Marilyn would be murdered on August 5, 1962, 7 months before I was born. I have never thought Marilyn committed suicide and I have kept up with all of the stories about her death since the time I could start reading.
There have been so many stories about the death of Marilyn since that horrible day of August 5, 1962. Stories have said, Eunice Murray, Norman Jeffries and Marilyn were relaxing and having a calm family evening eating jiffy-pop popcorn, drinking Pepsi-Cola and watching NBC Saturday night at the movies.
Other stories have said she spent her final night alive at Frank Sinatra’s Cal Neva. And, then of course there is the Mob, CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy’s, the Gangster Squad and the infamous Dr. Ralph Greenson.
There are so many suspicious circumstances surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death. Everyone has his or her own opinions, books have been written, magazines, newspaper articles and even movies. It’s a disgrace that so many people made millions of dollars out of the death of Marilyn.
The most important thing that has never changed in over 53 years is the people involved, the time frame of events and the real manner of death.
I have compiled a list of various time lines based on all of the police reports, government documents, interviews and notes from published books. There is no reason that the death certificate of Marilyn Monroe should be changed from “probable suicide” to “Murder or Homicide.”
Let’s go over some of the them and you tell me what you think?
The first known book to be written about Marilyn was “The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe by Frank A Capell. What is interesting about his book is he has the first original accounts.
Here is some of the original details: All highlighted areas in green are my questions or concerns.
THE VICTIM
At 4:25 A.M. on Sunday, August 5, 1962, the telephone rang at Los Angeles Police Headquarters. A man, stating he was Dr. Hyman Engelberg, reported the death of a movie star, Marilyn Monroe. Instantly the call was relayed to the West Los Angeles Police Division.
Was this just a routine case of suicide a movie star, beginning to age, whose contract with 20th Century Fox had been cancelled? This was what the papers and radio announced and, except for the fact that Marilyn Monroe was an international celebrity, the "suicide" would have gone almost unnoticed by the public. However, the public was ghoulishly interested and so all her friends were interviewed by reporters, as were her doctor, psychiatrist, housekeeper, press agent, etc. The incredible contradictions in the different statements did not seem to bother anyone. The Los Angeles "Herald Examiner" on Aug. 6, 1962, quoted Marilyn's psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph R. Greenson: "Marilyn had talked with me at 5:5O P.M. Saturday evening (Aug. 4, 1962.) She appeared distraught. I told her to take a drive and relax." The same newspaper on Aug. 15, 1962 quoted Marilyn's press secretary and close friend, Pat Newcomb, as saying, "Saturday she was getting things done inside the house-she loved it. This was the first home she ever owned herself. She was as excited about it as a little girl with a new toy when I last saw her at 6:30 P.M. Nothing about her mood or manner had changed. She said to me, 'I'll see you tomorrow. Toodle-loo'."
Born Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn had been raised in foster homes until she was sixteen. Her early life was unhappy, in fact miserable, and she had been abused both physically and carnally at an early age. When the opportunity presented itself she quickly married to get out on her own. Her first husband was James Dougherty, a Van Nuys, California, policeman. After an unhappy marriage and a turn at modelling, Marilyn came under the guidance and influence of Lee Strasberg, who was connected with the New Theatre, and the Film and Photo League, both of which had been cited as Communist fronts by Congressional Committees. Strasberg maintained a Svengali-like influence over Marilyn to such an extent that she left t him a sum of money in her will. It has been estimated he will get almost half a million dollars.
Like leeches, the left-wingers managed to cling to Marilyn through her years of success in Hollywood. Her marriage to Joe DiMaggio, while unsuccessful, was one which might have been happy if they had been left alone. Joe sincerely loved her and deeply mourned her passing. He was aware of the influences which had crept into her life and felt so strongly about it that he kept the "Hollywood crowd" away from her funeral.
Among those excluded were Peter Lawford and his wife, the former Pat Kennedy, sister of the President of the United States, Joe had felt that something was wrong, that Marilyn was in danger, and had resigned his $100, 00O.OO per year job as Vice President of V. H. Monette, Inc. in Virginia (suppliers of Military Post Exchanges) on August 1, 1962, to come to California to be near her. One of the last telephone calls that Marilyn received was from Joe DiMaggio, Jr. who was in the United States Marines. They had a friendship and respect for each other and Joe, Jr. was in the habit of asking Marilyn for advice from time to time.
After Marilyn and Joe were divorced, she married Arthur Miller, a playwright and admitted former Communist who refused to cooperate with a Congressional Committee and who therefore is still popular with the extreme left. Over the years Miller has made clear his lack of respect not only for women but also for God and country. Joe DiMaggio has promised to give Miller the beating he deserves whenever he meets him publicly. Miller's new play, “After the Fall," in spite of his denials, is obviously based on his marriage to Marilyn and is most unflattering to her while glorifying him. Marilyn's marriage to Miller was much publicized and ended in divorce. She returned to California after an absence of almost seven years and lived in an apartment on Doheny Drive until she built a home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, Brentwood, Beverly Hills Section, Los Angeles County.
Marilyn, at the time of her death, had been working on a film, “Something’s Got To Give,” for 20th Century Fox Films. During the filming she became ill and lost twenty days out of thirty two, causing the film company to cancel her contract in June, 1962. During one illness, Marilyn came under the influence of a Beverly Hills psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph R. Greenson, of 436 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills, California. He is a relative or very close friend of Marilyn’s lawyer, Milton A. (Mickey) Rodin of the law firm of Gang, Tyre, Rudin & Brown, 64-00 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. Rudin has also been the lawyer for Elizabeth Taylor. Head shirker Greenson was charging Marilyn fifty dollars per visit and his bill from July 1, 1962 to August 4, 1962 was $1,400.00. His statements to the press were that he was getting Marilyn off the use of barbiturates. It must have nullified his efforts, however, when a physician friend of his who was also treating Marilyn kept prescribing barbiturates for her. This physician was Dr. Hyman Engelberg of 9730 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills who pronounced Marilyn dead at 3 :45 A.M. on Sunday, August 5, 1962 and signed her death certificate. Dr. Engelberg has been identified by three different witnesses as a member of the Communist Party.
On Friday, August 3, 1962, these two doctors were very busy with Marilyn, according to their sworn affidavits supporting their claims for fees filed in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles. Dr. Greenson shows that he "treated" Marilyn at his office on Friday, August 3rd for at least one and one-half hours. Dr. Engelberg shows that he visited Marilyn on the same day at her home for which he charged twenty-five dollars. He also swore he gave her an injection of some kind for which he charged ten dollars extra. In spite of her visits to and from doctors, however, Marilyn felt up to ordering fine liquors and food delicacies on the same day from Briggs and Co. of 13038 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, the bill totaling $49.07.
Dr. Greenson gave Marilyn a prescription for twenty-five capsules of Phenergan in 25 mg strength. This is an anti-histamine drug often used for allergy. He also gave her a prescription for twenty-five Nembutal capsules in one and one-half grain strength. The prescriptions were dated August 3,1962 and were filled by the Vicente Pharmacy, 12025 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles. They assigned number 20857 to the Phenergan prescription and number 20858 to the Nembutal prescription. Dr. Engelberg told the police on August 5th and their report shows that he had prescribed a refill of Nembutal "about two days ago" and that there should have been about fifty capsules at the time of the refill. This is completely false. The prescription was dated August 3,1962 and it called for only twenty-five capsules. It was not a refill since it was given a new number.
Pat Newcomb, Marilyn's close friend, when questioned about the events prior to Marilyn's death stated: "I had arrived at the house Friday night after work. I was fighting a bad case of bronchitis and had decided to enter a hospital for a complete rest. But Marilyn had called me and said why don't you come out here. You can have all the privacy you want. You can sun in the back and you won't have to go to a hospital. I found her in wonderful spirits. She was in a good mood, a very happy mood. Friday night we had dinner in a quiet restaurant near her home." Miss Newcomb stated that part of Marilyn's happiness was due to the decision of 20th Century Fox to resume making the film, "Something's Got To Give," with their star back in the role. It also pleased her that when completed portions of the film were shown to studio executives in New York there was a great deal of excitement. Dr. Greenson painted a different picture when he was questioned by police. The police report shows, "Dr. Greenson had seen the deceased on August 4, 1962 (Saturday) at 5:15 P.M. at her request because she was unable to sleep. He had been treating her for about one year." Why she should want to go to sleep at 5:15 P.M. in the afternoon he did not say, nor would it seem logical for her to want to go to sleep since she had a guest (Pat Newcomb) with her. In explaining a bill of $1,400.00 submitted to Marilyn's estate for payment, Dr. Greenson had this to say, "All office visits lasted a minimum of one and one-half hours. All visits to the home were approximately two hours in duration."
If we are to accept Dr. Greenson's story, he would have been trying to put Marilyn to sleep while she and Pat Newcomb were enjoying each other's company and Marilyn was in a "good mood, a happy mood" as stated by Miss Newcomb who did not leave until 6:30 P.M. and makes no mention of seeing any psychiatrist trying to put Marilyn to sleep. To the contrary Marilyn told her very gaily, "I'll see you tomorrow. Toodle-loo." At 7 :00 P.M. Marilyn reportedly talked on the telephone to Peter Lawford, who invited her to come over to a dinner party.
According to the police report Marilyn had retired at about 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 4, 1962. This information was given to them by Marilyn's housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray. She stated she saw a light under the door in Marilyn's room at Midnight but went back to bed. At 3 :30 A.M. she looked again and saw the light under the door. The door was locked so she walked around and looked in the bedroom window. She said she saw Marilyn "lying in bed on her stomach with the phone receiver in her hand." She stated she called Marilyn's psychiatrist and he told her to call Dr. Engelberg, which she did. Dr. Greenson arrived at 3 :40 A.M., he stated, and broke the window pane in the bedroom window. He entered through the window, removed the telephone from her hand and found her "probably dead" (rigor mortis had already set in.) About ten minutes later at 3 :50 A.M. Dr. Engelberg arrived and pronounced her dead (she had been dead for at least three to six hours already.) Finally, at 4 :25 A.M. Dr. Engelberg called the police who had a man on the scene in minutes. He was Sgt. Clemmons who in turn notified detectives, after which Sgt. Byron took charge of the investigation. The Coroner's Office was notified by 5 :25 A.M. The Coroner showed the time of death as 3 :40 A.M. while the police, being uncertain, showed the time of death between 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 4th, and 3 :35 A.M. on Sunday, August 5th.
By 10:30 A.M., Sunday, August 5, 1962, an autopsy had been performed by T. Noguchi, M.D., Deputy Medical Examiner and a report was prepared, file #81128. In the section of the report entitled "Digestive System," Dr. Noguchi stated, "The stomach is almost completely empty. The contents are brownish mucoid fluid. The volume is estimated to be no more than 20 cc. No residue of the pills is noted. A smear made from the gastric contents and examined under the polarized microscope shows no refractile crystals.
The mucosa shows marked congestion and submucosal petechial hemorrhage diffusely. The duodenum is also examined under polarized microscope and shows no refractile crystals. The remainder of the small intestine shows no gross abnormality. The appendix is absent. The colon shows marked congestion and purplish discoloration.
Physicians questioned by the author knew of no case of acute barbiturate poisoning causing death by ingestion of overdose in which some residue of the drug was not found in the stomach or duodenum. Yet Dr. Noguchi could not find a single crystal of the drug during his microscopic examination.
The Case Report of the Coroner, County of Los Angeles, recorded on Tape #258B, start 478, end 496, and the hand written questionnaire form signed by C. Pace, Deputy, show some interesting information. Condition of the body was stated to be "discolored." Remains were removed by Clarence Pierce and brought in by Dambacher and Pace at 9:00 A.M., Sunday, August S, 1962. Deputy Coroner Pace in a hand written section of the report under title "Remains," writes: "Obtained the following from Guy Hackett of Westwood Village Mortuary. Deceased was found at approximately 3: O5 A.M. by housekeeper Eunice Murray, who got up to check on deceased and she found the bed room door locked. She called Dr. Engelberg (Note: She told police she first called Dr. Greenson.) who came over immediately. The doctor took a poker from the fireplace and broke the bed room window to gain admittance. Dr. pronounced death at 3 :35 A.M. The mortuary attendant stated all doors to residence were sealed. Deceased's mother is apparently in a sanitarium. Body is discolored but no evidence of any trauma." (signed C. Pace) The report shows under "Reported As," -- "Suicide?"
