At 4:25 a.m. on August 5, 1962, the Los Angeles Police Department received a call from Dr. Ralph Greenson, a psychiatrist. His patient, Marilyn Monroe, was dead. Officers arrived at her modest Brentwood home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive to find the 36-year-old actress lying face down on her bed, a telephone receiver in her hand, and dozens of empty pill bottles on the nightstand.

The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office would issue one of the most scrutinized autopsy reports in history.

The Coroner’s Findings

Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Noguchi — who would later become known as the “Coroner to the Stars” — performed the autopsy. His findings:

  • Cause of death: acute barbiturate poisoning
  • A lethal dose of chloral hydrate and Nembutal was found in Monroe’s blood and liver
  • The manner of death was classified as “probable suicide”
  • Notably, despite the massive quantity of drugs in her system, Noguchi found no pill residue in her stomach — a detail that would fuel conspiracy theories for decades

The word “probable” was deliberate. The coroner could not definitively rule out accident or foul play.

The Unanswered Questions

The circumstances surrounding Monroe’s death generated questions that have never been satisfactorily answered:

  • Why was there no pill residue in her stomach if she had swallowed enough barbiturates to kill her?
  • Why was there a significant time gap between when her body was discovered and when police were called?
  • What happened to Monroe’s phone records from that night, which reportedly disappeared from records?
  • Why did her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, change her account of the night’s events multiple times?

The Kennedy Connection

The most persistent conspiracy theories involve Monroe’s alleged relationships with President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Some investigators have claimed that Bobby Kennedy visited Monroe’s home the evening she died, and that her death was connected to what she knew about the Kennedy brothers’ activities.

No credible evidence has ever confirmed Kennedy involvement in Monroe’s death, but the theories persist — fueled in part by the documented destruction of evidence and inconsistent witness statements.

Noguchi’s Legacy

Dr. Thomas Noguchi went on to become the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for Los Angeles, performing autopsies on Robert Kennedy, Natalie Wood, and dozens of other celebrities. His work on the Monroe case, while medically thorough, left just enough ambiguity to ensure the mystery would never fully die.

The Monroe case remains the most famous autopsy ever performed at the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office — and the one that, more than any other, cemented the office’s place in American cultural history.