Today, June 1, marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe. As we commemorate this significant milestone, it is impossible to ignore the enduring mystery and tragic theories surrounding her untimely death. Monroe was found lifeless on August 5, 1962, in her Brentwood home, with her hand resting on the telephone. The shock of her death reverberated through the nation, sparking a multitude of conspiracy theories. So persistent were these speculations that in 1982, two decades after her passing, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office reopened the investigation into her death.
Rumors have long swirled around Monroe’s alleged connections to President John F. Kennedy and his brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Friends confided that Monroe had expressed feelings of abandonment after Robert Kennedy distanced himself from her. Yet, her heart seemed tethered to the Kennedys, as she confided to a friend just a day before her death that she was “very much in love” with Bobby Kennedy.
On the eve of her death, Monroe reportedly shared with her friend Jeanne Carmen about receiving harassing phone calls, one of which ominously warned, “Leave Bobby alone, you tramp. Leave Bobby alone.” However, it was a call to another friend, Sydney Guilaroff, that stirred deeper concern. Guilaroff recounted how Monroe spoke in distress, describing herself as being “surrounded by danger” and lamenting about betrayals by “men in high places” and secretive love affairs.
Monroe’s troubling words hinted at the revelation of secrets concerning Washington’s political elite. She also allegedly informed Guilaroff that Robert Kennedy ended their relationship on the very day she died. This, among other factors, fueled suspicions of foul play.
Another theory speculates on the involvement of the Mafia, purportedly linked through Monroe’s associations with the Kennedys. It is alleged that mobsters bugged her home to gather incriminating information about the powerful political family. Despite the passage of time, these theories continue to captivate the public’s imagination, casting a shadow over the life of one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures.
However, after intense investigations, the Los Angeles Times reporeted a headline in late 1982 that the prosecutor’s office found that Monroe’s death from “acute barbiturate poisoning” could have been an overdose or accidental, but they had time to disperse into her blood and liver which explained why the doctor found no residue in her stomach.
The three-month invesitgation didn’t satisfy everyone, with some convinced that something darker occurred. In 1985, a woman claimed her ex-husband, actor Peter Lawford, went to her home the night she died and destroyed a note she had left, though it has never been confirmed whether a note was actually taken.
Her FBI file, which was shared 50 years after she died, showed that they were aware of theories alleging she was murdered, but the claims were not looked into.