The findings, therefore, show no traces of barbiturates in kidney, liver, stomach, urine or intestines--only in the blood sample. No alcohol was found anywhere nor was any Phenobarbital. The toxicologist's report does not support the statement attributed to the Coroner in the Los Angeles "Herald Examiner" on August 18th that a lethal dose of Nembutal was found and an “equally lethal dose of Chloral Hydrate was also found." The toxicologist's report does not indicate any tests were made to detect Chloral Hydrate. Chloral Hydrate is also known as "knockout drops" and is a powerful drug which causes unconsciousness in a short time and causes death if given in quantity.
Among the containers of drugs found in Marilyn's bed room was one containing ten green capsules with the prescription number 20570 which had been filled by the same druggist on July 25, 1962 and called for fifty capsules of 0.5 gram doses of Chloral Hydrate. On the same date another prescription was filled for her (#20569) which was for thirty-six tablets of Sulfathallidine, an antibiotic. The Chloral Hydrate prescription was renewed for an additional fifty capsules on July 31, 1962, six days after the first prescription for fifty capsules had been filled. At the time of Marilyn's death on August 4th or 5th ten capsules remained. This would mean that a total of ninety capsules were used in ten days. The question arises as to what happened to them as it would have been impossible for her to have used them all even if she slept twenty-four hours a day. And why did the Coroner say she had taken a lethal dose of them when the toxicologist did not find any evidence of it or even make such tests? There is much to be explained by the authorities in this matter alone.
Westwood Village Mortuary was assigned by the Coroner's Office to remove the remains from the residence of the deceased.
Death Report of Marilyn Monroe-Los Angeles Police Dept.
Marilyn Monroe on August 4, 1962 retired to her bedroom at about eight o'clock in the evening; Mrs. Eunice Murray of 933 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, Calif ., 395-7752, CR 61890, noted a light in Miss Monroe's bedroom. Mrs. Murray was not able to arouse Miss Monroe when she went to the door, and when she tried the door again at 3 :30 A.M. when she noted the light still on, she found it to be locked. Thereupon Mrs. Murray observed Miss Monroe through the bedroom window and found her lying on her stomach in the bed and the appearance seemed unnatural. Mrs. Murray then called Miss Monroe's psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph R. Greenson of 436 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif., CR 14050. Upon entering after breaking the bedroom window, he found Miss Monroe possibly dead. Then he telephoned Dr. Hyman Engelberg of 9730 Wilshire Boulevard, also of Beverly Hills, CR 54366, who came over and then pronounced Miss Monroe dead at 3 :35 A.M. Miss Monroe was seen by Dr. Greenson on August 4, 1962 at
5 :15 P.M., at her request, because she was not able to sleep. She was being treated by him for about a year. She was nude when Dr. Greenson found her dead with the telephone receiver in one hand and lying on her stomach. The Police Department was called and when they arrived they found Miss Monroe in the condition described above, except for the telephone which was removed by Dr. Greenson. There were found to be 15 bottles of medication on the night table and some were prescription. A bottle marked 10 grains Nembutal, prescription #20853 and prescribed by Dr. Engelberg, and referring to this particular bottle, Dr. Engelberg made the
statement that he prescribed a refill for this about two days ago and he further stated there probably should have been about 50 capsules at the time this was refilled by the pharmacist.
COPY OF MARILYN'S DEATH REPORT
Follow-up Report of L. A. Police Department
Dr. Greenson received a telephone call from Mrs. Eunice Murray who is the the reporting person, at 3 :30 A.M. on 8/5/62, wherein she stated she was unable to get into Miss Monroe's bedroom, and also that the light was on. He instructed her to pound on the door and look through the bedroom window, after which she should call him again. Mrs. Murray called back at 3 :35 A.M. and said that Miss Monroe was lying on the bed with the telephone in her hand, and that she looked strange. Having dressed by this time, Dr. Greenson left his home to go to the residence of the deceased, which is about one mile away. Dr. Greenson also told Mrs. Murray to call Dr. Engelberg.
It was about 3 :40 A.M. when Dr. Greenson arrived at the home of the deceased. He broke the window pane and entered the home through the window and then he removed the telephone from the deceased' s hand.
Rigor Mortis had set in. Dr. Engelberg arrived at 3 :50 A.M. and pronounced Miss Monroe dead. The two doctors, above named, talked for a few minutes. It is the belief of both of them that it was about 4 :00 A.M. when Dr. Engelberg telephoned the Police Department.
A check with the Complaint Board and WLA Desk indicates that the telephone call was received by the Police Department at 4 :25 A.M. Miss Monroe's telephone, which is GR 61890, has been checked and it was found that no toll calls were made during the hours of this occurrence. The telephone number of 472-4830 is being checked at the present time.
COPY OF FOLLOW-UP ON MARILYN'S DEATH REPORT
Several columnists made mention at the time of Marilyn's death that there seemed to be need for a full inquest with the examination of witnesses. Either this was not done in spite of all the contradictions and unresolved questions, or it was done in secret and the report never placed in the file. As matters stand the questionable findings of the toxicologist's report do not agree with the official statement of the Coroner. The report of the physician who performed the autopsy clearly shows no signs of drugs in her body organs and this would indicate the need for a full investigation. The physician who signed the death certificate pronounced her dead after rigor mortis had set in, but did not mention the fact or try to estimate the time of death. Both he and the psychiatrist failed to call the police for an unnecessarily long period of time. Even the Coroner made no attempt to fix the exact time of death. If it were not for the police reports, one would assume that she actually died at 3 :40 A.M. Sunday, August 5th. Actually she may have expired at 8:00 or 8:30 P.M. on August 4th. If we are to accept the word of Pat Newcomb that she left Marilyn at 6:30 P.M. on Saturday, August 4th, making no mention of having seen a doctor visiting Marilyn, the doctor must have arrived later if he did visit Marilyn as stated in his claim for payment from her estate. And if, as stated in his claim, his visits lasted for at least two hours, he could have been with her when she died.
Efforts have been made to make it appear that Marilyn was depressed, morose and a potential suicide. While it is true that Marilyn had made four previous "suicide attempts" in her life, it is also true that they were not serious and were to gain sympathy when she felt lonely and in need of attention. The following statements reported in the Los Angeles "Herald Examiner" would indicate she had no intention of committing suicide and was well experienced in taking proper doses of barbiturates, and the toxicologist's report shows no evidence of alcohol so she was not under the influence of liquor. Pat Newcomb is reported on August 6th as saying, "It just had to be an accident. Things were going too well for it to have been anything else. Why just last week a 20th Century Fox executive told her 'Look we can't replace you.' " Milton Rudin, Marilyn's lawyer, stated as reported on August 6th, "A telegram was found on Marilyn’s table in the hall from Natalia Dansei Murray, New York Representative of Anita Loos, offering Marilyn a starring role in a new Broadway musical entitled, 'Go-Go.' Two others were bidding for her services-J. Lee Thompson, director of the film, 'Guns of Navarro,' and producer Sam Spiegel. Marilyn had just turned down an offer to appear in a Las Vegas night club at $55,000.00 per week." Mrs. Elizabeth Courtney, assistant to designer Jean Louis, well known Los Angeles couturier, stated as reported on July 12th, that Marilyn had just ordered a $1,600.00 gown.
The press reports regarding the estate of Marilyn Monroe are interesting. They attempt to create the impression that her financial condition might have had something to do with her "suicide.'' "Time" Magazine of August 17, 1962, page 50, states: "Marilyn's troubled financial state was suggested as meaningful. Apart from her $77,500 house which carried a $35,000 mortgage, her property consisted of some $4,000 in cash plus clothing, furs and jewelry. For the past two years she had restricted herself to $20.00 per week pocket money." The fact is Marilyn had been spending $100.00 for face make-ups, $70.00 for hairdos. Her psychiatrist's bill for thirty-four days was $1,400.00 and she was seeing Dr. Engelberg frequently at $25.00 per visit and paying $20.00 each for unnamed injections. She paid a photographer $200.00 per session. The Los Angeles "Herald Examiner" carried articles indicating Marilyn's estate was at least a million dollars. So she was far from impoverished and worrying about finances.
Marilyn, in spite of all the medicines, tranquilizers and sleeping drugs prescribed for her; was found by the physician making the autopsy to be in good condition physically. Being a kindly soul, perhaps she gave some of the drugs away to friends when they visited her. Since the evidence indicates she had at least a million dollars, that 20th Century Fox had agreed to take her back in a starring role, that she had other lucrative offers, that she was happily furnishing her new home in a Spanish motif, there seems to be little basis for suicide. But what if she were helped along into the next world by someone who would either benefit financially or who feared she might disclose something he wished to conceal. Suppose, for example, a married man were involved, that he had promised to marry her but was not sincere. Suppose she had threatened to expose their relationship.
It was Dr. Engelberg who signed the death certificate and who showed the time of her death as 3 :40 A.M., Sunday, August 5, 1962. But at that time rigor mortis had already set in and apparently no effort was made by Dr. Engelberg to indicate that 3 :40 A.M. was an estimated time of death. Physicians questioned by the author stated that, while rigor mortis could set in in as few as three hours, taking into consideration the time of the year, temperature, etc., it would be more likely to occur in a minimum of five or six hours from the time of death. It would be more likely than that the death occurred sometime between 8:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M. on Saturday evening, August 4, 1962.
In the Police Report, Dr. Greenson stated he had gone to Marilyn's home after receiving a telephone call from the housekeeper, Mrs. Murray, and upon arrival, broke the bedroom window, and upon entry to the bedroom found Miss Monroe "possibly dead." He stated he then called Dr. Engelberg who came and pronounced Marilyn Dead at 3:35 A.M. Upon being reinterviewed by the police, Dr. Greenson changed his story to having asked Mrs. Murray to call Dr. Engelberg as soon as he, himself, had received the call from Mrs. Murray. In the second interview with the police, Dr. Greenson stated he arrived at 3:40 A.M. that Dr. Engelberg arrived at 3 :50 A.M. on Sunday, August 5th.
"Newsweek" magazine of August 13, 1962, page 40, states: "At midnight, her housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, noticed a light in the actress' bedroom and when it was still on three hours later she went to investigate. The bedroom door was locked and there was no answer to her calls. Alarmed, she called Dr. Greenson, who then called another doctor when he was not able to force the door. The two broke the bedroom window and inside they found Marilyn Monroe dead in bed, nude, with the covers pulled up to her neck." (How could her covers be pulled up to her neck if she was on her stomach?)
Photographs taken show that a small pane in a French door had been broken so that the catch was released. Dr. Greenson's statement to the police indicated he had broken the window with a poker from the fireplace. (The broken glass was found outside and not inside proving the window was broken from inside the house. ) The housekeeper said she had telephoned Dr. Engelberg at the request of Dr. Greenson even before Dr. Greenson had arrived, and Dr. Greenson had examined Marilyn and found her "presumably dead" by the time Dr. Engelberg arrived.
Although both doctors tried to indicate they had called the police earlier, the fact is no call was made to the police until 4 :25 A.M., August 5th. The best explanation Dr. Engelberg could give the police for not having called them immediately was that he and Dr. Greenson were "talking." (About what? How to cover-up the murder?)
Many questions come to mind regarding these doctors' actions and testimony. Why was Dr. Engelberg prescribing barbiturates when his friend, Dr. Greenson, was supposedly trying to have Marilyn avoid the use of them? Why did the doctors fail to notify the police promptly as they are required to do? Why did they make conflicting statements as to who arrived first, who broke the window and/or door? Why did Dr. Engelberg not make an estimate of the time of death and clearly indicate that Marilyn had been dead for a number of hours? (Because they were all lying.)
