The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe

by Donald H. Wolfe

  Commenting on Coroner Curphey’s handling of the autopsy, Noguchi stated, “As a junior member of the staff, I didn’t feel I could challenge the department head on procedures.”

  At 10:30 A.M. the autopsy began. Miner recalls being profoundly moved when they first viewed the body. “I had looked at thousands of bodies, but Tom and I were both very touched. We had a sense of real sadness, and the feeling that this young, young woman could stand up and get off the table at any moment.”

  Noguchi and Miner had studied the police reports indicating that Monroe had died in a locked room, and that her doctors believed she died of an ingestion of an overdose. They also had studied the pill bottles gathered by Guy Hockett. Dr. Engelberg had told the police he had given Monroe a refill prescription for fifty capsules of Nembutal on Friday, August 3. Records at the San Vicente Pharmacy indicate that the prescription was filled the day before she died.*

  Though no hypodermic needles had been found in the locked room, Noguchi stated that the autopsy began with an external examination for puncture marks indicating that drugs were administered by injection. Miner stated, “We both examined the body very carefully with a magnifying glass for needle marks. There was no indication that the drugs had been administered by way of a hypodermic needle. If there had been marks, they would have been apparent on such a very careful examination of the body.”

  The autopsy diagram clearly has the notation “No needle marks.” However, there are serious questions concerning the findings. It is a matter of record, according to the bill submitted to the Monroe estate, that Engelberg gave her an injection on August 3. The injection was at approximately 4 P.M. on Friday, and according to Guy Hockett she died at approximately 10 P.M. the following day—an elapsed time of thirty hours.

  Miner, who was not a physician or a medical examiner, has been the primary defender of the “very careful search for needle marks.” However, in his book Coroner, Noguchi poses the question, “Were the drugs that killed her injected into her body by someone else?” He states how difficult recent needle marks are to detect, citing the John Belushi case. On examining Belushi’s body, the police first ruled out drugs as the cause of death because the coroner’s staff at the death scene had been unable to discover needle marks. Also, the chief of the Forensic Medicine Division, Dr. Ronald Kornblum, was not able to discover any needle marks, and neither was Noguchi. But acting on his suspicions, after traces of cocaine powder were discovered at the death scene, Noguchi writes, “I gripped Belushi’s upper right arm with both of my hands, then squeezed…. Suddenly a tiny drop of blood appeared at the inner elbow, but the very fact that the fresh punctures had been so difficult to discover worried me…. A medically clean needle had been used and only drops of blood revealed it.”

  Another matter for concern in external examinations is the question of lividity, or livor mortis. Lividity is caused when blood pools in the lowest level of the body in the hours after death, producing purplish blotches. In the external report the examiner mentions two such areas: first, the face, neck, arms, chest and abdomen; second, “a faint lividity which disappears upon pressure is noted in the back and posterior aspect of the arms and legs.” The forensic significance is that when a body is moved during the livor mortis process, which usually extends for the first four hours after death, these “dual lividity” areas are known to occur. For instance, if a body lies on its stomach during a three-hour interval after death, and then is placed on its back by mortuary attendants, a secondary lividity could take place on the posterior during the next hour, or final phase of the process. Noguchi and Miner could have considered this when confronted by the dual lividity, which is mentioned in the autopsy report but not explained. However, it is now known that Marilyn Monroe died at approximately 10:30 P.M. Saturday. Her body was rolled over and placed on the gurney by Guy and Don Hockett eight hours after the time of death, or four hours after the livor mortis process was completed. Therefore, the faint lividity noted on her posterior must have occurred immediately after death, when Monroe’s body was on its back for a period of time before being placed facedown on the bed, where it remained until the end of livor mortis.

