Marilyn Monroe’s death has fascinated and saddened us in equal amounts over the past 50 years, partly because she was the world’s greatest sex symbol/enigma and partly because of the odd circumstances surrounding her demise. Rumors have swirled around Hollywood that she was murdered–perhaps to keep something incriminating about JFK from getting out–and even one of the investigators involved in the case was under the belief that if her body was exhumed, those suspicions could be confirmed.
Although she enjoyed various relationships over the years–and a few marriages–the one that captured the whole world’s attention was the suspected tryst between the movie star and the president. It’s been speculated upon and dissected by many, but the secrets surrounding Monroe’s death and JFK’s involvement in it likely went to the grave with both of them.
In tapes released several years ago by Monroe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, Monroe sounds anything but suicidal; yet her death was deemed self-inflicted after it was discovered that she had a massive amount of barbiturates in her system. When her body was found and examined, no needle marks were found to suggest she had been injected with the drugs, yet the coroner discovered that the pills had entered her system through her large intestine, leading investigator John Miner to believe she had been given an enema which contained the drugs after being dosed with something strong enough to knock her unconscious. Several key points–including the fact that there was no glass of water in the room for Monroe to have washed down all those pills–led him to believe there was foul play involved. Indeed, her maid, Eunice Murray, was a key suspect after she gave an odd testimony as to what happened the night Monroe died and then later changed her story several times; for some reason, she was allowed to leave the country and was never pursued as a possible suspect.
Miner believes that Greenson destroyed the tapes after allowing him access to them during the investigation, because he didn’t want Monroe’s last words to fall into the wrong hands. He was adamant about protecting his client’s privacy, Miner says. If that’s true, it could be that the one thing which could give us answers about how she died is gone forever. And according to Miner, Monroe was not a person who was looking to end her life. She did, however, talk about her maid and how she wanted to get rid of her.
“Doctor, I want you to help me get rid of Murray,” she said. “I can’t flat out fire her. Next thing would be a book ‘Secrets of Marilyn Monroe by Her Housekeeper.’ She’d make a fortune spilling what she knows and she knows too damn much.”