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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
As the world celebrates Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, Paul Holes is revisiting one of the most scrutinized celebrity cases in Hollywood history.
The retired cold case investigator spent more than two decades solving crimes in California and played a pivotal role in identifying the Golden State Killer. Now, he’s applying his expertise to the movie star’s 1962 death in TMZ’s “Celebrity Crime Scene: Marilyn Monroe,” premiering on FOX.
Using artificial intelligence to recreate Monroe’s home, the special follows Holes, senior crime scene analyst Alina Burroughs and true crime reporter Kiki Monique as they examine the questions and theories that have surrounded Monroe’s death for more than six decades.
“I was aware of how she died — a drug overdose ruled a probable suicide, but I knew very few details about it until I started digging into this case,” Holes told Fox News Digital.
“I think a lot of the questions about her death really come down to how poorly her death scene was documented and processed by investigating authorities back in 1962, leaving questions unanswered that could have been answered if they had done things properly.”
In August 1962, Monroe was found dead, lying nude in her bed with a telephone receiver dangling from her hand. Near the bed, police said they recovered an empty bottle that had contained about 50 Nembutal capsules, a powerful prescription sedative used to treat insomnia, Variety reported at the time. No note was found.
“The first red flag, of course, was the lack of documentation,” said Holes. “There are very few photos of the death scene. However, even with the one photograph that exists, showing her dead in her own bed, my eyes, based on my experience and expertise, immediately picked out inconsistencies, such as the sheets being [clean and] perfect. She’s arranged on the bed in such a way that it doesn’t look like an overdose [to me].”
“The pill bottles on this tiny little nightstand next to her head were all perfectly arranged, with all the labels facing in the right direction, including the most notable pill bottle, this Nembutal,” Holes said.
“It was a prescription that had been filled two days before for 50 capsules of this barbiturate, and it was empty. It was perfectly set on that nightstand with the lid on. People who are going to ingest that number of pills at once don’t typically take that kind of care to tidy up before they lie down on the bed. It’s what I call an inconsistency.”
“Anytime you see an inconsistency, you have to stop and start questioning, ‘Am I seeing things the right way, or is there something more going on here?'” he added.
While “The Seven Year Itch” icon struggled with her mental health during her lifetime, Holes said his review of the evidence led him to question the conclusion that Monroe intentionally took her own life.
“Nobody stages a suicide to look like a better suicide,” he explained. “And one of the contradictions that I think is very notable is that, two days before she is found dead, a prescription for Nembutal is used. This is a fast-acting drug. It’s used in euthanasia to this day. Fifty capsules were picked up two days prior. All of those are gone, empty pill bottle on the nightstand, yet she doesn’t have these capsules or evidence of these capsules in her stomach.”
While no barbiturate residue was found in the 36-year-old’s stomach, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the drugs may have had sufficient time to be absorbed into her bloodstream and liver. That would explain why the doctor found no residue in her stomach, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Monroe had been prescribed Nembutal by her physician, Dr. Hyman Engelberg, although she also received medications from psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson. Holes said he believes Monroe’s medical treatment raises questions that, in his view, warrant further scrutiny, including whether her care met appropriate standards.
The actress regularly used prescription sedatives and sleeping pills and struggled with insomnia and anxiety. Associates and some biographers described her as increasingly dependent on prescription drugs in the years leading up to her death.
The Times of London recently reported that Engelberg maintained that he prescribed Monroe Nembutal, but not the chloral hydrate that was also found in her system. Both drugs can be dangerous when taken together.
Andrew Wilson, author of “I Wanna Be Loved By You,” said that, during his research, he uncovered a June 1962 prescription for chloral hydrate issued to Monroe and signed by Engelberg — about two months before her death.
Wilson has argued that Engelberg was not fully forthcoming about his role in Monroe’s medical treatment. He also contended that, under modern standards, questions could be raised about whether a physician who overprescribed medication to a vulnerable patient might face criminal scrutiny. Engelberg died in 2005 at age 92.
On the night Monroe died, her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, phoned Greenson after becoming concerned that Monroe had locked herself in her bedroom, the outlet reported.
Greenson arrived at the house, broke a window to get into her room, and found Monroe’s lifeless body. He then called Engelberg, who pronounced her dead. However, there was a delay of nearly an hour before Engelberg called the police and told officers that Monroe had committed suicide.
Greenson died in 1979 at age 68.
Over the years, there have been numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Monroe’s death. The speculation grew to such a point that the District Attorney’s Office reopened an investigation in 1982. They concluded there was insufficient evidence to support criminal involvement, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Holes noted that it’s important to analyze all the theories to better understand what may have really happened.
“I think with the show that we did, part of the toolset is modern technology, marrying the computing power that we have today with artificial intelligence and reconstructing her death scene,” said Holes. “So now, I can walk through this scene, which is replicating what it was back at the time when LAPD first arrived.”
“This case, from a forensic standpoint, is done. There isn’t anything that exists today that we can do from a science standpoint, but assessing the investigative avenues could still be pursued.”
“The avenues that I’m seeing today in Marilyn Monroe’s case really come down to witnesses,” he continued. “Most of them, of course, are dead, who are firsthand witnesses. But going and interviewing their close associates or family members and finding out what these witnesses said over the course of their lives that never was reported to law enforcement.”
The screen siren was the subject of FBI monitoring during the final years of her life. Declassified records show agents tracked her connections to individuals with suspected Communist ties, but the bureau never found evidence that Monroe was a member of the Communist Party. The released files largely concern her associations and activities, not the investigation into her death.
“What kinds of documents did the FBI keep on her that have never been released?” said Holes. “There are documents, heavily redacted documents, concerning the FBI’s monitoring of Marilyn Monroe.
“But if Marilyn Monroe is being told, let’s say, national security secrets by President John F. Kennedy and the attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy, the FBI is going to have those classified to this day. And at some point, through Freedom of Information Act requests, maybe those documents can be released. That would be a huge investigative treasure that somebody like me would love to dig into.”
Allegations and rumors linking Monroe to the Kennedys have persisted for decades.
Viewers tuning into “Celebrity Crime Scene” will draw their own conclusions about what happened to the late star. Monroe’s death was officially ruled a probable suicide, and authorities have never publicly identified evidence that the investigation was improperly influenced.
Holes, however, remains critical of the original investigation.
“I’ll just say, in 1962, the LAPD should have approached this differently then,” he said. “They did not abide by standard procedures. … You always go to the conservative side and investigate it as a homicide until we prove it’s not a homicide. … Today, that’s the way things should be done.”
“It suggests that when you start looking at how well-resourced and experienced the LAPD is, why did they drop the ball in Marilyn Monroe’s case? Seems like there’s possibly some influence to cause them to look the other way and just write this thing off and make the assumption it’s suicide.”
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