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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesMarilyn Monroe was found dead at her Brentwood home on August 5, 1962. The autopsy recorded acute barbiturate poisoning due to an overdose, and her death was classified as a probable suicide. In 1982, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reviewed renewed allegations and said it found no credible evidence of homicide or conspiracy. The review also acknowledged discrepancies and unanswered questions; those limits do not, by themselves, establish murder.
What was Marilyn Monroe’s cause of death?
The reproduced Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office autopsy report lists the cause as acute barbiturate poisoning due to ingestion of an overdose. Its final cause-of-death entry is dated August 27, 1962, distinct from the August 5 date on which Monroe was found. Read the autopsy report copy.
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News coverage immediately after her death described the coroner’s statement as provisional while further testing and investigation were pending. The Los Angeles Times reported on August 6 that Monroe, aged 36, had been found the previous day. The contemporaneous Los Angeles Times report captures that early stage; it should not be confused with the later final entry in the autopsy report.
Was Marilyn Monroe murdered?
The official classification was probable suicide. In December 1982, after renewed public allegations prompted a review, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office concluded that it found no credible evidence of homicide or conspiracy and that the probable-suicide conclusion was reasonably supported by the data it examined. UPI reported the office’s conclusion and quoted its assessment: “We were drawn to the conclusion that the homicide hypothesis must be viewed with extreme skepticism.” UPI’s December 1982 account reports the review’s findings.
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The review did not claim every detail was settled. UPI also reported that District Attorney John Van de Kamp acknowledged “factual discrepancies” and “unanswered questions,” while saying his office would not open a criminal investigation. Such qualifications matter, but they do not amount to evidence that a murder occurred.
Why was the case reviewed in 1982?
Public accounts renewed questions about the investigation and evidence handling. Allegations included claims about a missing red diary and possible mishandling by the coroner’s office. These were allegations that helped prompt scrutiny, not proof of homicide. UPI’s August 1982 report describes the inquiry as it began; the later review’s conclusion is reported in its December account.
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- Written at the height of her fame but not published until over a decade after her death, this autobiography of actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) poignantly recounts her childhood as an unwanted orphan, her early adolescence, her rise in the film industry from bit player to celebrity, and her marriage to Joe DiMaggio.
Conspiracy theories involving prominent political figures, intelligence agencies, or organized crime have circulated, but the cited official review did not establish them. Nor do the available accounts establish Monroe’s exact motive or state of mind before her death. A responsible account separates what the medical record and investigators concluded from speculation about why she died.
What happened to the original police file?
In 1985, the Los Angeles Times reported that the original LAPD file had been destroyed in 1972 under a records-purge rule requiring older files to be discarded. The report also described other case materials becoming available. The loss of that file is an archival limitation: it does not, on its own, prove a cover-up. The 1985 Los Angeles Times report provides that account.
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The sources answer different questions and carry different kinds of evidence. The autopsy report records a medical cause; the 1962 newspaper account documents what was reported while the investigation was still underway; and the 1982 review addresses later allegations. Public claims and later commentary should not be treated as equivalent to those records or to an official finding.
- Direct record: The autopsy report copy gives the cause of death and dates its final entry August 27, 1962.
- Contemporaneous reporting: The August 6, 1962 Los Angeles Times story describes the discovery and the provisional nature of early information.
- Later official review: The District Attorney’s Office reported no credible evidence of homicide or conspiracy, while acknowledging discrepancies and unanswered questions.
- Archival context: The reported destruction of the original LAPD file limits what survives, but does not establish an alternative explanation.
In 2006, CBS reported on released documents and interview recordings connected to the 1982 inquiry, illustrating that public interest continued long after the review. That later attention is evidence of continuing debate, not a new finding about the cause or manner of death. CBS’s report on “The Marilyn Tapes” covers those materials.
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