After Marilyn's funeral Mrs. Murray checked out of her Santa Monica apartment and left no forwarding address. A check with other residents in the apartment house disclosed that shortly after Marilyn's death Mrs. Murray seemed to have come into some money and took off for an extended trip to Europe. (It’s called the Kennedy’s money) Recent inquiries brought forth the information that she has again made connections. It was stated she is with a family of means, one of the heads of which is in a sanitarium.
The Los Angeles "Herald Examiner’’on Tuesday, August 14, 1962 stated, "According to Hollywood sources, two women close to the star at the time of her death have departed the scene. Pat Newcomb, Marilyn's personal Press Agent, was reported 'no longer with us' at the Arthur Jacobs Agency. She was reported in Hyannisport, Massachusetts yesterday (August 13, 1962) as a guest of the Peter Lawfords. The star's housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, has checked out of her Santa Monica apartment and left no forwarding address."
Pat Newcomb, according to her own statements, would have been one of the last few persons to have spent time with Marilyn Monroe before her death. She had gone to visit Marilyn early Friday evening, August 3rd. They had dinner at a quiet restaurant nearby; (Newcomb never says what restaurant) she stayed overnight and had not left until 6 :30 P.M. on Saturday, August 4th. This would have been within a few hours of Marilyn's death. Miss Newcomb was a friend and confidant of Marilyn and often stayed overnight at her home. This last Saturday afternoon with Marilyn did not find the star morose, according to Pat, but gay and happy, sunbathing, looking over film scripts and playing with two cloth dolls, one a lamb and the other a tiger.
After Marilyn's death Pat had a run-in with newspapermen and photographers as they were covering the story in Marilyn’s home. She became hysterical and the police had to restrain her. Her efforts to prevent photographers from taking pictures and reporters from getting stories caused considerable difficulty with the press, to such an extent that her employer dismissed her for this reason. Public relations firms are expected to maintain at least friendly relations with the press.
MARGOT PATRICIA NEWCOMB, was press secretary for Marilyn Monroe and also a close friend. (Not that close of friend if she had part in the murder) She was born on July 9, 1930 in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Carmen Adams Newcomb and the former Lillian Lee. She graduated from Immaculate Heart High School, Hollywood, California, in 1948 and Mills College, California, where she took a Liberal Arts course, majoring in Psychology, in 1952.
After the funeral Pat Newcomb flew to the “Kennedy compound” at Hyannisport, Massachusetts. After this Pat left the country and remained away for six months. During this period from August, 1962, to February, 1963, she visited Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland. When she returned to this country she was put on the government payroll as an information specialist (motion pictures) for the U.S. Information Agency, 1776 Penn. Ave. N. W., Washington, D.C. She was hired in a GS-13 rating at a starting salary of $12,245.00 per year. On her employment application she gave as references Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lawford, David 0. Selznick and George Stevens, Jr., the man under whom she was to work. Her residence is at 2928 P Street N. W. and her duties interesting.
"Through liaison with the U. S. motion picture industry to develop programs of participation of outstanding American motion picture personalities in traveling abroad to participate in programs of benefit to the Agency, including lectures, seminars, personal appearances and international motion picture events."-"To increase and augment U. S. prestige abroad through the increased circulation of creditable motion pictures produced by the Government or by the theatrical and non-theatrical agencies." - "To use motion picture specialists and experts for international cooperation and understanding." These are high-sounding aims, but if the image of America is to be formed overseas with some of the films coming out of Hollywood it is little wonder that we are so intensely disliked in many areas of the world.
When Pierre Salinger decided to run for Senator in California, Miss Newcomb left her employment with the U.S.I.A., either by leave or otherwise, and assisted Salinger with his political campaign. Also assisting in this campaign are Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lawford and reportedly financing and masterminding the campaign is Bobby Kennedy. Reporters in the Los Angeles area have stated that Pat Newcomb obtained her government job through Robert Kennedy. Since Miss Newcomb shared many secrets with Marilyn Monroe and was one of the last persons known to see her alive, one wonders if this government appointment was not a form of payoff for helping out and/or keeping quiet, and if so, what part did she play in the strange death of Marilyn Monroe?
Although Marilyn Monroe lived in the glare of publicity, one of the most fateful associations of her life was carefully shielded from that glare. Her friendship with Attorney General Robert Kennedy was well known to newspaper reporters and columnists in the Los Angeles and Hollywood area but never publicized.
Bobby Kennedy has a playful side and it is this side that we are really interested. During his first year in office his parties received considerable publicity. There were frequent news stories of his guests falling into his swimming pool or being playfully pushed in fully clothed. His sister and brother-in-law, the Peter Lawford’s, also gave parties in Hollywood and it was at one of these that Bobby met Marilyn Monroe.
Bobby had been making trips to Hollywood to see Jerry Wald, the producer who was going to make a film out of Bobby's book, "The Enemy Within." The Lawfords are frequent party-throwers and are closely associated with Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pack." Lawford and Sinatra are reported as having a joint business venture, a restaurant, on South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, which numbered among its customers the type person the local police would prefer to see leave town.
One party Marilyn attended at the Lawford’s at which the Attorney General was present was of sufficient interest for her to have spent $170.00 for a special hairdo and make-up. Stories made the rounds that Bobby interceded with 20th Century Fox on Marilyn's behalf when she was dropped, since she sent a personal telegram to him at McLean, Virginia, as soon as her contract had been cancelled by 20th Century Fox. There were a number of telephone calls made as shown by Marilyn's telephone company records of person to person calls to Robert Kennedy. The calls were made both to the Department of ·Justice in Washington, D.C. and to the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California.
When in Beverly Hills Bobby Kennedy stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel and one of his visits is an interesting one. On July 26, 1962 and July 27, 1962 he stayed in Room No. 227 and had the charges for room, meals and telephone calls billed to the National Insurance Association, 2400 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago 16, Illinois, for the attention of Charles Davis. Inquiry discloses that the National Insurance Association of that address was originally known as the National Negro Association, made up of some individuals who have connections with small negro insurance companies in the South, and that the Executive Director is Charles Davis.
Most V.I.P.'s do their partying and carrying on in strict privacy in private homes, private clubs and hotel suites. Those involved, if they know what is good for them, do not talk and this is especially true with the sacred name of Kennedy. Was Marilyn about to do some talking? Did she think her involvement was more serious, expecting perhaps a divorce and marriage to her?
The official verdict in the death of Marilyn Monroe was that she died by her own hand either deliberately or accidentally. No effort was ever made to check further into the conflicting reports and stories told by witnesses. In fact, the two most important witnesses departed immediately after the, funeral for parts unknown. The cause of death was determined by the physician who performed the autopsy to be "acute barbiturate poisoning due to ingestion of overdose." But no residue was found in her body to indicate that this overdose had been taken orally. The lividity of the body would mean that the body had been turned over before the police were called. What must we think when so many stories do not "add up?" We must think that there is a distinct possibility that the death was not what it was made to seem-an accident or suicide-but murder, and that the people whose stories or actions were strange were involved.
What the public was supposed to believe when Marilyn Monroe died was that she was despondent, having lost her job and being in financial straits, and a bit unbalanced, having been under the care of a psychiatrist, and therefore took an overdose of sleeping pills and that her death occurred later than it really did.
What the facts show is that Marilyn was not despondent, was well off financially, was going back to work on the picture from which she was dropped and had other attractive offers as well. She had no reason to do away with herself deliberately and was not under the influence of alcohol which might have caused her to do it accidentally.
Whose statements after the death did not ring true or were contradictory? The psychiatrist said he visited Marilyn at 5:15 on Saturday afternoon to put her to sleep. Pat Newcomb said she was with Marilyn until 6:30 on that same afternoon and they were sunbathing and looking over film scripts. Mrs. Murray was quoted in one report as having called Dr. Greenson first and in another as having called Dr. Engelberg first. She was quoted as saying she was alarmed to find Marilyn's door locked when Marilyn always kept her door locked. Peter Lawford said he called Marilyn to invite her to a dinner party which never happened and ended up with one odd guest in his home. Seven o'clock the same evening is not the usual time to invite a guest to a dinner party. The Coroner stated for publication that the toxicologist found a lethal dose of Nembutal and an equally lethal dose of Chloral Hydrate in Marilyn's body but the toxicologist's report did not confirm this. The doctors who went to Marilyn's home after her death stated they delayed calling the police because they were "talking."
Whose actions were strange? Mrs. Murray who obtained her job with Marilyn through Dr. Greenson although this was not her profession disappeared for a couple of days after the death and could not be located by newsmen for interviews. She later came into a bit of money and took an extended European vacation thereby making herself unavailable for questioning. Pat Newcomb was whisked to Hyannisport and thence to Europe, also for an extended vacation and also making herself unavailable for questioning. Upon her return she was placed on the government payroll. The action of Marilyn's psychiatrist and doctor before her death were strange, with one prescribing drugs when the other was supposedly trying to get her off the use of them. Dr. Engelberg' s action was strange when he gave the time of death as 3 :40 A.M. although it had obviously occurred much earlier since, according to the police report, rigor mortis had set in.
If Marilyn's death were really murder dressed up to look like an accident or suicide who would have wanted her out of way? The most likely one would be an ambitious man, already important but wanting to become more important and knowing that a serious scandal might ruin his chances for the biggest job of all. Would he take a gun and shoot her or personally involve himself in the dirty work? No, he would be devious as always and utilize the forces best qualified for the job-the Communist Conspiracy which is expert in the scientific elimination of its enemies. Marilyn, already surrounded by doubtful people, was easy game.
She knew that all was not well and was fearful of her life. Joe DiMaggio, alarmed and worried about Marilyn, gave up his high-salaried job to be near her, according to newspaper reports. He obviously knew she needed help but did not get to her side in time to save her life. Marilyn, having sustained an injury to her nose, thought it serious enough to have had it exrayed by Drs. Conti and Steinberg of 416 North Bedford Dr., Beverly Hills to see if there were any broken bones on June 7, 1962. On July 17, 1962 Austin A. Innis of 6916 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles was paid a sum of money by Marilyn for repairs he made to locks at her residence on July 14, 1962. Marilyn had some documents which were so important to her that she had a locksmith change the lock on the file cabinet in which they were kept a short time before her death. After her death it was necessary to call the same locksmith to open this cabinet, which was located in a cottage on her property, as she had carefully secreted the keys. After Marilyn's death, a locksmith was again called to repair locks.
There seems to have been a great deal of lock-changing and lock-breaking and lock repairing going on. According to the witnesses questioned after Marilyn's death, no locks were broken. Her bedroom door was locked so entrance was gained to her room by going outside, breaking a pane of glass in a French window and reaching in to turn the handle to open the door. But the A-1 Lock and Safe Company, through Mr. Halovaty of 3114 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica filed a bill with the estate for payment for repairs they made to locks which were broken after the death of Marilyn Monroe. Supposedly there would be no need to break any locks since the housekeeper was present to open doors for anyone desiring her to do so. Were the locks broken by the three persons who reportedly entered her home on the evening of August 4th? Were they searching for certain incriminating documents? These men, one of whom is reported to be a lawyer, supposedly turned over Marilyn's body to make sure she was dead which would account for the lividity noted on her body. Setting the time of Marilyn's death at a much later hour than that at which it actually occurred would cover up the activities of these men.
Since Marilyn died of an overdose of barbiturates, traces of which were found only in her blood, it would seem that the drugs must have been injected rather than taken orally. Either that or her body had been thoroughly pumped out to remove the traces of what killed her. This would seem to require the services of a doctor. One of her doctors was an identified Communist and Communists are trained to obey orders, even orders to kill. Communists eliminate their enemies and the enemies of friends in high places.
That the Attorney General of the United States is their friend must be deduced from his failure to proceed against the Communist leaders who have been under indictment since the Supreme Court decision requiring them to register. "Human Events" of April 7, 1962 on page 239 reported that Senator John Tower of Texas had openly accused Attorney General Robert Kennedy of failure to enforce the provisions of the Internal Security Act of 1950 which requires Communists to register. Not a single Communist has registered and not a single Communist has been prosecuted by the Attorney General. Newspaper reports have informed us that Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy made a pronouncement before the Advertising Council in Washington, D.C. that the Communist Party in the United States is a windmill virtually powerless to harm the United States. This opinion is not shared by F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover whose department keeps track of the activities of American Communists. Mr. Hoover has repeatedly warned of the danger to our country from this source. Bobby Kennedy is also reported to be responsible for the shipping off to England of a Soviet defector who came to the United States seeking sanctuary and desiring to give information on Soviet agents and collaborators.
