Marilyn Monroe's Death
Sydney Stevens
Dear Reader
Literary Essay - My Dirty Little Secret
“‘Murderers! You MURDERERS! Are you happy now that she is dead?!’” I screamed. Across from me stood Bobby Kennedy. Crouched over Marilyn was John Kennedy’s assistant, holding the needle he used to inject Marilyn. John was standing to the side, shocked yet pleased with what just happened. I had just witnessed by best friend get murdered and nobody seemed to care.
“Pat! You need to calm down!” John exclaimed. “We need to get out of here, but we have got to do something...Something to make it seem like this didn’t happen.”
For three hours we created the cover up. Marilyn was moved to her bed and strategically situated. Empty pill bottles were laid out next to her in order for the police to assume she had committed suicide. This would not be a difficult image to manufacture because Marilyn had attempted suicide multiple times before. She went through dark periods that drove her crazy; at times she felt as if she was “a failure in Hollywood.” After creating the visual scene, the Kennedy’s rummaged through Marilyn’s files looking for anything about national secrets or referencing them. An assistant of the Kennedy's disposed of the needle and injectible drug evidence.
Once everything was disposed of and the scene was set, the filthy pigs vacated the premises, leaving no sign that they were ever there. I remained with Eunice, Marilyn’s housekeeper. We rehearsed the script from the Kennedy’s and the doctors. I left because it seemed logical, due to the argument Marilyn and I had earlier. I took one more look around the house. It had an eerie and cruel vibe that permeated everything. I walked out, replaying everything in my head: Bobby and Marilyn’s fight, the cover up, the Kennedy’s walking away innocent and me, unable to bring my best friend back or see justice done. New generations will be stumped by the mystery of her death and I am partially responsible for this.
Visual Element
Choice Element
Research Connections
Essay
My essay is written in the point of view of Pat Newcomb, Marilyn Monroe’s best friend. I start off with a quote from the book, “The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe” by Donald H. Wolfe. The quote, “Murders! You murderers! Are you happy now that she is dead?!”, comes from page five of the book where it describes how a neighbor heard the yelling of a hysterical woman the night of Marilyn Monroe's death. Throughout the essay, I contain information from this book, including that concerning the cover up. I explain how they went about the cover up, taking “the notes, letters, and legal documents” from her file cabinet, and including “the presence of Bobby Kennedy” when she “was injected with enough barbiturate to kill fifteen people.” (Wolfe, 404) I also inserted a quote from the book, “My Story” by Marilyn Monroe when talking about how “she went through dark periods that drove her crazy” (element) which made her feel like “a failure in Hollywood.” (Monroe, 87)
The drawing depicts people working for the Kennedy’s covering up the murder of Marilyn Monroe. This is the theory that many people believe to be true. In the drawing, one man putting the pills on the nightstand, trying to make it look like an overdose. Another man is taking top-secret files from her file cabinet. One man is disposing of the needle that was thought to have administered the drugs that killed her. Also, Marilyn is lying in the unlikely position the men put her in when moving her. Finally the housekeeper is standing to the side watching as the men try to make it look like Marilyn overdosed. All of these steps created the massive lie that Marilyn committed suicide. As soon as officer Clemmons arrived, he “was convinced that something was very wrong”, that what he was told at the scene “was prepared”. (Wolfe, 10) Also, I referenced my survey towards the end because I included my conclusion that our "generation[s] [is] stumped by the mystery of her death". This is due to the fact over 50% people surveyed were unsure whether or not her death was solved and 19.23% did not know how she died.
Choice
For my choice element, I recreated Marilyn Monroe’s case file, case #81128. I included the toxicology report, the autopsy report, photos of the crime scene, the police reports, and more. The recreated autopsy diagram included everything mentioned about the original autopsy diagram in the book, “The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe” by Donald H. Wolfe. I quoted the book in the diagram multiple times such as including the notation “No needle marks”. Other information was included like the "faint lividity which disappears upon pressure... in the back and posterior aspect of the arms and legs” (Wolfe, 26-27; Element). I also included information in the police reports regarding information observed and gathered by officer Clemmons. He interviewed people at the scene and concluded that it seemed “prepared” (Wolfe, 10). The toxicology report included the test results which “showed 4.5 milligrams percent of pentobarbital and 8.0 milligrams percent of chloral hydrate in the bloodstream” (Wolfe, 31). Pictures were also included in the case #81128 file showing the position she was found in, the pill bottles found on the nightstand, and more things found at the crime scene.
Works Cited
"BBC ON THIS DAY | 5 | 1962: Marilyn Monroe found dead." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_2657000/2657289.stm>.
Esq, Matthias Chang, and futurefastforward.com (with author’s permission). "New tapes reveal more mystery behind Marilyn MonroeÂ’s death." Red Ice Creations. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=15153>.
"Marilyn Monroe Dead in Probable Suicide." The Sun [Baltimore] 6 Aug. 1962: n. pag. The Mitchell Archives. Web. 14 May 2013.
"MARILYN MONROE FOUND DEAD! | The Mitchell Archives - Original Historic Newspapers." The Mitchell Archives - Original Historic Newspapers For Sale. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://mitchellarchives.com/marilyn-monroe-found-dead.htm>.
"Marilyn Monroe “Norma Jeane” Crime Library on truTV.com." truTV.com: Not Reality. Actuality.. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/marilyn_monroe/2.html>.
"Marilyn Monroe’s Death Remains Mysterious: Interview - Bloomberg." Bloomberg - Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/marilyn-monroe-s-death-remains-mysterious-interview.html>.
Monroe, Marilyn. My Story. Lanham: Taylor Trade, 2007. Print.
"New Marilyn Monroe mystery 50 years after death." Entertainment | Recipes | Love | Contests | Beauty | Parenting. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/967771/new-marilyn-monroe-murder-mystery-on-50th-anniversary-of-death>.
" SurveyMonkey: Free online survey software & questionnaire tool."SurveyMonkey: Free online survey software & questionnaire tool. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.surveymonkey.com/>.
Wolfe, Donald H.. The last days of Marilyn Monroe. New York: Morrow, 1998. Print.