On August 5th, 1962, Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home.
She was just 36 years old. At 3 a.m. on the day of her death, Eunice Murray, Monroe's housekeeper,
noticed that the actress's bedroom light was on and knocked on her door to check on her.
After getting no response from inside the bedroom and finding the door locked, Murray
placed a call to Monroe's doctors, Dr. Hyman Engelberg and psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson.
Greenson broke through a window to reach Monroe and found the actress dead on her bed.
Monroe was found naked on her bed with her right hand holding onto a telephone. She was
officially pronounced dead shortly thereafter and authorities were called to the scene.
On her bedside table were all sorts of pills, including sedatives and antidepressants. Indeed,
just days before her death, those close to Monroe had noticed the actress's moody behavior.
Nevertheless, Monroe's death shocked many and sparked a number of wild conspiracy theories.
"I think you're the saddest girl I ever met." "You're the first man who ever said that.
I'm usually told how happy I am."
Monroe's official cause of death was listed as "acute barbiturate poisoning due to ingestion
of overdose." Her body was brought to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Mortuary,
where Deputy Medical Examiner T. Noguchi performed the autopsy. Based on his findings,
the actress appeared to have overdosed on sedatives. Although he didn't confirm that it
was suicide, he said that it was probable, and the press ran with that angle in the following days.
Based on the toxicology report, Monroe had a lethal dose of Nembutal in her system at the time
of her death. Nembutal is a sedative barbiturate that is used for treating short-term insomnia. It
was believed that Monroe had been in a depressed state before her death, and that she’d consumed
copious amounts of alcohol, too. On August 4th, her psychiatrist had asked Eunice Murray to keep
a close watch on Monroe. Murray last saw Monroe alive at approximately 8 o'clock that night.
The autopsy report also included a statement from the psychiatric
investigative team that was brought in to examine Monroe's death. It read:
"Miss Monroe suffered from psychiatric disturbance for a long time. She experienced
severe fears and frequent depressions. Mood changes were abrupt and unpredictable."
Tragically, a number of clues discovered in and around Marilyn Monroe's body pointed to a
probable suicide. The findings of the psychiatric investigative team also supported this theory.
Aside from Monroe's reported depression and anxiety shortly before her death,
the team also discovered that the actress, quote, "often expressed wishes to give up, to withdraw,
and even to die." The report also states that Monroe had previously attempted suicide by
ingesting sedatives. But in that instance, she called for help — and was saved just in time.
Another sign that pointed to a likely suicide was the sheer amount of sedatives found in her system.
These were found to have been taken in a short period of time. In fact,
despite having been refilled the day before her death, her prescription bottle of Nembutal
was found completely empty. Another unusual detail was Monroe's door, which was locked.
Although these details were included in the autopsy report, the coroner couldn't
conclusively prove that the actress took her own life, hence the ruling of "probable suicide."
Despite reports of depression, some of Marilyn Monroe's friends later claimed that she was in
high spirits in the months before her death, and had even talked about traveling. There was also
reports of the star rekindling her relationship with ex-husband Joe DiMaggio before she died.
Indeed, although there is no evidence to suggest this, DiMaggio believed that Monroe was murdered.
In one interview since her death, the baseball star said:
"I always knew who killed her, but I didn't want to start a revolution in this country.
She told me someone would do her in, but I kept quiet."
One of the most popular conspiracy theories involves John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy,
each of whom Monroe allegedly had an affair with. Despite those rumors,
however, the official report states that no evidence of foul play was found.
Monroe is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
To this day, many fans visit her final resting place to pay respect to the icon and her legacy.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts,
please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.