It was at the home of the Peter Lawfords that Bobby Kennedy reportedly met Marilyn Monroe. The Lawfords have an at tractive swimming pool and Marilyn had photographs taken there for publicity releases to various magazines. For these photographs Marilyn would have special make-up and hairdos and pay the photographer as much as $400.00. Bobby is reported to have interceded on Marilyn's behalf with 20th Century Fox and their friendship grew and grew to the point where, according to Marilyn's friends, she was led to believe his intentions were serious. There are person to-person telephone calls, living witnesses, tape recordings and certain writing to attest to the closeness of their friendship.
Did the trouble begin when Marilyn realized that her V.I.P. had no intention of getting a divorce and marrying her? Did she insist he fulfill his promises to her or face her making public their relationship? Neither of these alternatives would appeal to Mr. VJ.P. Since Marilyn could destroy him either by talking or with written evidence, did he decide to take drastic action?
Since this book was written more information has come to light through the author's continued investigation on the subject and from readers with bits of knowledge which add to the overall picture. This information confirms the left wing backgrounds of persons close to Marilyn who were influencing her and. the importance of Pat Newcomb's role in the case.
Mrs. Eunice Murray, Marilyn’s companion housekeeper, was recommended by Dr. Greenson to Marilyn Monroe as a companion-housekeeper six months before Marilyn died. After Marilyn's death Eunice Murray went to Europe via Air-France, leaving the United States on August 17, 1962. She indicated she was going on a "pleasure trip" and was going to travel through Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.
Dr. Ralph Greenson, Marilyn's psychiatrist involvement with Marilyn was quite a family affair. "Mickey" Rudin, Marilyn's new lawyer, is married to Dr. Greenson's sister. He and his law firm have represented many clients on the far-far left. One of Rudin's clients is Frank Sinatra, who was among those barred from Marilyn's funeral. Mrs. Greenson and her daughter Joan used to coach Marilyn in what to discuss with Bobby to make a favorable impression and to appear intelligent, confident and able to talk on various subjects. Dr. Greenson swore in an affidavit for payment of his final bill to the estate that he had visited Marilyn on Saturday, August 4, 1962, and he told this to the police. Yet he told reporters he had not visited her, but only talked on the telephone with Marilyn. This would make it a very expensive phone call as the charge was listed as $50.00. If Dr. Greenson did not visit Marilyn, he committed perjury in submitting the sworn statement to the Superior Court. If he did visit Marilyn, he would have been one of the last persons to see her alive.
The person who claims to be the last person to have seen Marilyn alive is Pat Newcomb. She stated she was with Marilyn from Friday evening, August 3rd, at dinner time until Saturday evening, August 4th, at 6:30 P.M. There is positive evidence that this story is untrue. (Again, Newcomb never says what restaurant) What facts she could give are evidently important enough for our VIP not to want them known. She was hustled off to Hyannisport after Marilyn's funeral, thence to Europe for six months, and then kept under our VIP's watchful eye in government service, first in the U.S. Information Agency and then in the Department of Justice itself. After going to California to help Pierre Salinger, Bobby's fellow carpetbagger, capture the nomination for U.S. Senate and raise funds for his campaign, Pat returned to Washington to be put on the payroll of the U. S. Department of Justice in a special unit on the Fifth Floor not too far from the office of the (now former) Attorney General.
Neighbors told of having seen Bobby entering and leaving Marilyn's home. In fact, witnesses claim to have seen Bobby coming out of her home on the very date of her death. One informant stated Bobby stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday evening, August 3rd, but did not sign the hotel register. Pat Newcomb would be in a position to know if Bobby was really in Marilyn's home at any time during the final hours of her life.
Another individual with knowledge of Bobby's activities in Beverly Hills is Edwin 0.Guthman who lives at 6700 Renita Lane, Bethesda, Maryland. (While going over the files at UCLA, I came across a interesting letter from a Jean W. Ogden who said she met Marilyn at her store on the same that Bobby was in Maryland. I attempted to contact Ms. Ogden but she had passed away in 2009. See letter `below) He acted as Bobby's press agent and public relations man and held the title of Director of Public Information, Department of Justice. He too has stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel and charged his hotel bills to the Negro group in Chicago called the National Insurance Association.
Certain local police officers were assigned to security duty when Bobby visited California. A Santa Monica police officer who did security duty at the Peter Lawford's home because of Bobby's presence there reportedly observed Bobby and Marilyn at a party which he described as one of the wildest he had ever seen or even heard of. The Greensons are close friends of the Lawford’s and are said to have knowledge of the parties held there.
Jean W. Ogden Wednesday, August 8, 1962
4007 W. Underwood Street
Chevy Chase 15 Maryland
Dear Mr. Greenson,
I have been terribly concerned about the death of Marilyn Monroe, and I would like to speak to you confidentiality by letter about this matter. I believe she was here in Washington for a short time last week and I waited on her and spoke to her. I work as a saleslady of sweaters at the Woodward and Lothrop store in downtown.
I didn’t read anything in the papers about her visit to Washington DC. I was supposed to call her. Did she confide in you about our conversation? I was supposed to call her between 8:00 and 9:00 on the night she died but the cost of the call made me delay. We talked about sleeping pills. I asked a man to call her for me that night and he may have been the mysterious phone call mentioned in the papers. Please keep confidential between you and me.
Sincerely, Mrs. Jean
This could have been the mystery phone call just after Dr. Greenson hung up.
The various Police Department personnel who had contact with the investigation of the death of Marilyn Monroe are Sgt. Jack Clemmons, Sgt. Ianone, Officer Coberley, Officer McGuire, Officer Curran, Officer Gillis, Detective Sgt. R. E. Byron and Inspector Walker. No coroner’s inquest was ever held and no real investigation involving questioning witnesses under oath. There is ample evidence of misstatements, lies, deceit, cover-ups, pressures and false affidavits. This would justify a full scale grand jury investigation. Hundreds of people in the Hollywood and Los Angeles area as well as other parts of the country have been demanding this. It remains to be seen whether this will be done and whether the facts will be brought out, so the American people will finally have the truth about the strange death of Marilyn Monroe.
Since the first printing of this book Walter Winchell, who long ago had inside information on the case, has mentioned it in his column five times. Other columnists and journalists in different parts of the United States have also referred to the case. Obviously the press is not in favor of cover-ups and the suppression of information in this case. Marilyn still has friends.
At this time, we should like to bring our readers up to date on some of the principal characters in the Marilyn Monroe Case. Patricia Newcomb, who had been working under George Stevens, Jr. in the U.S. Information Agency, resigned after Walter Winchell raised questions about "security matters."
Patricia Newcomb gave Mr. & Mrs. Peter Lawford as references on her application for U.S. Government employment. The Lawford beach home was the scene of many parties involving the so-called Rat Pack and, reportedly, Bobby and Marilyn. The Lawfords are no longer man and wife. Catholic Pat Kennedy sued and obtained a divorce from Peter Lawford allegedly on the grounds of extreme cruelty. After the divorce something happened in 1967 which had all the earmarks of a pay-off. Walter Winchell reported that the Joseph Kennedy Sr. Foundation had bankrolled Peter Lawford's new Hollywood motion picture producing company to the extent of seven million dollars.
After Patricia Newcomb resigned from her paid position in the U.S. Information Agency, she was rehired as a consultant at a dollar a year and worked in an office next to Bobby Kennedy in the Justice Department. When he departed and ran for Senator in New York, she joined the ranks of his campaign workers. She has now returned to Hollywood and has a high salaried job in one of the motion picture studios. Bobby Kennedy, seemingly the guiding force in all Patricia's activities after Marilyn Monroe's death.
The newest version 2015
This version is from The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed / by Jay Margolis Richard Buskin / Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing unless otherwise noted.
NOTE: Estimated times are indicated with a ~ symbol.
AUGUST 4, 1962
9:00 a.m.
Isidores Miller calls from New York. Murray assures Miller that Marilyn will return his call after she finished dressing.
~2:00 pm
Bobby and Peter arrive at Marilyn’s. Peter slips into her home to tell Mrs. Murray and Marilyn’s handyman Norman Jefferies (also Murray’s son-in-law) to get lost for an hour. Per Jefferies, Peter gives them money for Cokes and they leave in Jefferies’ pick-up. Per Peter, Marilyn offers Bobby some food she ordered from Briggs Delicatessen the day before: mushrooms, meatballs, and a magnum of champagne. Uninterested, Bobby says he’s here for one reason: to tell her she can’t contact him or his brother Jack Kennedy again. Bobby and Marilyn argue for several minutes before per Peter, Marilyn threatens a press conference to announce her affairs with both Kennedy brothers. Later per Sydney Guilaroff, he learned from Marilyn that Bobby had responded, “If you threaten me, Marilyn, there’s more than one way to keep you quiet.” Per Peter, Marilyn then impulsively takes a kitchen knife lying next to the tray of food and lunges at Bobby. Peter joins in to help. Bobby eventually knocks her down to the ground and kicks the knife away from her. During their typical Saturday afternoon bridge party, Marilyn’s next-door neighbor to the east at 12304 Fifth Helena Drive, Mary W. Goodykoontz Barnes, her guest Elizabeth Pollard, and two other ladies witness Bobby leave Marilyn’s. They see him run back to a white Lincoln convertible (which Kennedy borrowed from FBI agent William Simon whenever he visited Marilyn). Bobby Kennedy then retrieved one of his two long-time personal bodyguards Archie Case or James Ahern. From an upstairs window, they see Kennedy with Case or Ahern return through Marilyn’s courtyard back to Marilyn and Peter. The neighbors notice the man in the suit is carrying a little black case. Regarding Bobby, one of the card-playing ladies shouted to the others, “Look, girls, there he is again!” Then, while Peter and Bobby restrain her, Case or Ahern subsequently sedates Marilyn with a heavy intramuscular pentobarbital injection under her left armpit. While she’s temporarily stunned and immobile on the ground from the drugs, Bobby and Peter enter Marilyn’s home with the sole purpose of looking for her red diary, a potential basis for blackmail, where she documented highly sensitive political information. Bobby keeps looking while screaming, “Where the fuck is it?” but can’t find “it.” Peter meanwhile flips through Marilyn’s address book and calls Ralph Greenson to come over and tend to his patient. The psychiatrist agrees to be there within the hour. At this time, Marilyn musters enough energy to enter her house and furious that her privacy is being violated, screams and chases the men from her home. They leave without the diary.
7:00 p.m.
Peter claimed he called Marilyn and that this time she begged off saying she was tired
~7:00- 7:15 pm
Lawford calls her dear friend, Peter Paul’s cousin, Joe Naar and his wife Dolores. Joe told Paul that Lawford informed him that Marilyn was not going to the party so no one needed to pick her up.
~7:00 – 7:15 pm
Joe DiMaggio Jr., son of baseball player Joe DiMaggio called Marilyn about his broken engagement to a girl in San Diego. DiMaggio Jr. said when interviewed that Monroe sounded cheerful and upbeat. Marilyn was happy that he broke off the engagement because he was too young to get married. DiMaggio was able to place the time because he was watching the 7th inning of a Baltimore Orioles and LA. Angels (Later the LA Dodgers) game being played in Baltimore. DiMaggio was stationed in San Diego and the game was being played in Baltimore. The 7th inning took place in Balitmore around 10:00 – 10:15 pm which would have made it around 7:00-7:00 pm California time.
7:15 p.m.
Greenson leaves Marilyn’s. He goes home to prepare dinner at his residence of the actor Eddie Albert and his wife Margo.
~7:30 p.m.
Peter calls Marilyn to see if he can still get her to come to his party. Those at the Lawford’s a half-hour later: Joe and Dolores Naar, producer “Bullets” Durgom, and Lawford maid Erma Lee Riley.
