The mysteries surrounding the deaths of Brittany Murphy and her husband Simon Monjack have been complicated by all sides. Her mother claims the couple died from natural causes, and that no foul play was involved. The L.A. coroner claims the couple died from the same ailments — anemia and pneumonia. Brittany’s father believes the couple were murdered, and he has several theories as to who did it. There are friends who believe that Simon was the root cause of the deaths, allowing an influx of prescription pills to lead to their demise. As of this writing, there is still no criminal investigation into the deaths of the couple, so we may never know what really happened.
With a new study — paid for by Brittany’s father — showing evidence of a possible poisoning, several theories as to what caused her and her husband’s death have emerged. Brittany would have turned 37 this week. Let’s take a brief look at those aforementioned theories surrounding her and her husband’s deaths.
It’s The Government’s Fault
Julia Davis is a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower, and was also Brittany’s friend. Davis, who served as a Customs and Border Protection Officer at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, went on record to expose security flaws in the U.S.’s process of allowing immigrants into the country. In response, the DHS allegedly went on the offensive against Davis, launching over 50 investigations, searching her home, as well as employing surveillance tactics against her and anyone associated with the investigation. A part of this investigation had to do with Brittany Murphy, who issued a statement on behalf of Davis, that refuted testimony a DHS employee made. Brittany was officially listed as a witness on behalf of Davis before she died.
In an interview with Hollywood Life, Davis elaborated on the surveillance Brittany was allegedly under:
After blowing a whistle on Homeland Security, they targeted me on a number, 54 actually, investigations. In one of them they used Brittany’s name in claims that she had told them I was working on a movie when I was supposed to be at work. It was bogus, so Brittany came to my defense and we got her attorneys into it as well. From that point on, she was targeted by Homeland Security as was her husband, Simon. They were both placed under constant surveillance.
It Was The Mold’s Fault
When the coroner was investigating the causes of Brittany Murphy’s death, possible mold contamination came into question, but here’s when things get a little weird. The coroner, Ed Winter, said that he spoke with both Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy about mold in the home they shared. Sharon Murphy, in later interviews, suggested that Winter never approached them about a mold issue.
Yet, in the summer of 2011, Sharon claims that she had found mold in the home when she was trying to sell the property. She claimed that the mold was responsible for the death of Brittany and Simon, and filed a lawsuit against the builders of the home.
Either way, no evidence of mold was present during the autopsy of Brittany Murphy.
It Was Sharon Murphy’s Fault
At first, Angelo Bertolotti — Brittany’s father — ran with the theory that his daughter may have been targeted by the government. But, after conducting his own independent toxicology study last year, the results showed that Brittany had over 10 heavy metals in her system — it was consistent with a dose of rat poison. In an interview with Examiner, Bertolotti began to suspect something else.
Sharon Murphy should be interviewed and investigated, first and foremost. Let her explain why she had my daughter execute a will, leaving everything to her mother and specifically excluding Simon. Let Sharon explain why she decided to do this right after Brittany and Simon told her of their plan to move to New York and have a baby. Let Sharon clarify how she was planning to support herself for the first time in decades, once Brittany moved away. Let her talk about auctioning off Brittany’s underwear, passport, SAG card and clothes. There are many unanswered questions that have to be addressed. Out of three people living together in the same house, only one survives and benefits financially.
There’s also the fact that Sharon didn’t call 911 for an hour, even after her daughter told her she was dying. When it came to Simon’s death, apparently she didn’t call 911 for almost five hours. Sharon was the sole heir of Brittany’s estate.
It Was Simon Monjack’s Fault
In Alex Ben Block’s article about the deaths of Monjack and Murphy, Alex — who was supposedly a close friend of Brittany’s — clearly targets Monjack as the source of the deaths. Block’s article is full of conjecture, though, and is written, at best, as merely hearsay and contains little to no actual evidence of Monjack having a hand in the unfortunate deaths.
It is impossible to know if Brittany might still be alive had Simon not come along. However, it seems obvious that he brought out her worst traits and contributed to an atmosphere that was ultimately deadly to her. Rex Beaber, a L.A. clinical psychologist and attorney, didn’t know Simon but says after hearing his story that his behavior was consistent with a sociopathic personality disorder. He called what happened to Brittany “an age-old story you see commonly with people who meet narcissistic personalities and people who are sociopathic. They have a kind of blood instinct for the weakness of people around them. In his way, Simon did love her, but that was part of his sickness. He was mentally ill and couldn’t help preying on her at a time when she was highly susceptible to his oily charm, false promises and outright lies.
Unless the coroner’s office decides to reopen the investigation into the causes of her death, these theories may be all we have to go on. Hopefully, if a new truth is out there it will eventually come to light.