  Without explanation, Noguchi’s External Examination Report points out two fresh bruises on Marilyn’s body: “a slight ecchymotic area is noted in the left hip and left side of the lower back.” However, according to Grandison, more bruises were found on Monroe’s body than the official documents reveal. Grandison explained, “When a body is brought into the morgue, it is immediately inspected by a medical assistant. At this time all scars, bruises, cuts, or other trauma are indicated on a special initial examination form. This form becomes part of the official file and is completed before the beginning of the autopsy.” Grandison saw this form on the morning of August 5, and he said it included the hip bruises indicated in the autopsy report but also revealed additional bruises on Monroe’s arms and the back of her legs. According to Grandison, “This initial examination form was part of a file that disappeared as the case began to expand.”

  Miner later commented that all of the bruises were small, except for the large bruised area on the left hip. “We saw bruised areas on the body,” he recalls, “but nothing that could have contributed to death in any way.” However, bruised areas are an indication of violence, and the fact that obvious bruises weren’t questioned, and that minor ones weren’t even noted, is a disturbing omission.

  Noguchi later questioned his own conclusion about the bruises and admitted during an interview in 1982 that the prominent bruise on her left hip should have been looked into. “That bruise,” Dr. Noguchi said, “has never been fully explained.” When reporters asked what may have caused the bruise, Noguchi replied, “There is no explanation for that bruise. It is a sign of violence.”

  After completing the external examination, Noguchi proceeded with the internal examination. “The body was opened up,” Miner recalls, “the rib cage removed. Then all of the chest organs were examined, weighed, and samples of each dropped in a jar of formalin to preserve them for examination.” Noguchi then opened the stomach, and he and Miner examined the contents for signs of the Nembutal tablets. But to their surprise the stomach was completely empty. “There was a small quantity of liquid in the stomach,” Miner recalled, “but we did not detect any sign that would indicate it contained any heavy drugs or sedatives.”

  The examiner’s report states, “A smear made from the gastric contents and examined under the polarized microscope shows no refractile crystals.” According to Dr. Sidney S. Weinberg, former Chief Medical Examiner of Suffolk County, New York, “It is inconsistent with the mode of death by ingestion of a large amount of barbiturates not to have found refractile crystals in the digestive tract. Under a polarized microscope the smear should have disclosed the exact character of the death-producing drug, as each medication has its own individual crystalline shape.” Furthermore, Weinberg and several other prominent medical examiners have pointed out that Nembutal’s street name “yellow jackets” derives from the distinctive yellow in the gelatin capsules. If Monroe had swallowed as many as forty or more capsules of Nembutal, as has been estimated, evidence of yellow dye should have been found in the digestive tract—especially in an empty stomach. Noguchi found no trace of yellow dye.

  Next, Noguchi and Miner looked at the duodenum, the first digestive tract after the stomach. When pills have been in the stomach for a period of time, sometimes the remains and residue will move on into the duodenum; however, they found nothing. Noguchi said, “I found absolutely no visual evidence of pills in the stomach or the small intestine. No residue. No refractile crystals. And yet the evidence of the pill bottles showed that Monroe had swallowed forty to fifty Nembutals and a large number of chloral hydrate pills.”

  Noguchi’s and Miner’s examination is most significant for what they did not find.

  Marilyn Monroe had attempted suicide on at least four previous occasions; this, of course, made the suicide scenario all the more plausib
le. And at least twice before, she had ingested a number of barbiturate capsules, and one of those times it was Nembutal.

  During Christmas 1950, when she was staying at the apartment of her drama coach, Natasha Lytess, Marilyn became despondent over the death of her mentor, Johnny Hyde. Lytess returned home and discovered a note on her pillow that read, “I leave my car and fur stole to Natasha.” She recalled, “I ran to Marilyn’s door, which was unlocked, and burst in to find that the room looked like hell on earth. Marilyn was on the bed, her cheeks were swollen, and she was unconscious. There was an ooze of purplish paste in the lip corners…. I jammed her mouth open and reached in and took out a handful of wet, purplish stuff she hadn’t yet swallowed. On the night table was an empty bottle that contained sleeping pills.” Even though she’d used a glass of water, Marilyn had gagged on the pills she tried to consume. Her stomach was pumped, and she revived at the hospital.