~7:30 p.m.
Per Dolores Naar, Lawford calls the Naar’s and tells them not to bother picking up Marilyn because “she’s not coming.”
~7:30 – 7:40 pm
Per Greenson and Murray, Marilyn calls Greenson while he is shaving. He notes she is in high spirits because Joe DiMaggio Jr., broke off his engagement.
~ 7: 40– 8: 00 p.m.
Milt Ebbins alleges Peter phones him in a panic, worrying that Marilyn may have taken too many pills and that they should go over there. Ebbins says he warned him against it because he’s the President’s brother-in-law. Before going over there, Ebbins asks Peter to wait until he calls Mickey Rudin first. Ebbins later reaches Rudin at Mildred Wallenberg’s party.
~8: 00– 9: 00 p.m.
Sydney Guilaroff got a call from Marilyn who sounds better. She told him she had just met with her psychiatrist. Before ending the call, Marilyn relayed to Sydney she knows a lot of secrets in Washington, a reference to her red diary.
~ 8: 00– 9: 00 p.m.
Dress manufacturer and long-time friend Henry Rosenfeld calls Marilyn and he reports she sounded normal.
8: 00– 9: 00 p.m.
Peter’s friend Bill Asher claims Peter called him to see if he would go along with him to Marilyn’s house to find out if she was okay. Asher advised against it because Peter is the President’s brother-in-law and that maybe they should call “old man Joe” Kennedy to seek his advice.
9:00 p.m.
Per the police report, Mickey Rudin called Murray who informed him that Marilyn was fine, which she was.
9:30 p.m.
Per George “Bullets” Durgom, Pat Newcomb arrives at Lawford’s party. She wears what appear to be pajamas and a dark coat over it.
9:00 – 11:00 pm: Different Story
Murray, Norman Jeffries and Marilyn are relaxing and having a calm "family" evening eating Jiffy-Pop popcorn, drinking Pepsi-Cola and watching NBC Saturday Night At The Movies, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Marilyn had not taken any drugs or alcohol and was very happy, laughing and enjoying the movie. A half-hour before the movie was over, Peter Lawford, Bobby Kennedy and one or two men in black suits and sunglasses came in. Bobby said "hi," as they were all very close friends having spent so many Saturdays together. But Bobby said, "Hey Norm, be a pal and take Eunice for a walk, I need to talk to Marilyn alone for an hour or so."
~9:30 - 9:45 p.m.
Per Jefferies and an FBI agent interviewed by documentarian Keya Morgan, Bobby Kennedy and two men enter Marilyn's home. They instruct Jefferies and Mrs. Murray to leave. Bobby and the men then enter guest cottage
with the sole purpose of looking for Marilyn's red diary. They break into her large filing cabinet and make a loud ruckus.
NOTE: I personally wouldn’t believe anything Keya Morgan says since I have spoken to him myself and found him not to be creditable.
~9: 45 pm
At this time, Marilyn is busy in her main bedroom chatting happily on her private line with her friend and sometimes lover José Bolaños. Marilyn tells Bolaños to hold on a moment while she goes to investigate the noise. According to Bolaños, she doesn’t hang up but never comes back on the line.
~9: 50 pm
Marilyn storms into her guest cottage and she screams at Bobby. Case and Ahern throw her onto the bed, and per Bernie Spindel and Fred Otash, Bobby then shoves a pillow over her face to keep her from making noise.
Per Deputy Coroner’s Aide Lionel Grandison, Bobby Kennedy ordered Case and Ahern, “Give her something to calm her down.” Raymond Strait, who heard eleven hours of Otash’s bugging tapes, relayed to Joan Rivers, “It was horrible. You could hear the two men [Case and Ahern] talking to each other, saying, ‘Give her another one. Don’t give it to her too quickly’ and awful smothering sounds. After hearing those tapes, there’s no doubt in my mind that Marilyn was murdered.” A confidential source relayed to Jay Margolis, “There were needle marks behind her knees, the jugular vein in her neck, and bruises on her arms and back.”
Bobby had instructed Case and Ahern to give Marilyn injections of Nembutal to “calm her down.” After that didn’t effectively subdue Marilyn, Case and Ahern, stripped her of her clothes and using water and enema paraphernalia already available in the guest cottage bathroom along with Marilyn’s own Nembutal and chloral hydrate prescriptions, they forcibly administer to Marilyn a drug enema containing seventeen chloral hydrates and between thirteen to nineteen Nembutals to knock her out. Marilyn often took enemas daily and Bobby knew this.
10: 00 p.m.
From the guest cottage, right after the enema had been given to her, Marilyn grabs the phone, the public line, and makes her last call to best friend Ralph Roberts. She reaches his answering service. When told he’s out for the evening, she hangs up before lapsing into unconsciousness from the drugs.
~10: 20 – 10: 25 p.m. Someone calls Peter and tells him to get to Marilyn’s house, ordering him to hire a professional to remove any possible link with the Kennedys and the famous star.
10: 30 p.m.
Per Jefferies, Bobby leaves with Case and Ahern. After his second search for Marilyn’s red diary that day, Bobby is thoroughly frustrated that he, Case, and Ahern couldn’t find it despite more than a half-hour search.
~10: 30– 10: 35 p.m.
Jefferies and Mrs. Murray returned and they heard Marilyn’s dog, Maf barking in the guest cottage and they walk over. Per Jefferies and Mrs. Murray, they by their own independent accounts find Marilyn facedown leaning on the phone.
~10: 35– 10: 50 p.m.
Per Jefferies, a frighted Mrs. Murray takes the phone from Marilyn and calls an ambulance then calls Greenson who tells her to call Engelberg. Engrlberg claimed to the district Attorney’s Office in 1982 that he went to the house “immediately” upon receiving the call; however, he was double-parked so he had to move his car first. Engelbereg would later tell investigative reporter Sylvia Chase that when he called, it “must have been around eleven or twelve” and that an ambulance is pure imagination.” However, one-time Schafer Vice President Carl Bellonzi, Shaefer Ambulance attendant Edgardo Villalobos, and Schaefer nurse and sometimes attendant Ruth Tarnowski all confirmed to Jay Margolis that not only was an ambulance called to Marilyn’s house but Schaefer Ambulance driver Joe Tarnowski was the dispatcher on that call.
Villalobaos stated that he and his later driver Larry Telling first received the call at Beverly and Western, the main station, before the call was transferred to James Hall and Murray Liebowitz in Santa Monica, who were more realistically able to respond to the call as they were closer.
After Mrs. Murray phoned the ambulance and the two doctors, then per Jefferies, Peter Lawford and Pat Newcomb arrived together. Peter drove since Pat left her car at the Lawford’s.
Per Jefferies, Pat screams at Mrs. Murray. Jefferies says he then escorts Mrs. Murray into the main house. At that point, Mrs. Murray responsibly takes possession of Marilyn’s red diary (in the main bedroom) and one of Marilyn’s address books. She places them into her purse or basket of things. Then per Mrs. Murray and Jefferies, they wait in the living room and stay there until Marilyn is eventually declared dead in the guest cottage.
Per Strait, before arriving at Marilyn’s, a worried and hysterical Peter had called private eye to the stars Fred Otash to meet him at Marilyn’s house. Strait said, “Fred’s job was to clean the mess up . . . Fred was there as she was dying.”
Right after Mrs. Murray and Jefferies had left the guest cottage, Pat phoned the Hollywood Bowl. With his soundman, Otash arrives and Peter approaches them. Otash immediately assigns the soundman to the main house to remove all bugging equipment. Per twenty-four-year-old Jacobs press agent Michael Selsman and twenty-one-year-old Natalie Trundy, the person who phoned the Hollywood Bowl was Pat Newcomb. Per Natalie, an usher tells her boyfriend-at-the-time Arthur Jacobs, Marilyn’s publicist, that Marilyn’s “dying or on the point of death.”
Otash and Peter hurriedly take an unconscious Marilyn off the guest cottage bed. Per Strait, Peter “was just like a hysterical woman” and “Fred slapped the shit out of him” since they have to act quickly before the ambulance arrives on scene. Otash and Peter hastily remove the soiled sheets off the bed. Mrs. Murray is later told to do the laundry when the ambulance leaves.
After Marilyn is quickly cleaned and dried off from the expelled enema, Peter and Otash place Marilyn face up back on the bed. The linens used to clean and dry her off were easily accessible from a nearby linen closet down one of the guest bedroom hallways.
Finally, Peter and Otash dash to her main bedroom and grab the rest of Marilyn’s pill bottles and neatly stack them onto the bedside table in the guest cottage, which was according to Mrs. Murray, delivered that very morning. When they’re done, they slip out of the room and return to the main house.
11:00 p.m.
Arthur Jacobs arrives at the scene but does not go into the guest cottage.
11:00 p.m. Different Story
Murray and Norman were in the neighbor's yard and they saw Lawford, Bobby Kennedy, and the two dark suited men run out of the house and jump into the car. They backed out into the street and took off fast while squealing tires! So they ran back into the guest cottage, and the door was cracked open. They found Marilyn lying face up, limp and lifeless on the bed. They were in shock! Eunice screamed, "No! No! No! I told you they would do this!" Norman checked for a pulse and breathing and there was none. They just stood there for a minute and were in disbelief.
~11: 00 p.m. 2ND STORY
Schaefer Ambulance attendant James Hall and his driver Murray Liebowitz arrive. Per Hall, Pat Newcomb is the first person he and his partner saw. From the outside, still hysterical, she screams at Hall and Liebowitz, “She’s dead! She’s dead! I think she’s dead!” When Hall asked her what’s the matter, Newcomb replied, “I think she took some pills.” Pat then directs them into the guest cottage where they find a naked Marilyn lying face up on the bed with her head hanging over the edge, still unconscious with no sheet or blanket underneath her. Hall noted no odor of pear from her mouth so Marilyn definitely did not orally ingest the seventeen chloral hydrates.
~11: 00– 11: 30 p.m.
With Liebowitz’s help, Hall drags Marilyn away from the guest room and into the hallway where there’s a hard surface. Next, Hall said he and Liebowitz dropped Marilyn “on her fanny,” taking credit for the bruise on the “left side of [her] lower back,” which Noguchi noted in his official autopsy report was “a very fresh bruise.” Hall therefore deduced years later, “Dead bodies don’t bruise. She was still alive.” Hall tells Liebowitz to get the resuscitator from the van. When Liebowitz returns, Hall puts an airway down Marilyn’s throat and per Hall, Marilyn’s color is coming back and Hall believes they can safely take her to the hospital. Hall then tells Liebowitz, “Get the gurney.”
11: 30 p.m. Personally told to me by family. Peter Paul’s cousin, Joe Naar told Peter that he received a call from Lawford asking Joe to go over and check on Marilyn. A few minutes later, Lawford called right back telling Joe not to go. Joe and his wife told Peter that the calls Lawford had made were very strange. Dolares believed it was to create an alibi.
11: 30 pm: Peter Lawford’s best friend, Joe Naar and his then wife Dolores claim Peter called (which would have only been from Marilyn’s house), asking Joe, who lived four blocks from Marilyn, to go over and check on her. Two minutes later, according to the Naars, Peter called right back telling them not to go. Dolores thought the two calls, so close to each other were “calculated to mislead us.”
~11: 30– 11: 45 p.m.
