New Mystery of Marilyn: Her Own Words? (Times) Updated: 2005-08-06 13:58
On Aug. 5, 1962, the body of Marilyn Monroe was found in the bedroom of her
Brentwood home. The 36-year-old movie star was naked and facedown on her
bed.
 Marilyn Monroe
poses over the updraft of a New York subway grating while in character for
the filming of 'The Seven Year Itch' in Manhattan on September 9, 1954.
The former Norma Jean Baker modeled and starred in 28 movies grossing $200
million. Sensual and seductive, but with an air of innocence, Monroe
became one of the world's most adored sex symbols. She died alone by
suicide, at age 36 in her Hollywood bungalow.
[AP] | An autopsy conducted by Dr. Thomas
Noguchi, then deputy medical examiner, concluded that death was due to acute
barbiturate poisoning, and a psychiatric team tied to the investigation termed
it a "probable suicide."
Today, 43 years later, fans from around the world will gather, as they have
for decades, near Monroe's crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park to celebrate
her life and mourn her death. John W. Miner, 86, will mourn too.
But there is bitterness and frustration as well for the former Los Angeles
County prosecutor, who was at her autopsy and was one of those looking into her
death. He didn't believe that the actress took her life in '62 and he doesn't
believe it now, and Miner says he's heard secret tapes that Monroe made in the
days before she died that prove the actress was anything but suicidal.
Whether Monroe died by her own hand has been debated and dissected by books,
documentaries, conspiracy theorists, and Hollywood and Washington insiders alike
for years.
Enough credence was given to the various reports that in 1982, the Los
Angeles County district attorney's office reexamined the case. Miner, by then in
private practice, was among those interviewed.
The resulting report notes that Miner mentioned the tapes. However, he did
not say he had a transcript. Although the report concedes that "factual
discrepancies" and "unanswered questions" remained in the case, it did not find
enough evidence to warrant launching a criminal investigation.
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