credible in most circles (Sarah37). Some of such witnesses included Jeanne Carmen and Jack Clemmonswhose testimonies were widely refuted.
Inregards to the reports and rumors that went viral to indicate thatthe Kennedys killed Monroe, the investigators carried out theirassessments and determined that the information was not sufficient tocontinue pursuing them as the murders of Monroe or open a caseagainst them. The case was thus concluded and closed as a suicide,despite the views of a lot of people who felt that justice had notbeen served and guilty people were being let to walk off scot free.
Todate, different excerpts and documentaries continue to come uplinking the Kennedys to her death. For instance, the book, TheMurder Of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed providesinsights that act as evidence as to why the Kennedy brothers would beso much interested in Killing Monroe (Margolis & Buskin 32).Margolis and Buskin base the argument upon the argument that wasgiven by a psychiatrist, Doctor Ralph Greenson. Greenson had beenMonroe’s psychiatrist, and they were also engaged in some seriousaffair. The authors aver that the doctor agreed that Robert Kennedyhad confided in him that Monroe had to die so that she would not riskspilling out any information that she had regarding him or hisbrother, the President. The doctor also indicated that the fact thatMonroe at that time was fighting off some major psychologicalproblems acted as a good opportunity that the perpetrators of hermurder would capitalize upon. As a result, suicide seemed the bestfoolproof that they would use so as to prevent any chance of seriousinvestigations being carried out following her death. Another factorthat made things quite easy for her murderers was that Monroe wasdeeply involved with drug abuse, an element that they would use tokill her (Sheridan np). Although some details provided in the bookseem far-fetched, most of them are consistent with the general viewsthat most people had in relation to the circumstances that surroundedthe death of the 36-year-old celebrity.
Inconclusion, although the death of Marylyn has remained quitemysterious for decades, the argument that the Kennedys were involvedin it makes a lot of sense. She was a celebrity who enjoyed a greatlevel of following from people who were her ardent fans. These peoplewere, therefore, more inclined to believe whatever she said. Sinceshe was involved in separate affairs with the Kennedy brothers, thereis a high chance that she knew a lot regarding their family secrets.When Robert broke up the affair that they heard, she felt angry, andthe threats that she offered to expose them seemed quite dangerous.The news would take a big toll upon President Kennedy and hisbrother, who was the Attorney General of the US. Since these peopleyielded a lot of power and had huge resources, it was quite easy forthem to plan and ensure that her execution was a success. With mostof the information provided by investigators and post-mortem reportsbeing unreliable, they make this argument have a lot of sense. Assuch, this is most likely a case of an unsolved murder.
WorksCited
Banner,Lois. “Marilyn:The Passion and the Paradox.”Bloomsbury. 2012, 63
Howard,Hertel, Don Neff, "Fromthe Archives: Marilyn Monroe Dies Pills Blamed". LosAngeles Times.(August 6, 1962).  Retrieved June 6, 2016. 7
Lewis,Jordana. "Long-DeadCelebrities Can Now Breathe Easier". TheNew York Times.(October 24, 2007) 12
MargolisJay, Buskin Richard.“TheMurder Of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed.”32
Rollyson,Carl (2014). “Marilyn Monroe Day by Day: A Timeline of People,Places, and Events. Rowman and Littlefield.” 45,46 ISBN 978-1-4422-3079-8
Sarah,Churchwell. “TheMany Lives of Marilyn Monroe.”Granta Books. 2004, 37
Sheridan,Peter.“New book claims Marilyn Monroe was MURDERED as it relives theblonde beauty`s final hours” SundayExpressMay 29, 2014, nphttp://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/478887/New-book-claims-Marilyn-Monroe-was-MURDERED
Welkos,Robert. “New Chapter in the Mystery of Marilyn: Her Own Words?” LosAngeles Times. August05, 2005.12
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