Before Liebowitz leaves the guest cottage to retrieve the gurney, suddenly Greenson arrives and says he’s “her doctor.” Greenson tells Hall to remove the resuscitator, which was in fact doing its job. Hall defers to him because he had always been told to never challenge an M.D. Per Hall, Greenson then takes a syringe with a long heart needle already attached to it out of his medical bag and tells Hall, “I’ve got to make a show of this.” Next, Greenson fills the syringe with a “brownish fluid” (Nembutal) from a pharmaceutical bottle. Hall then notes something peculiar about Greenson: “he had to count down her ribs— like he was still in premed school and had really never done this before.” This makes sense since he’s a psychiatrist who doesn’t normally deal with needles. As Dr. Greenson injects Marilyn in the heart, James Hall saw Peter Lawford and Sgt. Marvin Iannone enter the guest cottage. Greenson did not dilute the solution first making the shot lethal regardless of what’s in the syringe and the amount injected into the body. The five eyewitnesses to Marilyn Monroe’s murder by Ralph Greenson were Schaefer Ambulance attendant James Hall, Schaefer Ambulance driver Murray Liebowitz, Peter Lawford, Pat Newcomb, and Sgt. Marvin D. Iannone. Within minutes, Marilyn dies. In the early 1990s, Hall would identify the hysterical woman as Pat Newcomb and the man who comforted her as Peter Lawford. In 1992, to Detective Franklin, Hall identified the policeman as Sgt. Marvin D. Iannone. In 1993, Hall also identified him to Donald Wolfe. Per Officer Lynn Franklin, Otash said that at 11: 45 p.m. he “observed Sgt. Iannone, in uniform, in conversation with Peter Lawford.” Greenson then tells Hall he can leave because he’s going to pronounce her dead. For years, says Hall, he believed the solution was adrenaline in an attempt to save her but now Hall thinks the shot was intended to murder her. Greenson’s brother-in-law and Marilyn’s attorney Mickey Rudin would later claim on a recorded interview that he arrived sometime before midnight and that Greenson was the one who called him to say Marilyn was dead.
~11: 45– 11: 50 p.m.
Marilyn’s next-door neighbor to the west, Abe Charles Landau, arrives home with his wife Ruby Landau and they see several cars parked up the narrow street including a limousine, a police car (per Hall and Otash, Sgt. Marvin Iannone’s), and an ambulance (Hall and Liebowitz’s). Per Jefferies, not long after Marilyn’s death, plainclothes officers orchestrated the “locked room” story. They broke the window Greenson would later claim to police he had to break in order to enter Marilyn’s bedroom yet the movie star’s inside doors, not including the front and back doors, had no operable locks many years before she owned the house. Next, the principals at the scene move the pill bottles and Marilyn’s body to the main bedroom, and lay her face down on the bed to disguise needle marks through the process of postmortem lividity.
AUGUST 5, 1962
12:10 am:
Near the intersection of Robertson and Olympic Boulevards, Beverly Hills Detective Lynn Franklin pulls over an inebriated Peter Lawford in his Lincoln Continental sedan with the headlights off going 70– 80 MPH with Greenson in the front seat and Bobby Kennedy in the backseat. Not eager to give Peter a ticket with Bobby in the backseat, Detective Franklin gives them proper directions to go to the Beverly Hilton Hotel since Peter, drunk and hysterical, was driving in the opposite direction heading toward downtown Los Angeles. At the time of the stop, Franklin said he did not correlate Bobby Kennedy with Marilyn Monroe as news of her death was still hours away.
~12: 30– 2: 00 a.m.
Bobby takes a helicopter from the Lawfords’ to Los Angeles International Airport, boards a private plane, and is flown back to San Francisco.
4: 25 a.m.
Norman Jefferies, Pat Newcomb, Mickey Rudin, and Hyman Engelberg are all at the scene when Greenson calls the police reaching watch commander Sgt. Jack Clemmons. In Greenson’s own words (from a newspaper article on August 5, 1973), he claims to have said he wants to “report the death of a person, a sudden and unexplained death” while Clemmons says Greenson told him his star patient had instead committed suicide, not an accidental death as Greenson allegedly told his family.
4:30 a.m. Different Story
Police are called and arrive shortly after. The two doctors and Murray are questioned and indicate a time of death of around 12:30 am. Police note the room is extremely clean and the bed appears to have fresh linen on it. Murray was washing sheets when they arrived. Police noted that the bedside table has several pill bottles, but there is no sign of a glass of water or any other liquid in order to take the medication. Monroe was known to gag on pills even when drinking something to take her medication. Later a glass is found lying on the floor by the bed, but police claim it was not there when the room was searched.
When Clemmons arrives, he talks to a sarcastic Greenson, a frightened housekeeper (Mrs. Murray), and a depressed Engelberg. Greenson tells Clemmons that Marilyn committed suicide. Greenson points to the empty bottle of Nembutal, which he implies speaks for itself. According to his initial suspicions, Clemmons believed Marilyn was murdered and that her body had been moved. He asserts she did not die face down on the bed in the soldier’s position: her arms at her side and her legs perfectly straight. Clemmons would later reflect that Marilyn had been placed that way to disguise needle marks. He also found it strange how Mrs. Murray was running the laundry after Marilyn’s death. During this time, Jefferies, Newcomb, and Mickey Rudin hide in rooms Clemmons later admitted he didn’t search, including the guest cottage. Clemmons reflected he should have looked since he had noticed quite a few cars in Marilyn’s courtyard.
5:25 a.m.
Per the 1982 District Attorney’s Report, Clemmons notifies Sgt. Robert E. Byron of Marilyn’s death.
5:40 a.m. Different Story
The undertaker Guy Hockett arrives and notes that the state of rigor mortis indicates a time of death between 9:30 pm and 11:30 pm. The time is later altered to match the witness statements.
~5:30 a.m.
Sgt. Marvin Iannone dismisses Clemmons from the scene.
~5: 45 a.m.
By the time Detective Sgt. Byron arrives, he notes Greenson is no longer at the house but places Pat Newcomb on the scene. Had Greenson still been there, he surely would have been hounded by reporters and couldn’t have conceivably escaped their photographs, none of which have survived. Westwood Village Mortuary employees Guy Hockett and his son Don arrive. The elder Hockett notes that rigor mortis is advanced and places Marilyn’s death roughly between 9: 30 to 11: 30 p.m. on August 4.
6:00 a.m. 1st Story
Murray changes her story and now says she went back to bed at midnight and only called Dr. Greenson when she awoke at 3:00 am and it was at that time that she noticed the light was still on. Both doctors also change their stories and now claim Monroe died around 3:50 am. The police note Murray appears quite evasive and extremely vague and she would eventually change her story several more times. Despite being a key witness, Murray leaves to Europe and is never questioned again.
6:30 am 2nd Story
Lawford rang President John F. Kennedy's private Oval Office telephone. When he picked up, Peter said "its done.
~6: 00– 6: 30 a.m.
Per reporter Joe Hyams, the Hocketts strap Marilyn into a gurney then lift the gurney into their Ford Panel truck and drive away.
~6: 30– 7: 00 a.m.
Per Jefferies and Mrs. Murray, before the police seal the house, they notice that Pat Newcomb doesn’t want to leave. Per Jefferies, he sees Pat “looking through drawers and going into Marilyn’s bedroom. She had spent Friday night at the house and perhaps she was looking for something she left there. The police had to control her . . . They had trouble getting her out of the door.” That’s because she was looking for the red diary that Jefferies a day later said he saw in Mrs. Murray’s possession, the same diary that Bobby Kennedy couldn’t find the night before.
Note: On Monday, August 6, Jefferies will witness Mrs. Murray give the red diary and one of Marilyn’s personal address books to a driver for the Coroner’s Office before executrix Inez Melson arrives. After a day at the Coroner’s Office, per Deputy Coroner’s Aide Lionel Grandison, the red diary was gone.
~8:00– 8:45 a.m.
Per Deputy Coroner Robert Dambacher, he and his partner Cletus Pace transferred Marilyn Monroe’s remains from the Westwood Village Mortuary back to the Coroner’s Office in downtown Los Angeles.
~9:00 a.m.
Dr. Thomas Noguchi will perform the autopsy overseen by Deputy District Attorney John Miner. Noguchi noted what he later considered strange observations, "The stomach is almost completely empty. The contents is [sic] brownish mucoid fluid. The volume is estimated to be no more than 20 cc. No residue of the pills is noted. A smear made from the gastric contents and examined under the polarized microscope shows no refractile crystals.. . The contents of the duodenum is [sic] also examined under polarized microscope and shows no refractile crystals. The colon shows marked congestion and purplish discoloration." Thomas Noguchi at first notated needle marks on Marilyn's body, but in a later revision of the autopsy report, Noguchi had handwritten "No needle mark, 'which contradicted his initial findings. A confidential source relayed to Jay Margolis, "There were needle marks behind her knees, the jugular vein in her neck, and bruises on her arms and back." In addition, according to Allan Abbott, Noguchi also found a needle mark under Marilyn's left armpit. Last, there was the needle mark to the heart, which apparently 'was never included on any of the autopsy reports, especially the "official" one.
9:30 a.m.
Bobby Kennedy attends Mass in Gilroy, California, with his wife Ethel and four of their children at St. Mary Parish.
10:30 a.m.
Noguchi completes the autopsy, signing his report on Marilyn Monroe, reluctantly declaring her death a "probable suicide."
Marilyn’s Autopsy
Coroner Thomas Noguchi conducted the operation. He was assisted by Eddy Day. Noguchi’s findings were as follows.
External examination: The embalmed body is that of a 36-year-old well-developed, well-nourished Caucasian female weighing 117 pounds and measuring 65-1/2 inches in length. The scalp is covered with bleached blond hair. The eyes are blue. The fixed lividity is noted in the face, neck, chest, upper portions of arms and the right side of the abdomen. The faint lividity which disappears upon pressure is noted in the back and posterior aspect of the arms and legs. A slight ecchymosis area is noted in the left hip and left side of lower back. The breast shows no significant lesion. There is a horizontal 3-inch long surgical scar in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. A suprapubic surgical scar measuring 5 inches in length is noted. The conjunctivae are markedly congested; however, no ecchymosis or petechial are noted. The nose shows no evidence of fracture. The external auditory canals are not remarkable:. No evidence of trauma is noted in the scalp, forehead, cheeks, lips or chin. The neck shows no evidence of trauma. Examination of the hands and nails shows no defects. The lower extremities show no evidence of trauma.
Body cavity: The usual Y-shaped incision is made to open the thoracic and abdominal cavities. The pleural and abdominal cavities contain no excess of fluid or blood. The mediastinum shows no shifting or widening. The diaphragm is within normal limits. The lower edge of the liver is within the costal margin. The organs are in normal position and relationship.
Cardiovascular system: The heart weighs 300 grams. The pericardial cavity contains no excess of fluid. The epicardium and pericardium are smooth and glistening. The left ventricular wall measures 1.1 cm. and the right 0.2 cm. The papillary muscles are not hypertrophic. The chordae tendineac are not thickened or shortened. The valves have the usual number of leaflets which are thin and pliable. The tricuspid valve measures 10 cm., the pulmonary valve 6.5 cm., mitral valve 9.5 cm. and aortic valve 7 cm in circumference. There is no septal defect. The foramen ovale is closed. The coronary arteries arise from their usual location and are distributed in normal fashion. Multiple sections of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery with a 5 mm. interial demonstrate a patent lumen throughout. The circumflex branch and the right coronary artery also demonstrate a patent lumen. The pulmonary artery contains no thrombus. The aorta has a bright yellow smooth intima.
Respiratory system: The right lung weighs 465 grams and the left 420 grams. Both lungs are moderately congested with some edema. The surface is dark and red with mottling. The posterior portion of the lungs show severe congestion. The tracheobronchial tree contains no aspirated material or blood. Multiple sections of the lungs show congestion and edematous fluid exuding from the cut surface. No consolidation or suppuration is noted. The mucosa of the larynx is grayish white.
Liver and biliary system: The liver weighs 1890 grams. The surface is dark brown and smooth. There are marked adhesions through the omentum and abdominal wall in the lower portion of the liver as the gallbladder has been removed. The common duct is widely patent. No calculus or obstructive material is found. Multiple sections of the liver show slight accentuation of the lobular pattern; however, no hemorrhage or tumor is found.
Hemic and lymphatic system: The spleen weighs 190 grams. The surface is dark red and smooth. Section shows dark red homogeneous firm cut surface. The Malpighian bodies are not clearly identified. There is no evidence of lymphadenopathy. The bone marrow is dark red in color. Endocrine system: The adrenal glands have the usual architectural cortex and medulla. The thyroid glands are of normal size, color and consistency. Urinary system: The kidneys together weigh 350 grams. Their capsules can be stripped without difficulty. Dissection shows a moderately congested parenchyma. The cortical surface is smooth. The pelves and ureters are not dilated or stenosed. The urinary bladder contains approximately 150 cc. of clear straw-colored fluid. The mucosa is not altered.
