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Conspiracy Theories Behind Marilyn Monroe's Death

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The news of Marilyn Monroe’s death began to spread. Newspapers were seen everywhere with her bright, smiling face and the giant, bolded letters of ‘death’ stamped on the front pages. Even The New York Times published a newspaper article titled “Marilyn Monroe Dead, Pills Near.” In this article, Dr. Theodore J. Curphey, the coroner, declares Monroe’s death to have not been from natural causes: “After an autopsy the Los Angeles coroner reported that Miss Monroe's ‘was not a natural death.’ He attributed it to a drug” (“Marilyn Monroe Dead, Pills Near”). Her death seemed to be the typical case of overdosing on barbiturates with traces of chloral hydrate which are both sedatives or sleeping pills (Los Angeles County Coroner’s Mortuary, 1962). There …show more content…

Blame was thrown around as to who exactly killed her and why. The most popular suspects of Monroe’s perceived “murder: was none other than America’s 35th president, John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Many suspect that Monroe was hiding a “relationship” with John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and they were the cause behind her death. It is believed that the Kennedys had her assassinated to cover up whatever affair that could have occurred, to protect communist secrets, or the mafia killed her to send a message to the president. Frank A. Capell was one of these believers. Capell was an anti-communist who self published a pamphlet, The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe, in 1964 that claimed Marilyn Monroe’s death was murdered and it was related to her connection to the Kennedy family, more specifically the Attorney General. Capell accused Robert Kennedy of being a communist spy that had Monroe assassinated in order to keep her quiet (Truong) Now, private detective Milo Speriglio didn’t believe that the Kennedys were communists with ulterior agendas, however he did believe they were involved in Monroe’s death. In 1982, Speriglio makes a claim in his book, Marilyn Monroe: Murder Cover-Up, that mafia boss Sam Giancana ordered a hit on Monroe in order to send a message to the Kennedy’s to leave the mafia alone (Truong). Speriglio’s accusations even led to the reopening of …show more content…

There is no actual confirmation besides untrustworthy gossip that Marilyn Monroe succeeded past those attempted phone calls. Her calls to Washington were never accepted, she was always sent to voicemail. Even if it were true; if she did manage to make contact and had an affair with either/both of the Kennedy’s, her autopsy report negates any sort of foul play. Expert medical examiner Dr. Judy Melinek confirms that Monroe’s autopsy aligns with the signs of self-induced overdosed. Any sort of needle or forced injection would have been spotted by the coroner immediately, “If drugs are injected by a needle you can typically see a needle puncture mark in the location of the injection, and this would be more likely to be visible if they were injected against the will of the person, as they would be fighting/resisting” (Melinek, 2018). Dr. Melinek also points out that it would be quite normal that no residue from the medication would have been found in Monroe’s stomach if enough time between her death and her arrival to the morgue had passed, “The absence of residue found in the stomach does not mean the drugs were not ingested. Drugs are designed to dissolve in the fluid and acidic stomach contents and no residue would be detected within several hours of ingestion” (Melinek, 2018). With this expert testimony confirming Marilyn Monroe’s autopsy reports as legitimate leaves the official cause of death by possible suicide by overdose as

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