As one of the most famous and recognizable people who has ever lived, Marilyn Monroe certainly needs no introduction from yours truly.
That said, there are many aspects of her life and death that are not widely known – even though these aspects are well-documented and highly discoverable.
Marilyn’s death, in particular, is a classic conspiracy, in that the official account, summarized below, bears nearly no resemblance to the truth:
On the evening of August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe, an American actress and sex symbol, died at age 36 of a barbiturate overdose inside her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Her body was discovered before dawn the following morning, on August 5.
In fact, only one part of this account is accurate: the street address where Marilyn Monroe lived and died. Poignantly, prophetically, the Spanish colonial home at this address has a name. It’s called Cursum Perficio, which means “Journey’s End.”
Netflix, Summers and RFK
The recently released Netflix “documentary,” titled The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, is the latest of in a long litany of cleverly constructed deceptions. It’s a docu-drama, loosely based upon the partially well-researched findings of author, Anthony Summers, who published a book back in September, 1985, called Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe.
In his research into Marilyn Monroe’s adult life and the circumstances surrounding her death, Summers, got a bunch of things right and a few, major things wrong.
The things he got wrong are so obviously disconnected from the truths he uncovered, that one can’t help but wonder if Summers was paid off.
In brief, Summers correctly identifies all the key players in Marilyn Monroe’s death and even does a decent job of reconstructing parts of the August 3-4, 1962 timeline. All of this points clearly to foul play, of course. But then, Summers draws the unexpected, ridiculous, softball conclusion that Monroe died of an accidental drug overdose. In Summers own words (Goddess, 1st edition, page 356): “This scenario may be wrong in certain details, but it is a fair construction from the information now available. In all probability, no serious crime was committed that night although [it was] was highly irregular …”.
I would suggest watching the documentary and reading Summer’s book in order to draw your own conclusions. By the way: It’s worth noting that earlier editions of Goddess are better than later editions. That’s because some parts have been re-edited and/or deleted over the years. Hmmm.
So, who were the key players in Marilyn Monroe’s death, you ask? They are as follows:
John F. Kennedy (President/lover), Robert F. Kennedy (Attorney General/lover), Peter Lawford (actor/pimp), and Frank Sinatra (singer/actor/mobster). And, of course, Marilyn herself.
Among all these players, RFK deserves the most scrutiny, as he likely had a direct hand in Monroe’s demise.
Bombshell
You don’t have to read much more than the title of Detective Mike Rothmiller’s excellent and insightful (or should I say inciteful?) 2021 book to cut to the chase. The book is titled, Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe.
Rothmiller, via his former ties to LAPD’s Organized Crime Intelligence Division (OCID) – an organization with primary source access to all the wire taps, intelligence (spy) files, and investigative findings related to Marilyn Monroe’s last days and, yes, murder – is able to fill all the gaps in Summers’ semi-flawed research, correct the inconsistencies in Summers’ oddball timelines, as well as supplement Summers’ overall storyboard with at least two, new, critical pieces of information that should (finally) set the record straight as to what happened to Marilyn Monroe during her final days.
The two critical pieces of information are these: (1) Peter Lawford personally confessed to Rothmiller that he visited Monroe’s house twice with Bobby Kennedy on the day she died, and that he witnessed Bobby stirring something into a glass of water that Lawford then gave to Marilyn to drink. After she drank it, Lawford claimed that she was so “out of it” that he assumed she was “maybe dead.” All this is backed up by OCID audio recordings. The OCID had planted bugs in Monroe’s house and Lawford’s house too. And it is further backed up by multiple eye-witness accounts confirming Bobby Kennedy’s presence in Los Angeles on August 4th (which was covered up and denied for decades); and (2) transcripts from a photocopy of Marilyn Monroe’s handwritten diary, which he found buried in the OCID files.
The long and short of it is this:
Marilyn Monroe had affairs with both Kennedy brothers, Jack and Bobby, and she fell in love with Bobby. She also kept a detailed diary in which she documented everything – which, of course, included personal and State secrets. Both Kennedys, egoists that they were, told her way more than they should have, revealing top-level secrets during pillow talk and such. At some point, Monroe fell pretty hard for Bobby, and he for her. Bobby told Marilyn that he was going to leave his wife for her, etc. There is a report in the OCID files – as well as an allusion in Marilyn’s diary – indicating that Bobby got Marilyn pregnant, and that she had an abortion. At some point, Bobby pulled away from her, and this set Marilyn off like a firecracker. She felt as if she’d been used, lied to. She started to make noise, threatening both Jack and Bobby that she was going to spill the beans on everything. This went on for several months. She called them at their offices and homes, and they wouldn’t take her calls. She tried to communicate with them through Peter and Pat Lawford and Frank Sinatra, but it went nowhere. Finally, at wits’ end, she scheduled a press conference on Monday, August 6, 1962 in order to tell her story to the world.
Of course, that Monday never arrived for Marylin. She didn’t make it past Saturday.
How did Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra fit into this mess? Well, it’s a little complicated, but pertinent.
Lawford was the Kennedy’s brother-in-law via his marriage to Patricia Kennedy. He was also the Kennedy’s West Coast pimp. He held lavish parties – often orgy-like affairs – at his beach house in Santa Monica and both Bobby and Jack were regulars there, partaking of pretty actresses and such. Roosters in a hen house. It’s at Lawford’s that each of them first met Marilyn and “got to know her.” As mentioned, Lawford’s house was watched and bugged by the OCID, so the Kennedy bothers’ shenanigans were well-documented. Lawford was also a member of Sinatra’s Rat Pack, so he was a conduit between the Jack, Bobby, and old Frank.