Genital system: The external genitalia shows no gross abnormality. Distribution of the pubic hair is of female pattern. The uterus is of the usual size. Multiple sections of the uterus show the usual thickness of the uterine wall without tumor nodules. The endometrium is grayish yellow, measuring up to 0.2 cm in thickness. No polyp or tumor is found. The cervix is clear, showing no nabothian cysts. The tubes are intact. The right ovary demonstrates recent corpus luteum haemorrhagicum. The left ovary shows corpora lutea and albicantia. A vaginal smear is taken. Digestive system: The esophagus has a longitudinal folding mucosa. The stomach is almost completely empty. The contents is brownish mucoid fluid. The volume is estimated to be no more than 20 cc. No residue of the pills is noted. A smear made from the gastric contents and examined under the polarized microscope shows no refractile crystals. The mucosa shows marked congestion and submucosal petechial hemorrhage diffusely. The duodenum shows no ulcer. The contents of the duodenum is also examined under polarized microscope and shows no refractile crystals. The remainder of the small intestine shows no gross abnormality. The appendix is absent. The colon shows marked congestion and purplish discoloration. The pancreas has a tan lobular architecture. Multiple sections shows a patent duct.
Skeletomuscular system: The clavicle, ribs, vertebrae and pelvic bones show fracture lines. All bones of the extremities are examined by palpation showing no evidence of fracture.
Head and central nervous system: The brain weighs 1440 grams. Upon reflection of the scalp there is no evidence of contusion or hemorrhage. The temporal muscles are intact. Upon removal of the dura mater the cerebrospinal fluid is clear. The superficial vessels are slightly congested. The convolutions of the brain are not flattened. the contour of the brain is not distorted. No blood is found in the epidural, subdural or subarachnoid spaces. Multiple sections of the brain show the usual symmetrical ventricles and basal ganglia. Examination of the cerebellum and brain stem shows no gross abnormality. Following removal of the dura mater from the base of the skull and calvarium no skull fracture is demonstrated.
Liver temperature taken at 10:30 A.M. registered 89 F
Specimen: Unembalmed blood is taken for alcohol and barbiturate examination. Liver, kidney, stomach and contents, urine and intestine are saved for further toxicological study. A vaginal smear is made.
T NOGUCHI, M.D. DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER 8-13-62
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| Murray showing window that was broken |
Marilyn's Phone Records Showing No Numbers
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I read official documents and not what I read in magazines, books or newspapers. I have learned to go to the real sources even though they can be just as deceitful at times. I look at all of the evidence and then I came to my conclusion. Here is what I believe based on FBI files and my work as a PI. What do you think?
¬ There was no suicide letter found. Marilyn had left letters during previous attempted suicides. There was no vomit, which is found with overdose victims.
¬ There was a strange bruise on her left hip, a common location for an injection, or possibly a sign of a violent struggle.
¬ Why would Murray be alarmed that Marilyn was still awake? Marilyn is an adult so why worry about her?
¬ There was no lock on the door for Marilyn's bedroom. The locks were the old skeleton locks and Murray had the skeleton keys even if it was locked.
¬ Why would Murray have gone into the hall to use the restroom when one was accessible through her room?
¬ Marilyn had new carpet in her room that was so thick and high that it made closing the door difficult. This meant that no light could have possibly be seen from underneath. So how did Murray know that Monroe’s light was still on?
¬ Murray said she saw Marilyn lying on her stomach in the bed and her appearance seemed unnatural. How does lying on your stomach appear unnatural?
¬ Marilyn was known to always wear a bra to bed, yet she was found with no bra on.
¬ Why would Marilyn need to call for help on the phone when there were people already in the house?
¬ There was no water glass found in the first inspection of Marilyn's bedroom—in fact, the water in her house had been turned off because of renovations. Yet Marilyn allegedly died by swallowing 50-80 pills. The lack of the glass was noted by Sgt. Jack Clemmons, the first responding officer, but later pictures clearly showed a water glass on the actress’s bedside table. How did that glass get there when the only people left in the house were police officers and Ms. Murray?
¬ Marilyn house had two two phone lines with two separate phone numbers. Both phones kept in guest room. One phone in guest room one in the other guest room where Murray slept. Marilyn didn't like having a phone in her bedroom because it kept her awake so why was the phone there?
¬ Neighbors reported seeing an ambulance outside the house at around 10pm the night before.
¬ Why did the FBI go to the telephone company and take all of Marilyn's telephone records?
¬ There were contradictions in the stories told by all of the witnesses, and some of them changed their stories during questioning regarding the timeline. Murray first told Sgt. Clemmons that she started to worry about Marilyn at around midnight so she called the two doctors. The doctors confirmed this. Clemmons asked why they had waited four hours before calling the police. The next day however, for the official report, the Murray changed the time to 3:30 a.m.
¬ The pathologist who performed her initial autopsy wanted to do further testing, to see exactly how the pills entered Marilyn’s system. When he requested her organs, he was told the toxicologist had already destroyed them. The pathologist then asked to see slides of the organs and photos showing the unusual bruising on her body and was told they had “disappeared”.
¬ Remember that Beverly Hills Detective Lynn Franklin pulled over an intoxicated Peter Lawford in his Lincoln Continental sedan with the headlights off going 70– 80MPH with Dr. Ralph Greenson in the front seat and Bobby Kennedy in the backseat. Proving Kennedy was in LA and with Dr. Greenson.
¬ William Woodfield went to Clover Field Santa Monica airport and spoke to the man and observed
the flight log who picked up Robert Kennedy from Lawford's residence and took him to LAX around
2:00 am.
¬ There was evidence that she was alive for hours while the Nembutal in her system was digesting, as well as high concentrations of chloral hydrate in the liver rather than in the blood, and signs that Monroe had died quickly, from an additional lethal dose rather than the Nembutal.
¬ Sergeant Clemmons' superior officer (Chief Parker) insisted that the case be investigated as a suicide. Clemmons was told to keep quiet. When he refused he was dropped from the force.
¬ According to the Marilyn's toxicology report, the actress had 4.5 percent milligrams of barbiturates and 8 percent chloral hydrate in her bloodstream, which means she would have had to swallow around 30 to 40 phenobarbital, or Nembutals. And this doesn’t account for the 13 percent phenobarbital the toxicologist, Ralph Abernethy, found in the liver. That added percent means that Monroe would have had to ingest 50, if not 80, pills by mouth. She would also have had to swallow them quickly, since (if given time) the body rejects the poison, vomiting it up—and yet there was no water in the house…and no water glass on the table initially. In the entire history of forensics, no one has ever died with such high blood concentrations of phenobarb and chloral hydrate as a result of oral ingestion.
¬ Further debatable evidence against the suicide theory comes in the form of tapes that Marilyn made for Dr. Greenson. The only other person to have ever heard those tapes, was John Miner, a district attorney who served as an investigator after Monroe's death.
¬ John Miner himself promised not to reveal the contents of the tapes, of which he made a transcript, but he broke his promise to speak out against allegations that Greenson was responsible for her death. Based on those tapes, which he felt revealed that Monroe was optimistic about the future and anything but suicidal, Miner concluded that she must have been murdered. But Greenson is long dead. Miner believed that he destroyed the tapes before his death and Miner himself died and any other secrets they knew about the tapes and Monroe's death are gone with them.
¬ Many people, including LA County Coroner’s Office Deputy Coroner Ben Fitzgerald, claim to have seen a diary written by Marilyn that later disappeared from evidence at LACCO. Author Robert Slatzer, a friend of Marilyn’s, claimed the diary included references to Cuba, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Kennedy brother's war on Jimmy Hoffa.
¬ Is this what Bobby Kennedy was screaming about when he was heard on the death tape allegedly saying, “We have to find it. It’s important to the family”? Is this what he was looking for when he allegedly returned to the Marilyn hacienda on the day and night of her death? Is this what Marilyn’s publicist Pat Newcomb was so furiously searching for on the morning of August 5, the reason why the police had to force her from the house?
¬ The police were called at 4:25 am and they arrived to a scene that may have already been manipulated. Monroe's body seemed to have been moved and almost certainly was not in the position where she died. There are witnesses, including an ambulance officer, who have testified that Marilyn was moved from the house but then died elsewhere and was returned back to the house as a part of a cover-up.
¬ Why was Murray washing sheets when the police arrived?
¬ Ultimately, the loss of tissue/organ samples after the initial autopsy the absence of phone records, the destruction of police records and the great spectrum of confusing and often contradictory theories and testimonies have conspired to keep the truth a mystery.
¬ Why would Greenson later say in a recorded conversation, “I can’t explain myself or defend myself without revealing things I don’t want to reveal… It’s a terrible position to be in to have to say I can’t talk about it because I can’t tell the whole story. Listen…talk to Bobby Kennedy.”
¬ FBI files indicate Robert Kennedy was having an affair with Marilyn Monroe and that everyone including Pat Newcomb agreed to participate in an induced suicide. Her cooperation would be federal payroll and top assist to George Stevens Jr. head of Motion Picture (Enclosure 61-9454-28 - #236, 527) FBI Files read Robert Kennedy was at the Beverly Hills Hotel on the day Marilyn died. He later flew from LAX to St. Francis Hotel. Newcomb went out of the country. Chief Parker obtained all phone records from phone company and had them destroyed.
¬ July 26, 1962 – FBI file states informants advised FBI that Marilyn was with President Kennedy at the residence of Peter Lawford. The same file indicated Marilyn announced "Lawford asked her to sing at the birthday party for President Kennedy." Marilyn had given the President the key to her apartment.
¬ Jack Clemmons, the first LAPD officer to arrive at the death scene believed that she was murdered. He claimed that it seemed to him that the scene had been "arranged". Marilyn's body was not in the position one would expect a victim of painful poisoning to be in and her legs were parallel and she looked peaceful. Why did no one listen to him?
¬ It was said that “it was Captain James Hamilton who confiscated Marilyn's phone records after the FBI obtained copies, and it was Captain James Hamilton who directed the cover up of information relating to the circumstances of Marilyn's death.”
¬ The case was reopened in 1982, but they closed it 30 day’s later with no word of result.
¬ What ever happened to the Monroe file? According to Lt. Marion Philips, “In 1962 Chief Parker took the file to show someone in Washington. That was the last anyone knew of the file.
¬ Mrs. Murray, the housekeeper, caused a sensation in 1985. While being interviewed by Anthony Summers for the BBC, she delivered herself of the version usually offered for public consumption. Then, as the camera crew were starting to clear up, she said suddenly, ‘Why, at my age, do I still have to cover this thing?’
¬ Lawford and Murray were two of the prime witnesses to Marilyn’s last hours, but they were never heard under oath.
¬ According to Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers, in 1983, in a fashionable Los Angeles restaurant, Peter Lawford looked like a frail old man. He was only sixty, but worn out by a lifetime of excess. As conversation turned to the fatal night, the slouched figure stiffened, a shaking hand crawled across the table to the ashtray. The drawling voice started to tell the story. Then Lawford said, half-sobbing, ‘To this day I cannot forgive myself; there is no excuse for the fact I did not go. …’ He burst into tears, and the subject had to be dropped. So one must ask themselves, “no excuse for the fact that he did not go? where?” Police? Only Lawford knows what those last words were.
¬ So one must ask themselves, “no excuse for the fact that he did not go? where?” Police? Only Lawford knows what those last words were.
¬ If you look at this video: Marilyn's Bedroom you will see that it is difficult to see Marilyn’s body because of the curtains were closed. Norman Jeffries picks up what appears to be a phone cord or rope to tie the door shut that Greenson claims he broke from outside, yet the glass was outside and it should have been inside. I would think Greenson would have had some type of cut on his hand if he had put his hand inside that small part that he claimed to have broken. If you notice, he shuts the curtains as a one pane and not two panes so there was no way Murray could have seen Marilyn from outside.
¬ I have attempted several times to make contact with Marvin Iannone and Pat Newcomb, however they both refuse to speak with me. As far as I am concerned, silence is a sign of guilt!
