Book Spotlight: The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed by Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin
The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed is a 2014 book by Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin. Like Margolis' Marilyn Monroe: A Case for Murder, which I read a few years ago, this book examines the suspicious circumstances of Marilyn Monroe's death. Marilyn died on August 4, 1962, at her house on Fifth Helena Drive, and though her death was ruled a probable suicide, many people believe that she was murdered and that Bobby Kennedy was involved. Author C. David Heymann claimed that when he was interviewing Peter Lawford, Kennedy's brother-in-law, for his Jackie Kennedy biography in 1983, Lawford confessed that he worked with Bobby Kennedy and Ralph Greenson (Marilyn's psychiatrist) to murder Marilyn. The day of her death, Marilyn had threatened to hold a press conference and tell the world about her relationships with both John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, so Bobby convinced Ralph Greenson that Marilyn was also going to tell about her affair with the psychiatrist and that she needed to be silenced. Marilyn's neighbor Mary W. Goodykoontz Barnes told police that she saw Bobby Kennedy leave Marilyn's house the afternoon of August 4th and return with one of his bodyguards a few minutes later. The bodyguard gave Marilyn a shot of Nembutal to calm her down (according to Peter Lawford, Marilyn pulled a knife on Bobby after he threatened her) and keep her immobile while Bobby and Peter searched the house for her red diary. After they left, Marilyn called her friend Sydney Guilaroff and told him that when she said she would tell everyone about Bobby and JFK using her, Bobby replied, "If you threaten me, Marilyn, there's more than one way to keep you quiet" (pg. 23).
Around 9:30 p.m., Marilyn discovered Bobby and his two bodyguards (Archie Case and James Ahern) going through the filing cabinets in her guest house; according to recordings made by Fred Otash (who had bugged her house), Bobby held a pillow over her face to make her stop screaming at them and ordered Case and Ahern to "give her something to calm her down" (pg. 194). When a shot of Nembutal wasn't sufficient, the bodyguards stripped her and gave her an enema containing at least 13 Nembutals and 17 chloral hydrates. Marilyn soon lost consciousness and was later discovered by Eunice Murray, her housekeeper, who called an ambulance and Dr. Greenson. Paramedic James Hall said that Marilyn was still alive when the ambulance arrived and that he tried to resuscitate her, but Dr. Greenson showed up, said he was her doctor, and told Hall to remove the resuscitator. Greenson then injected brown fluid into Marilyn's heart and pronounced her dead. Detective Lynn Franklin pulled Peter Lawford over for speeding on the night of Marilyn's death and said that Bobby Kennedy (who was wearing a tattered shirt) and Ralph Greenson were in the car with him. Marilyn's death had not been announced at this point, but years later Franklin said he believed that Marilyn was murdered and that Bobby Kennedy was involved. Eunice Murray gave Marilyn's red diary to a driver for the Coroner's Office on August 6th, and a day later the diary disappeared.
The official story was that Marilyn overdosed on pills, but many of her friends believe she was murdered, and the fact that no pill residue was found in her stomach during the autopsy is awfully suspicious. Three days before her death, Marilyn signed a two-picture, $1,000,000 deal with Twentieth Century Fox and was rehired to work on Something's Gotta Give. She was planning to remarry Joe DiMaggio on August 8th, but he had to bury her that day instead. Joe believed that the Kennedys murdered Marilyn, and his son Joe Jr. (who spoke to Marilyn on the phone a few hours before her death) also did not believe that she committed suicide. According to those her knew her, Marilyn was excited about the future and happier than she had been in a long time, so it was hard for them to believe that she killed herself. Based on this book and others I've read about Marilyn, I believe she was murdered. The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed is an interesting read, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Marilyn and the circumstances of her untimely death.
My rating: 7.5/10
Around 9:30 p.m., Marilyn discovered Bobby and his two bodyguards (Archie Case and James Ahern) going through the filing cabinets in her guest house; according to recordings made by Fred Otash (who had bugged her house), Bobby held a pillow over her face to make her stop screaming at them and ordered Case and Ahern to "give her something to calm her down" (pg. 194). When a shot of Nembutal wasn't sufficient, the bodyguards stripped her and gave her an enema containing at least 13 Nembutals and 17 chloral hydrates. Marilyn soon lost consciousness and was later discovered by Eunice Murray, her housekeeper, who called an ambulance and Dr. Greenson. Paramedic James Hall said that Marilyn was still alive when the ambulance arrived and that he tried to resuscitate her, but Dr. Greenson showed up, said he was her doctor, and told Hall to remove the resuscitator. Greenson then injected brown fluid into Marilyn's heart and pronounced her dead. Detective Lynn Franklin pulled Peter Lawford over for speeding on the night of Marilyn's death and said that Bobby Kennedy (who was wearing a tattered shirt) and Ralph Greenson were in the car with him. Marilyn's death had not been announced at this point, but years later Franklin said he believed that Marilyn was murdered and that Bobby Kennedy was involved. Eunice Murray gave Marilyn's red diary to a driver for the Coroner's Office on August 6th, and a day later the diary disappeared.
The official story was that Marilyn overdosed on pills, but many of her friends believe she was murdered, and the fact that no pill residue was found in her stomach during the autopsy is awfully suspicious. Three days before her death, Marilyn signed a two-picture, $1,000,000 deal with Twentieth Century Fox and was rehired to work on Something's Gotta Give. She was planning to remarry Joe DiMaggio on August 8th, but he had to bury her that day instead. Joe believed that the Kennedys murdered Marilyn, and his son Joe Jr. (who spoke to Marilyn on the phone a few hours before her death) also did not believe that she committed suicide. According to those her knew her, Marilyn was excited about the future and happier than she had been in a long time, so it was hard for them to believe that she killed herself. Based on this book and others I've read about Marilyn, I believe she was murdered. The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed is an interesting read, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Marilyn and the circumstances of her untimely death.
My rating: 7.5/10
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