N
early 60 years
after her death,
Marilyn Mon-
roe is still one
of the most fa-
mous women
in the world. And her massive allure has only grown
because of “speculation as to how she died,” says ce-
lebrity biographer Mark Bego. “Was she so de-
pressed that she took her own life? Or was it a
murder? Was it a cover-up? Was the president
involved? What exactly happened?”
Now the mystery appears to have been
solved. Though her tragic death from a
deadly cocktail of pills at age 36 was ruled a
“probable suicide,” a new investigation into
Norma Jeane Mortenson’s journey from
troubled foster child to global icon paints
a very different picture. The 12-part pod-
cast Killing Marilyn (premiering on Aug. 19)
uses experts, eyewitness testimony, police
reports and newly released FBI files to un-
cover what really happened to Marilyn the
night of Aug. 4, 1962 — and why her killer was
never brought to justice. “What followed in the
wake of her death,” says Monroe expert Dan-
forth Prince, “has morphed into a web of myths,
lies and mendacities more contradictory than any
murder in Hollywood history.”
WHAT DID SHE KNOW?
Marilyn was keeping a lot of secrets. Experts say
childhood psychological trauma led her to seek out
intimate relationships with powerful — and danger-
ous — men, including President John F. Kennedy, his
brother Bobby, singer Frank Sinatra and mobster
Sam Giancana. She wrote down their pillow talk in
her journal, says Fabulous Gabriel, author of Marilyn
Monroe: The Lost Diary, which “would have been
very incriminating for high-level people.”
Many of them had motive to silence Marilyn — and
someone got away with it. “It’s just a big cover-up,” says
private investigator Becky Altringer. “I think Marilyn
made a threat, and that threat cost her her life.”
“The mysterious
details of
Marilyn’s last
day have fueled
speculation for
half a century,”
says Monroe
expert Danforth
Prince.
TUNE IN!
Podcast premieres
Aug. 19!
MURDER?
A NEWINVESTIGATIONUNCOVERS
THETRUTHABOUTWHATREALLY
HAPPENEDTO THEHOLLYWOOD ICON
MARILYN MONROE
52 September 2, 2019 CLOSER