  In the 1960s, when Marilyn was filming The Misfits and was troubled by marital problems with Arthur Miller, she swallowed a number of barbiturate tablets, but she again gagged and regurgitated many of them. When her coach, Paula Strasberg, discovered Marilyn unconscious on a bed, she told of seeing the vomitus on Marilyn’s face and described using her fingers to scoop the dissolved capsules out of her mouth. Again, Marilyn’s stomach was pumped at the hospital, where she regained consciousness.

  These experiences make the absence of vomitus or residue in Noguchi’s autopsy even more striking.

  Also of significance was the absence of the “odor of pear.” Victims who ingest chloral hydrate emit a strong pearlike odor. However, this is not the case when chloral hydrate is injected directly into the bloodstream rather than ingested through the digestive tract.

  When Noguchi and Miner were unable to find an indication that death had resulted from the ingestion of barbiturate capsules, the mode of death became the subject of a toxicologist’s laboratory examination, to be conducted by Dr. R. J. Abernethy. Before leaving the morgue, Noguchi prepared the brain, blood, urine, and internal organs for examination. On the bottom of his report, he noted, “Unembalmed blood is taken for alcohol and barbiturate examination. Liver, kidney, stomach, and contents, urine and intestine are saved for further toxicological study.”

  The physical autopsy lasted five hours. The remains of Marilyn Monroe’s body were returned to crypt #33.

  Sometime after ten o’clock Sunday night, Life photographer Leigh Wiener snuck into the county morgue. Offering a bottle of whiskey as a bribe, Wiener persuaded a morgue attendant to open up crypt #33 and roll out Marilyn Monroe for a few snapshots. He took a number of photos of the corpse, both covered and uncovered. It was Marilyn Monroe’s last photo session.

  5

  The Final Verdict

  The Coroner’s Office is essentially a fact-finding body.

  —R. J. Abernethy, 1950

  R. J. Abernethy, toxicologist for the Los Angeles County coroner, began his laboratory examination at 8:30 A.M. Monday, August 6, and he quickly concluded that Marilyn Monroe’s death was due to a massive overdose of barbiturates. The tests showed 4.5 milligrams percent of pentobarbital and 8.0 milligrams percent of chloral hydrate in the bloodstream. In addition, the liver contained 13 milligrams percent pentobarbital—an abnormally large concentration. Pentobarbital is the chemical nomenclature for the Abbott Laboratories product marketed as Nembutal. Chloral hydrate, sometimes referred to as “knockout drops” or a “Mickey Finn,” is a highly potent sedative hypnotic that quickly renders a person unconscious.

  After reviewing Abernethy’s chemical analysis, Noguchi prepared his preliminary autopsy report. The facts indicated that Monroe’s body had been found in a room locked from the inside. No hypodermic needle had been discovered within the locked room. Among eight prescription containers found at her bedside were item #4, an empty container of twenty-five capsules of 1½ grains of Nembutal (pentobarbital) filled by San Vicente Pharmacy on August 3, 1962; and item #5, a chloral hydrate container filled on July 25, 1962—of which ten tablets remained. The toxicologist’s report of chemical analysis confirmed the barbiturate overdose.

  Correlating the forensic evidence with the circumstances filed in the police report, Noguchi concluded that the cause of death was “acute barbiturate poisoning due to the ingestion of an overdose.” Under mode of death he circled “Suicide”—writing in the word “probable.” After filing this report, Noguchi assumed that he had done a thorough examination and reported everything accurately; however, disquieting forensic contradictions compelled him to return to the toxicology lab.

  Abernethy had furnished laboratory reports on the blood and liver, which indicated death from barbiturate poisoning. However, Noguchi had clearly requested reports on the kidney, stomach, urine, and intestines as well. Examination of these specimens would have revealed how the barbiturate had entered Monroe’s system. But the limited toxicology report contained no analysis of these specimens, and therefore there was no confirmation that the barbiturates had been orally ingested. Neither Noguchi’s autopsy nor Abernethy’s chemical analysis had furnished substantial evidence as to how the barbiturate poisoning took place. When Noguchi again asked for the reports on the kidney, stomach, urine, and intestines, he was amazed to find that the samples he and Miner had prepared under the supervision of Curphey had all mysteriously vanished.

