Marilyn Monroe’s Coroner Finally Speaks; Remains Confident in Ruling
Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 this year, but her life was cut tragically short in 1962. The starlet’s death at 36, and what exactly caused her untimely demise, has been debated ever since. While the chatter falls quiet from time to time, it always gathers steam again, and new conspiracy theories are constantly cropping up. A new TV project has called her death into question once more, and now Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the medical examiner tasked with determining her cause of death, is the subject of his own TV project. Now 99, Noguchi is ready to tell everyone why he made the determination he did.
Dr. Thomas Noguchi explains why he classified Marilyn Monroe’s death as a ‘probable suicide’
More than six decades after Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood home, the man who performed her autopsy is still defending the conclusion that has fueled conspiracy theories ever since. Dr. Thomas Noguchi, now 99, was in his 30s and relatively early in his career when he was tasked with determining the actress’s cause of death. He carried out the autopsy, classified the death, and has defended his finding ever since.
Noguchi noted that the autopsy found high levels of barbiturates in the lining of Monroe’s stomach, and the toxicology report listed the cause of death as acute barbiturate poisoning. While an overdose was the clear conclusion, one possibility was quickly ruled out: that it had been accidental. The levels in her body were far higher than someone would have taken by mistake. Working alongside a specially convened panel, Noguchi eventually landed on “probable suicide” as the cause.
Noguchi has defended his findings for decades, even as other intense and famous cases came and went across his autopsy table. In an upcoming film project, Coroner to the Stars, he calls the case one of his most difficult, noting that he was not the only person who weighed in on the death, and that a standard autopsy was not the only consideration. A panel of suicide-prevention experts convened and considered factors like Monroe’s chronic depression and reported mood swings to help determine her cause of death.
Theories on Marilyn Monroe’s cause of death
Noguchi is well aware that countless people, over the last six decades, have questioned whether Marilyn Monroe really died by suicide. He dismisses the doubts, noting that many high-profile cases attract rumor and speculation, though few have attracted as much as Monroe’s.
Her death has spawned one of Hollywood’s most discussed and longest-lasting mysteries. The most enduring theory is that she met with foul play, dressed up to look like a suicide. That theory is often tied to her rumored relationships with President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In this version, proponents argue that Monroe simply knew too much and was becoming a liability, so she was silenced. TMZ recently explored that theory in a documentary focused on Monroe’s life and death.
A second theory suggests Monroe died from an accidental overdose that was then staged to look like a suicide. As laid out in Donald Spoto’s 1993 biography, the theory holds that Monroe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, overperscribed the actress. According to that account, a panicked Greenson and the housekeeper then staged the scene as a suicide. Greenson was, in fact, the first to reach Monroe’s body that night. According to official reports, he broke a window to enter her locked bedroom. Onlookers and online sleuths may never get a satisfying answer, but Dr. Thomas Noguchi remains confident his determination was the correct one.
Coroner to the Stars, a documentary following Dr. Noguchi’s journey and career, will be available for streaming on July 14. A TMZ-produced special, Celebrity Crime Scene: Marilyn Monroe, which used AI to reconstruct her death scene and questioned the suicide ruling, is available for streaming now.
