HOLLYWOOD—It was eerie tuning into watch Brittany Murphy: An ID Mystery on Investigation Discovery which aired May 26. We all remember Brittany Murphy as a successful actress, who had prominent roles in major movies such as 1995s “Clueless” and 2002s “8 Mile,” and many others. She had it all, beauty, fame, and success … However, her life ended prematurely in 2009, when she was just 32-years old. Why?
What really happened, enquiring minds want to know? After unsuccessful relationships with Hollywood stars including Eminem and Ashton Kutcher, Brittany meets Simon while working on a 2006 movie project. According to Simon’s own mother, sparks flew immediately. After getting into a relationship with Simon, some in Brittany’s circle saw a decline in her career. Her talent team began to drop her. She was only getting low budget movies and roles that would have been beneath her in the past. “Many connect Brittany’s diminished career to a change in her life,” the show’s narrator stated.
In December 2009, Murphy collapsed in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home, where she lived with her husband, screenwriter, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon Murphy. She was taken to the hospital where she went into cardiac arrest and died a couple of hours later. Initially, her cause of death was contributed to pneumonia, which was exacerbated by an iron deficiency and the multiple cold medicines she had consumed that further weakened her immune system.
However, the circumstances of her death have remained controversial, and many feel that the exact cause of her demise is yet to be revealed. The death of her widow, Simon Monjack, who died six months later in an almost identical fashion, has further fueled suspicions. Raising numerous questions.
The behavior of husband Simon Monjack in the months after his wife’s death. He raised eyebrows when he showed a magazine crew around his home and even showed off his deceased wife’s possessions and the bathroom where she collapsed. Brittany Murphy’s father and brother believe she was murdered. Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, and half brother, Tony Bertolotti, have made no secret of their dislike for Monjack and their belief that he was somehow involved in her death.
They believe that Monjack was an extremely controlling and possibly abusive, influence on Brittany. They point out that he had multiple problems with many of his business ventures having failed. He was allegedly heavily in debt, and as a British national, he faced deportation. There are serious doubts over Monjack and Murphy’s relationship; despite being married for three years, Brittany did not include her husband in her will. So who was the beneficiary of her will?
It was very bizarre that in the movie there were allegations that Monjack and Sharon Murphy were sharing a bed. One theory is that Monjack and Sharon were the ones who were dating all along and that Brittany was murdered to pay off their debts. In 2013, Angelo Bertolotti commissioned a toxicology report which discovered high levels of toxic metals in Brittany’s hair, including Barium, which is used in some rat poisons. Interesting that, while her autopsy revealed that she had died of natural causes, many believe foul play is involved.
Hollywood and legions of fans were left in disbelief. In the film, details of her life and death emerge after her husband, Simon Monjack, and mother, Sharon Murphy, embark on a bizarre media blitz, creating more questions than answers. Then, within months, Monjack perishes under strikingly similarly circumstances – in the same bed he and Brittany once shared, only this time, allegedly with Brittany’s mother sleeping beside him. In an exclusive final interview, the late Angelo Bertolotti, Brittany’s father, casts doubt on the conclusion that she died of natural causes and reveals bizarre allegations against other family members. He passed away in 2019, at the age of 92. Featured in the special are intimate interviews, in-depth access to forensic details and alternative explanations about the cause of death.
After Brittany’s death, Simon appeared on Larry King Live to clear his name. In the interview, he referred to himself as a rabbi and not a doctor. He also claimed that he didn’t want an autopsy performed on Brittany because of “her pristine body that was curvy in all the right places.” Months after Brittany’s death, Simon too passes away. His cause of death is acute pneumonia and anemia—same as Brittany. Her mom Sharon Murphy believes Simon died of a broken heart. At one point, Brittany’s father suspected foul play.
As a result, he hired a forensic pathologist who believed it was too unusual for a Hollywood star to die like this. When the pathologist wants to run more tests, Brittany’s mother denies them saying she doesn’t want the body exhumed. The actress’ father eventually gives up, with his health fading. According to the special, it’s too late to investigate further because too much time has gone by leaving Brittany’s body decomposed. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office stands by its initial report and says the case is closed. The film revisits the case from a whole new angle to examine the truth behind Brittany’s heartbreaking demise. We will never know the real truth about, what really happened to Brittany.
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