Marilyn Monroe Assassination

Introduction

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, died in the early hours of August 5, 1962 at her home on Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles. She was 36 years old. The Los Angeles County coroner, Dr. Theodore Curphey, ruled her death a "probable suicide" from acute barbiturate poisoning — specifically chloral hydrate and Nembutal (pentobarbital). Her body was found by her housekeeper, Eunice Murray; her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, was called to the scene and pronounced her dead.

Monroe's death has been disputed almost from the moment it was announced. The persistent claim — appearing in books, documentaries, and online forums continuously since the 1960s — is that she was murdered and her death staged to look like suicide, motivated by fear that she would publicly disclose sensitive information about her relationships with President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, or about other matters she had allegedly been told in confidence.

The Official Findings

The coroner's investigation relied primarily on toxicological analysis showing high levels of barbiturates in Monroe's blood and liver. The finding of "probable" rather than "certain" suicide was based partly on the absence of a note and partly on the inconsistency of some witness accounts regarding when her body was discovered relative to when her psychiatrist and housekeeper said they called police.

The "probable" qualifier has been seized upon by conspiracy advocates as evidence of official uncertainty. Forensic pathologists note that suicide determinations are frequently qualified in the absence of a note; "probable" reflects standard evidentiary caution in the absence of a witnessed act, not an indication that foul play was suspected.

The FBI Surveillance File

The FBI maintained a file on Marilyn Monroe, portions of which have been released under Freedom of Information Act requests. The file documents FBI interest in Monroe's associations — her relationships with individuals the Bureau regarded as potential national-security concerns, including leftist connections from her marriage to Arthur Miller. The existence of the FBI file is real and documented; it has been used by conspiracy advocates to argue that Monroe was considered a threat.

What the file does not contain is any indication that the Bureau contemplated harming Monroe or that it had knowledge of any plan to do so. The existence of surveillance documentation is consistent with J. Edgar Hoover's documented pattern of maintaining files on prominent public figures, celebrities, and political associates — a practice the Church Committee documented extensively. Surveillance files on celebrities were common; they do not imply assassination planning.

The JFK/RFK Connection Claims

The most specific version of the assassination claim holds that Monroe was killed to prevent her from holding a press conference — allegedly threatened in the final days of her life — at which she would reveal the nature of her relationships with President Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and disclose classified or sensitive information shared with her.

Several versions of this claim exist, ranging from the plausible (Monroe was emotionally distressed after a strained end to an affair with RFK) to the elaborate (Monroe had been told state secrets about UFOs, the Bay of Pigs, or organized crime connections). No documentary, forensic, or testimonial evidence corroborates the specific claim that she was killed to prevent a disclosure. The claimed "red diary" that Monroe allegedly kept, which some accounts say was seized by government agents, has never been produced or independently verified.

Forensic Re-examinations

Multiple forensic reviews and investigative journalism pieces have re-examined the evidence over the decades. A 1982 Los Angeles County District Attorney's investigation found no credible evidence of foul play or cover-up; it concluded the suicide finding was consistent with the evidence. Subsequent private forensic reviews commissioned by documentary makers have noted anomalies — particularly questions about the timeline of body discovery — but have not produced evidence sufficient to establish that Monroe's death was caused by another person.

The toxicological picture is consistent with an intentional overdose. Monroe had a documented history of barbiturate dependency, previous overdose incidents, and well-documented emotional distress in the weeks before her death. None of this proves suicide was intentional on that night, but it is consistent with the official finding.

The 1982 Reinvestigation and the Evidentiary Record

In 1982, Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp initiated a formal review of Monroe's death, prompted by renewed public interest driven in part by investigative journalism and the book "Who Killed Marilyn?" by Robert Slatzer. The review team included forensic specialists and reviewed all available materials. Its conclusion was unambiguous: there was no credible evidence of foul play, and the original suicide finding was consistent with the available forensic, toxicological, and circumstantial evidence.

The investigation was, however, hampered by the state of the original LAPD inquiry. The initial investigation in 1962 was limited: the crime scene was not comprehensively documented by contemporary forensic standards, stomach contents from the autopsy were discarded before more detailed analysis was possible, and some tissue samples that would now be routine to preserve were not retained. These gaps have been used by conspiracy advocates to argue that evidence of foul play was suppressed. Forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, in a privately commissioned review, argued that the absence of high barbiturate concentrations in the stomach contents — expected if Monroe had swallowed the pills — was anomalous, and raised the question of whether she received the drugs by another route. The mainstream forensic response has been that barbiturate absorption from oral ingestion can be uneven and that the gastric analysis from 1962 was incomplete regardless.

The RFK timeline has been examined closely by multiple researchers. Robert Kennedy was confirmed to have been in Los Angeles on August 4, 1962, visiting the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on the same day, with contemporaneous accounts placing him in the Los Angeles area earlier. The precise details of his movements and any contact with Monroe on that day are documented inconsistently across accounts; biographers of Kennedy including Evan Thomas and James Rosen have addressed the question at length. No account has produced evidence linking Kennedy to a decision to harm Monroe. Peter Lawford's role — as a conduit between Monroe and the Kennedys and as one of the last people reportedly in contact with her — has been scrutinised in multiple investigations. Lawford maintained until his death that Monroe was alive when he last spoke with her and that he had no knowledge of a murder.

The question of whether Monroe had information that powerful people wished to suppress has never been resolved because the alleged contents of any such disclosure have never been substantiated. The "red diary" — a book in which Monroe allegedly recorded sensitive conversations — has been described by multiple sources over decades, but no original document has been produced, authenticated, or independently witnessed. Its existence is asserted, not established.

Why the Claim Is Unsubstantiated

Conspiracy accounts of Monroe's death tend to accumulate circumstantial elements — the FBI file, the famous relationships, the "probable" qualifier, the timeline discrepancies — without producing direct evidence that anyone caused her death. The burden of proof for an assassination claim requires more than suggestive juxtaposition of known facts. After more than six decades of investigation by journalists, documentary makers, former law enforcement, and private researchers, no such evidence has emerged.

The official finding of probable suicide, though not certainty, is the most evidence-consistent conclusion available given what has been examined.

What Would Change Our Verdict

• Physical evidence (the alleged "red diary" or documentary evidence of a murder plan) with independent verification
• Credible testimony from a named participant or witness to a murder plot
• New forensic evidence inconsistent with barbiturate overdose from any source

Verdict

Unsubstantiated. Monroe's death was ruled probable suicide by barbiturate poisoning by the Los Angeles County coroner. The FBI surveillance file is real but documents general monitoring, not assassination planning. Multiple forensic re-examinations over six decades have produced no new evidence of foul play. The assassination claim rests on circumstantial juxtaposition of known facts — famous relationships, surveillance files, timeline discrepancies — without direct evidence that anyone caused her death.