¬ I believe Marilyn was murdered. The problem is proving it 100%. Years have passed, evidence is gone, witnesses are dead with exception of Pat Newcomb and Marvin Iannone who refuse to talk. I would think that if Marilyn committed suicide than they would what to make sure the world knew instead of keeping it a secret.
HERE IS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM FBI FILES
November 1961, JFK is reportedly taped in a sexual liaison with Marilyn Monroe at Peter Lawford’s home in California. One of the men monitoring the bugs at the Lawford house is private investigator John Danoff. “To my amazement,” he says, “I started to recognize the voices -- because of the President’s distinct Bostonian accent and Marilyn Monroe’s voice . . . Then you heard them talking and they were going about disrobing and going into the sex act on the bed . . .”
February 1, 1962 Marilyn Monroe meets Robert Kennedy at a dinner party in Peter Lawford’s California beach house. Later this night, the actress will tell a friend, the two of them talk alone in the den. In characteristic fashion, Monroe has prepared questions of topical interest and asks whether it is true that J. Edgar Hoover might soon be fired. Robert replies that “he and the President didn’t feel strong enough to do so, though they wanted to.” Lawford’s house has been bugged by the FBI, so this information goes directly to J. Edgar Hoover.
May 19, 1962 Gala celebration of JFK’s forty-fifth birthday is held in Madison Square Garden to raise funds for the Democratic Party. Marilyn Monroe sings her famous rendition of “Happy Birthday” to JFK. JFK apparently never sees Monroe again after this night. According to Peter Lawford, J. Edgar Hoover has warned JFK off, telling him that Lawford’s home in California is probably being bugged by the mafia.
Also, during this month June, 1962, Marilyn Monroe begins a series of calls to the Justice Department, the White House and Hyannisport. This is revealed by her telephone bills, confiscated at the time of her death but later made public. The persistency of the calls suggests a panic whose origins are said to have derived from the fact the Marilyn is reportedly pregnant by JFK.
June 27, 1962 Robert Kennedy arrives at the California home of Marilyn Monroe driving a Cadillac convertible. The car belongs to FBI agent-in-charge William Simon and has been loaned to Kennedy. Simon dutifully reports the incident. From now on, J. Edgar Hoover has direct information on RFK’s comings and goings at Monroe’s home. July 2, 1962 Marilyn Monroe places 2 telephone calls to Attorney General, RFK.
July 20, 1962 Marilyn Monroe undergoes an abortion at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. She remains in hospital for four days. Following the abortion, there is one final telephone call (eight minutes) made to the Justice Department.
August 3, 1962 In a Top Secret government report is drafted today the subject of which is the transcript of a wiretapped telephone conversation between Howard Rothberg and Dorothy Kilgallen during which Marilyn Monroe and her affairs with both JFK and RFK are openly discussed. Among the statements recorded in this report are the following: “Subject [Monroe] threatened to hold a press conference and would tell all.” “Subject [Monroe] made reference to her ‘diary of secrets’ and what the newspapers would do with such disclosures.” There is also mention of the fact that Monroe claims JFK took her to “a secret airbase for the purpose of inspecting things from outer space.” August 4, 1962 It is alleged that RFK makes a trip to Los Angeles to secretly visit with Marilyn Monroe in order to explain why she can no longer have a relationship with the President. He reportedly flies down from Northern California where he is to fulfill a speaking engagement before the American Bar Association and to have a vacation with his family at the Bates’ ranch in Gilroy.
August 5, 1962 (3:30 AM) Monroe’s housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, telephones Dr. Greenson. He breaks into the locked bedroom and finds the body. Another physician who has treated the actress arrives fifteen minutes later. He and Greenson spend some time discussing the sources of the pill bottles littering Marilyn’s bedroom perhaps worrying that they might be implicated in the death. (AQOC) (4:25 AM) -- A telephone call is received at the West Los Angeles Patrol Division reporting Marilyn Monroe’s death. Sergeant Jack Clemmons is first officer on the scene. Even twenty-five years later he will still maintain: “It was the most obvious murder I ever saw. Everything was staged.” Ruled a suicide. Monroe is 36 years old. (6:04 AM) -- JFK receives a telephone call at the White House from Peter Lawford in California. This is an hour after Lawford has hired security consultants to bury all evidence of the Kennedy brothers’ affairs with Monroe.
According to some sources, the scenario of the death of Marilyn Monroe involved Lawford and RFK. It goes as follows: After desperate calls by Monroe to the Lawford beach house, RFK and his brother-in-law returned to her home. They found the actress either dead or dying and phoned for an ambulance. One or both of them may have joined the ambulance on a last-hope drive to a hospital -- only to turn it around when it became clear Monroe was dead. The body was then replaced in the bed -- nude, face down and with the phone in her hand. RFK left town rapidly the way he had arrived, by helicopter and aircraft. Dr. Greenson, Monroe’s psychiatrist, confirms privately, years from now, that RFK was present that night and that an ambulance was called. 9:30 AM -- RFK appears with his family at mass in Gilroy. It is also alleged that Peter Lawford goes through Monroe’s house, destroying a note - or half-written letter - that mentions the Kennedys, and proceeds to tidy up the place. One or perhaps two other friends are also on hand. Lawford also contacts Hollywood private detective Fred Otash, telling him that Marilyn is dead, that Bobby was at her house earlier, and that they have gotten him out of the city and back to Northern California. Lawford tells Otash that he has destroyed what he could find at Monroe’s but would feel better if a professional looked around for anything incriminating the Kennedys. Before an Otash agent reaches the scene at 9:00 AM, someone has broken open a file cabinet. Monroe’s diary and personal notes are never found. (AQOC)
August 7, 1962 W.H. Ferry, Vice President of the Fund for the Republic, set up by the Ford Foundation to promote civil liberties, lambastes J. Edgar Hoover’s scare-mongering about Communism as “sententious poppycock.” Robert Kennedy, several hours later, shocks all those who know him by saying: “I hope Hoover will continue to serve the country for many, many years to come.” It is speculated this is a “thank you” to Hoover and the FBI for their assistance in helping to cover up Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with the two Kennedy brothers.
August 20, 1962 An FBI-listening device picks up a conversation between three well-known Mafia figures that make reference to Robert Kennedy’s affair with Marilyn Monroe: “They will go for every name -- unless the brother -- it’s big enough to cause a scandal against them. Would you like to see a headline about Marilyn Monroe to come out? And him? How would he like it? Don’t you know? . . . He has been in there plenty of times. It’s been a hard affair -- and this [deleted name of a friend of Marilyn’s] said she used to be in all the time with him -- do you think it’s a secret?”
Marilyn’s death is extremely suspicious and the events following her death are also suspicious. They reek of intrigue, pay-offs and official disinterest in trying to find the truth. Have things gotten so bad in the United States that a possible murder will go uninvestigated because pressure is brought to bear or someone important may be involved? Is everyone really equal before the law or have some people gotten so powerful that they are above the law? If we really look into this case, we would see police cover-up, police corruption, Kennedy’s involvement, Mrs. Murray and Ms. Newcomb involvement, Lawford’s involvement and so much more. Maybe than, the American people will finally have the truth about the death of Marilyn Monroe.
There was a plaque on the doorstep, that bore the Latin phrase “Cursum Perficio” translating to “My Journey Ends Here.” Marilyn's journey did indeed end here at this house on 5th Helena Drive.
A few clarifications. Eunice Murray viewed Marilyn's body from another window in the bedroom, the one facing the front of the house that had a deep recessed sill and was barred by Spanish grating. She used to fireplace poker to draw open the draperies as that window was open (b/c of the bars). The window pictured here is on the side of the house and isn't recessed or barred. That's why Dr. Greenson broke into that one. Also, the water was turned off in March 1962 when Marilyn renovated the bathrooms during a trip to Palm Springs. In August, the baths were completed, and Marilyn had two overnight guests the last two days of her life (Pat Newcomb on Friday August 3, and Eunice Murray on August 4). The water was working in order to have two guests staying with her that weekend.
ReplyDeleteClemons arrived with two other officers according to the NY Times before Officer Byron took over the investigation. Clemons submitted no report or notes. He made the claim of foul play many years later in television documentaries. In 1965, Clemons was charged with libel along with Frank Capell. Capell wrote the first account alleging a murder in 1964 in his pamphlet The Strange Death of MM. Capell’s credibility crumbles upon further investigation. He associated with Jack Clemmons, the first police officer to arrive at Marilyn’s death scene. Clemmons shared Capell’s conservative political view and fraternized with the Police and Fire Rescue Association, a conservative group whose mission was to expose “subversive activities which threaten our American way of life.” The most compelling evidence discrediting both men is found in an article in the March 5, 1965 issue of Time that reported they were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury for involvement in circulating a forged affidavit smearing the name of California Senator Thomas Kuchel. Having provoked racist groups by supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Kuchel campaigned against Barry Goldwater, a champion of conservatism and leader of right-wing extremists and racists who supported nuclear war, the elimination of civil rights, and abolishment of social welfare programs. Capell and Clemmons claimed the affidavit was signed by a police officer who had arrested Kuchel in 1949 for drunkenness and engaging in a homosexual act. When Kuchel learned of the document, he requested an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI. Both organizations had no record of any such arrest. Two weeks before the indictment, Clemmons resigned from the LAPD. Ultimately, Capell pled guilty, and charges against Clemmons were dropped. These men are the originators of Marilyn Monroe murder theories pointing the finger at Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, a liberal politician. Years later, we discovered that Capell was contracted by a publisher and Robert Slatzer to ghost write The Life and Curious Death of MM. Capell, Clemons, and Slatzer are three men in conspiracy together with dubious reputations.
ReplyDeletehttp://slanderofmarilynmonroe.blogspot.com/p/washer-and-dryer.html
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the truth about the washer and dryers. We've been investigating these allegations since 2015 on Goodnight Marilyn Radio which you can hear on Voice America radio podcasts.
Lynda Nunez, the daughter of the next owner of Marilyn's house in September 1963, even stated that the washer and dryer DID exist and where it was located in the garage on the right wall. When. Sgt. Jack Clemmons arrived at 4:45 am, he saw Murray washing bed linens in the garage.
DeleteIs this blog still active?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. I just haven't written anything in a while. I lost my mom from COVID and it has been a long healing process.
ReplyDeleteThere are a great many factual errors in your blog. Many. And just so you know, seeing as this is the person you are writing about, Marilyn was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. Marilyn wasn't murdered. She took too many pills over a length of time, with no food, was distraught from her phone calls and took several more, and then died. That's it. The Kennedy's were creeps, but they did not kill her. Marilyn died because she was an addict and she had too many pills. That's it. There is no mystery here.
ReplyDeleteVery sorry to hear of the death of your Mom from Covid. I wish you all the best as you heal from this shock.
It is a good thing we all have a right to our opinion.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I do think the Kennedy's were part of a cover-up and had Marilyn's house swept for any evidence of their involvement with her, had her phone records "disappear", had Eunice Murray, Pat Newcomb and Peter Lawford lie about the events of Marilyn's last day and night. I think Greenson and Engleberg were in on the lies, too, as they had MUCH to hide. (I believe both were involved with her intimately. Engleberg admitted that.) The autospsy was a farce, many "mistakes" were made, so the results of that can't be trusted. The Kennedy's wanted this story to STOP because they had so much to lose at the time. They did not count on Marilyn's enduring appeal to the masses. That said, all evidence that is available proves that Marilyn was in terrible shape the last months of her life and her affairs with the Kennedy's did not help her unraveling self. She was rejected by them, enraged by that and depressed by it, too. Marilyn routinely took 20 pills per day, and on days where she couldn't "handle" things, she took much more. Over the space of 48 hours, with the amount she took, with bad lungs, she took a few too many and that put her over the edge and depressed her breathing system enough, so as to cause her to stop breathing. Sad end for a woman who tried so hard to be someone, to matter. Her drive for success was unlike any I have seen, but near the end she was making desperate career choices. (The nude shots in sessions and on the set of "Something's Got To Give, for example.) May she Rest in Peace.
ReplyDelete