Sinatra loved Jack Kennedy, especially after JFK graduated from being Senator to El Presidente. The proximity to such power was apparently intoxicating to him. But things got complicated for Frank when Jack appointed his brother Bobby to be Attorney General, and Bobby started cracking down on the Mafia. This pissed off the Mob to no end, since Joe Kennedy made a handshake deal with them, wherein they helped grease the skids to get his son, Jack, elected President, and Joe offered them immunity. The Kennedys broke The Mob Code, running amok and doing as they pleased once they got into power. The Kennedys broke the Code with many others as well, as we discussed in a previous TPD podcast. So, Sinatra, with his mob ties, became piggy in the middle. Staying close to Jack and Bobby became something of an assignment for him instead of something that he could savor. Anyway, the Big Bosses had their own ideas about how they were going to take Jack and Bobby down, so when Marilyn started making a lot of noise, they decided it would be in their best interests to shut her up. But shutting her up didn’t mean killing her. Instead, Sinatra invited her out to his Cal-Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe, where, as a silencing tactic, she was handed over to certain individuals (better left to Rothmiller to name!) to be roughed up and raped. Of course, the ever-present OCID had a mole on the scene, so everything was recorded. This all went down in late July, 1962, about a week before Marilyn Monroe was killed.
Odds and Ends
A couple footnotes, if I may . . .
Peter Lawford’s personal confession about Bobby’s poisonous cocktail also included mention of two suspicious characters entering Marilyn’s house just as Bobby and him were leaving from their second, final visit to her on August 3rd. Rothmiller hints that these two guys were likely OCID spooks who were brought in to finish the job. By finish the job, he means the following: They were probably there to make sure Marilyn was dead, and if not, to get her there. Plus, even if she was dead, it was probably necessary to get some traceable drugs into her system, since Bobby’s cocktail would have been of the off-the-books variety. They also had to arrange her body in different poses and take some pictures in order to provide “evidence” to support whichever cover story was decided upon later. (Conflicting photos ended up leaking out, by the way – some showing Marilyn holding a phone, some not. Some showing her laying in different positions, etc.) And most importantly: They needed to locate her diary and confiscate it, which they certainly did.
One of the most memorable Marilyn Monroe moments has to be when she sang Happy Birthday to President John Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on May 19th 1962 as a part of his “birthday gala bash” 45th birthday celebration. You can watch it here in case it’s been awhile since you’ve seen it. Watching it now, knowing all that’s described above, I have to say that I find it particularly distressing. For one thing, this took place just two months, give or take, before she was killed. By this time her relationships with Jack and Bobby were already on the skids, so I can’t help but think that her intention while singing was more snarky than sultry. Also, that’s Peter Lawford in the beginning of the video, introducing her as “the late Marilyn Monroe.” While many imagine those words to be a witty dig about her tardiness to the stage, I can’t help but think that he was reading from a script that held a different meaning.
In Marilyn’s Words
Below, I offer a brief sample of Marilyn’s pathos, in her own words. These are excerpts from her diary, as transcribed by Rothmiller. The last quote is from August 3rd, 1962, the day before she died.
“John is a selfish lover. We just kiss and have sex. I wish it was more but it’s not . . . He always wants me to blow him . . . John just lies there and I get on top of him to make love.”
“He was very mad because he did not stop the invasion in Cuba. He doesn’t trust the CIA . . . They lied to him.”
“Bobby and I made love at Peter’s. He wants to see me again. This is our secret.”
“John said Lyndon is a dumb cowboy. John doesn’t like him. He’s only vice president because he blackmailed John.”
“Bobby is gentle. He listens to me. He’s nicer than John. Bobby said he loves me and wants to marry me. I love him.“
“John does not like Fidel C and said he will be gone soon.”
“Frank invited me to the lodge. He said it will be fun. He said never to mention Sam at the lodge. He’s Mafia. [. . . illegible . . .] Frank, Peter and others were there . . . Frank said I can’t keep my fucking mouth shut . . . He told me to get out. I don’t know why he’s treating me this way . . . What happened to me. I was drunk. I don’t remember . . . Did I have sex. [sic]”
“They are not calling back. Bob and John used me. They used me . . . I told Peter they’re ignoring me . . . I’m not going to stand for that. I’m going to tell everyone about us. I told José I’m going to tell the world about them. They used me. I’m not a whore . . . José said don’t tell anyone about this. It’s dangerous.”
“John hasn’t called. Bobby called. He said he’s coming to California. He wants to see me.”
“Peter said Robert will come tomorrow. I don’t know if he will.”
Phil’s Two Cents
Rothmiller’s account of Marilyn Monroe’s final months is incredibly sad, tragic. But, perhaps it brings some rest to Marilyn Monroe’s soul. She certainly didn’t overdose on barbiturates by her own hand, and I figure she’d probably want the world to know that, even though it uncorks some private details.
In closing, I think it’s fitting to say something real about Marylin Monroe, something that cuts through the bullshit Hollywood façade that enveloped her, and perhaps continues to hold her captive in some way.
It’s evident from everything that I’ve read that she was, at times, enamored with her own desirability, and that she used her own allure to get what she wanted in Hollywood and elsewhere. Can you blame her? The world has a way of rearranging itself around a presence like hers, so how could she not take some advantage of that. It’s also clear that she was no dumb blonde. She was intelligent, eloquent, diffident, and witty.
Speaking to the press in 1958, Marilyn said, “Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”
I think that punch lands square on the jaw.
– “Phil”
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