  The disappearance of these specimens is perhaps the most disturbing of the long list of irregularities relating to the autopsy. These missing specimens contained vital information definitely determining the mode of death. Laboratory examination of the digestive tract could have confirmed Noguchi’s findings that there was no evidence of the barbiturate or its residue in the stomach or intestines—indicating that the fatal dose had not been orally ingested. If examination of the kidneys had shown no barbiturates, that would also have confirmed that Monroe did not die from an oral ingestion.

  Recently, it has been discovered that the specimens “disappeared” at the toxicological laboratory established by Abernethy at the UCLA School of Medicine, where Greenson was an eminent member of the faculty. When questioned, Abernethy refused to discuss what became of the missing organ samples. Westwood Village Mortuary attendant Alan Abbott recently stated, “Knowing Coroner Curphey, and that he had supervised the autopsy, it’s difficult to imagine that those specimens just disappeared. It wouldn’t have happened.”

  Miner observed, “In the entire history of the L.A. County coroner’s office there had never been a previous instance of organ samples vanishing.”

  Noguchi sent his preliminary report to Coroner Curphey, who reviewed it along with the police reports. In coroner’s cases where suicide is suspected, friends, relatives, physicians, and colleagues of the deceased are normally interviewed to establish the victim’s state of mind. The coroner then decides if the total evaluation of the victim’s death supports a final verdict of suicide. If there was any doubt as to the cause of death, Curphey’s responsibility was to call for an inquest, subpoena witnesses, and bring about a full-scale inquiry. However, according to coroner’s aide Lionel Grandison, Curphey was actually covering up the cause of Monroe’s death. “As I analyze my participation, my conversations with other staff members, and the things I’ve seen,” Grandison stated, “there’s no doubt in my mind that the Marilyn Monroe case, as we know it now, is not the true case. Some very sensitive areas have been covered up. Evidence was suppressed, paperwork was taken from the files, and people who have knowledge of what happened have not been listened to or sought out.”

  Coroner Curphey was an administrator, without an investigative background, and ordinarily it would have been the job of the coroner’s staff to investigate the circumstances of Monroe’s death, but on August 6, Curphey announced to the press that he would personally question the star’s doctors.

  According to Grandison, Curphey’s interference with the normal investigative procedure was unprecedented, and the little information he passed on to the staff “changed from
day to day, as if it were being tailored to fit a scenario in need of constant revision by its authors.” Grandison also discovered that someone in the department was removing and rewriting key material from the Monroe file. “I observed information leaving the file,” he later stated, “and much of the information taken out of the file was never replaced.” He claims the file was doctored to support “what someone wanted the public to think.”

  Not until many years later did Grandison fully comprehend the significance of one item that vanished. This was Monroe’s diary, or “book of secrets.” This diary, which was not found among Monroe’s effects by the police or by Guy Hockett, was inadvertently obtained by Grandison when he was trying to locate Monroe’s next of kin. On Monday, August 6, he sent a driver to Monroe’s home to pick up whatever material might give addresses or phone numbers of relatives. The driver returned with a small red-covered book. The red diary became a matter of controversy, and many have doubted that it ever existed. Only Robert Slatzer and Lionel Grandison claim to have seen it and examined its contents; however, recent discoveries confirm that the controversial diary did exist. In 1994 a CIA document surfaced (see “Appendix”) confirming that Monroe’s “book of secrets” was a major national security concern.

  Another witness who viewed the diary, or “book of secrets,” was former Los Angeles intelligence officer Mike Rothmiller, who worked under Captain Daryl Gates at OCID, the Organized Crime Intelligence Division. In 1978 Rothmiller was assigned to the OCID file room, where floor-to-ceiling shelves housed confidential files. Among them was the Marilyn Monroe file, which Rothmiller states included a copy of her diary.