Thursday, 10 September 2015
about suicide, to use as scientific background
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/intonline/nas-cbiii-05-1001-017-r02.pdf
really great ebook
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=kVZz9cPVs_0C&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PT402.w.1.0.88
final conclusion
The death of actress Marilyn Monroe has remained a mystery, with
evidence supporting and contradicting each theory. The suicide theory presents evidence
such as Monroe’s family history with mental illness, influencing her mental instability.
In addition, Monroe’s unusual behaviour on the night of her death indicates
potential suicidal behaviour. Furthermore, Monroe’s psychiatrist had been
encouraging Monroe’s drug addiction, increasing her accessibility to the sleeping
pills, and the volume of pills consumed in order to cause death was also too
large for Monroe’s death to be an accident. Monroe’s firing from Twentieth
Century Fox’s, Something’s Got To Give, also
poses questions about her emotional state at the time. Although supportive of
the suicide theory, the evidence does have contradictions, leaving the theory
inconclusive. The suspicious crime scene demands attention also, as many
believe it was tampered with throughout the investigation. Monroe was known to struggle
swallowing medication, yet there was no glass of water found after she
allegedly swallowed sixty to seventy pills. Later a glass was found on the
floor, additionally the time police arrived at the crime scene varies vastly,
with sources such as Marilyn Monroe: The
Ultimate Investigation Into A Suspicious Death stating police did not
arrive until over an hour after the body was discovered. The inconsistency
between sources suggesting there are elements of Monroe’s death that have not
been unveiled to the public. Furthermore, John Miner, witness to the events has
released statements expressing his belief that Monroe was murdered, as many of
her organs disappeared during her autopsy. The addition of rumours of her
affairs with President Kennedy also provides a motive, and lies in medical reports
provide evidence stating there was no pill residue in Monroe’s stomach. There
are many aspects of Marilyn Monroe’s death that remain inconsistent, leaving
evidence to Monroe’s death as a result of suicide forever inconclusive.
final third paragraph: evidence for murder
Acknowledging
the fact that Monroe’s death may not have been a result of suicide, the other
widely discussed theory is that Monroe was murdered, which is supported by a
number of different theories and scenarios. Many suggest that, as at the time
of death Monroe was involved in affairs with both John and Robert Kennedy,
organisations such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the Mafia may
have been motivated to remove Marilyn as she posed a direct threat to national
security and integrity. Monroe’s last known person of contact was Peter
Lawford, John F. Kennedy’s brother in law. Monroe’s
affair
was problematic for the U.S. government at the time as Monroe gained private
knowledge of U.S. politics through relations with the President. This would
support the theory that foul play was involved, as there was a significant
motive to remove Monroe. Events such as her ‘Happy
Birthday Mister President’ performance thrust rumours about her affair with
Kennedy into the public spotlight, which may have been enough to prompt Monroe’s removal. The
Sydney Morning Herald reported in March 2011 an article conveying Miner’s
thoughts following his death at age ninety two, where it was documented he had
expressed his concerns about the ‘truths’ behind Monroe’s
death to author, Keya Morgan. Miner doubted the suicide verdict on the basis of
two flaws in the theory, the; “toxicity
levels in Monroe's body were extraordinarily high, suggesting that she would
have ‘had to take sixty to seventy pills.’ Despite this, the autopsy noted that
‘the stomach is almost completely empty. No residue of the pills is noted’”[1].
John Miner
strongly believes that the discolouration of Monroe’s
colon suggests that she did not consume the Nembutal herself; rather it was
administered to her. Twenty years after the original investigation, Miner
theorised that Monroe’s discoloured colon and lack
of intestinal content within her lower colon implies the poison was
administered through an enema. For this theory of Monroe’s death being a result of poison administered through
an enema to be conclusive, she must have been compliant with those running the
procedure, suggesting she was already heavily sedated. Monroe’s lack of consciousness would match the levels of
chloral hydrate found in her system, further supporting doubts of her suggested
probable suicide. The second suspicion John Miner had was,
“that specimens which could have settled the matter one way or another
‘disappeared overnight, including the liver, kidney and stomach and its
contents, which would have proven definitely she did not kill herself’”[2],
this lead Miner to conclude that Monroe had not
committed suicide, but had been given an enema[3]
of the barbiturate[4],
Nembutal.
[1] The
Telegraph, John Miner, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/celebrity-obituaries/8362737/John-Miner.html,
(Accessed 18/07/15).
[2] Ibid.
final second paragraph: evidence against suicide
While there
are aspects of the suicide theory that support Monroe’s death being result of
her self-administration of the drug Nembutal, there are many aspects of the
theory that are flawed. The suspicious crime scene and Monroe’s unusual
behaviours pose questions as to whether she did take her own life, while the
disappearances of Monroe’s organs and tissues from her autopsy and the absence
of pill residue in the stomach suggest that the death may not have been the
result of suicide. Authorities officially reported Monroe’s death as a pill
overdose, however Monroe, “apparently was known to struggle with washing down
pills and needed big gulps of water”[1].
Monroe allegedly swallowed approximately sixty to seventy Nembutal pills to end
her life, yet when police searched her room after her body had been found,
there was no glass of water in sight. “Mysteriously a glass was later found on
the floor by her bed but police swear that it wasn’t there when they first
searched the room”[2],
adding to suspicions that her death was not self-inflicted. Most sources agree that Monroe’s body was found at approximately 0300, however the time
at which the police were notified varies vastly. The documentary Marilyn Monroe: The Ultimate Investigation
Into A Suspicious Death stated that the police were not notified until at
least 0420, over an hour after the body had been discovered. The lack of one
consistent reported time of police arrival could suggest that there is more to
the story of Monroe’s death than has been unveiled
to the public and one of the many theories is that she was murdered due to her
involvement with the Kennedy brothers. Another contributing factor adding to
doubts Monroe’s death was suicide is her purchase of an expensive chest of
drawers the day prior to her death, “an act Harvard-trained Dr S. David Bernstein believes is inconsistent
with someone contemplating suicide” [3].
John Miner, a former prosecutor in Los Angeles, was present during
the investigations surrounding Monroe’s death and publicly concluded that he
believed Marilyn Monroe had been murdered. As a witness of the events, it is
highly intriguing that Miner is so conclusive on Monroe’s
death, and a strong supporter for the argument that Monroe did not commit suicide. Miner repeatedly commented on the disappearances of many
of Monroe’s organs, leading him to conclude that Monroe had not
committed suicide, but had been murdered. Many believe
that Monroe’s death was not a result of suicide, and supportive evidence such
as Monroe’s; situational factors of the time, organs being misplaced
surrounding the autopsy, and the lack of pill residue in her stomach suggest
her death was not a result of suicide.
[1] British Pathé, Monroe’s
Last Night, https://britishpathe.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/marilyn-monroes-last-night/,
(Accessed 01/09/15).
[2] Ibid.
final first paragraph: evidence for suicide
Reports
at the time stated Monroe’s death was, “probable suicide”[1], which
was widely accepted at the time of death, and has some evidence to support the
theory, however, even now, it is not conclusive. Factors such as; Monroe’s family
history of mental illness, her variation in normal behaviour prior to her death,
the volume of pills consumed and her mental state at the time, support the
suicide theory. Monroe had an unstable upbringing, suffering from sexual abuse
and being passed from house to house during her childhood, which significantly
impacted her mental state causing her to develop an unhealthy idea about
functional relationships. It is known that her mother and two of her grandparents had suffered
from depression. “Over 90% of people who engage in suicidal behaviours have a
psychiatric disorder. Mood disorders, specifically depression, are the most
common diagnoses, followed by substance abuse, disruptive behaviour and anxiety
disorders”[2],
all of which Monroe potentially suffered; although she may have inherited
certain disorders, while others were developed through her lifestyle. Besides
these long-term preconditions, which support the suicide theory, there are also
a number of immediate factors that enforce this theory. It was
known by those living at her residence that Monroe
commonly slept with the door unlocked, but closed, however, on the night of her
death there are many claims that state her door was locked, a variation in
normal behaviour that could suggest her death was a result of suicide. Robert Litman, psychiatrist and member of the suicide team on the case
stated that the locking of the door could, “suggest intention to die”[3].
Friends of Monroe have claimed Ralph Greenson, Monroe’s psychiatrist at the time,
had began controlling and getting Monroe heavily addicted to sleeping pills,
increasing her accessibility so she had a constant supply of drugs such as
Librium and Nembutal. The results of testing shown in the UNsolved History documentary suggest that Monroe would have been unconscious before consuming the
remaining twelve pills that would be needed to be fatal if her death was
unintentional and she had simply been forgetting she had consumed her
medication, implying all pills would have needed to be consumed at once. The last
known person whom she corresponded with was Peter Lawford, who stated, “her
voice was slurred, and trailed off”[4],
at around the time of 9pm. If this statement is accurate, Lawford might have
been the last person Monroe contacted before her time of
death. A contributing factor, which could have lead to Monroe’s increasingly
unstable mental health, was her recent firing from the Twentieth Century Fox
film, Something’s Got to Give. Monroe,
“showed up for work only six
days during the month of May”[5],
and her lack of
appearance and dedication to the film left producers frustrated. On June 7,
Monroe was fired from the film and was subsequently sued by the studio for
contract breach, leaving her reputation damaged, and significantly declining
her already feeble mental state. The firing of Monroe contributed to theories
that her death was a result of suicide, as her mental health would have been
severely affected by such an event. Additionally, official autopsy reports rule
out murder by injection as a
viable option, as she had no visible needle marks on her skin. Although some
evidence supports the official report’s conclusion that Monroe’s death was
probable suicide, this evidence is not strong enough to eliminate all doubt and
therefore the theory can never be considered conclusive.
[1] Marilyn
Monroe Autopsy Reports, Coroner County of
Los Angeles Medical Report, http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Celebs/monroe,%20marilyn_report.pdf,
(Accessed
30/08/15).
[2] Stephen
E. Brock (etc.), Suicidal Ideation and
Behaviours, http://www.nasponline.org/resources/intonline/nas-cbiii-05-1001-017-r02.pdf,
(Accessed 02/09/2015).
[3] Marilyn
Monroe History, The Death Of Marilyn Monroe -
Conspiracy Theories, 35:06, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfH7SzDiSiY,
(Accessed 03/08/15).
[5] How Stuff Works, Marilyn Monroe's Final
Years, http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/marilyn-monroe-final-years5.htm, (Accessed 08/09/15).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)