Memoirs of a Deputy Coroner: The Case of Marilyn Monroe

In August 1962, the death of actress Marilyn Monroe was officially ruled a probable suicide.
But inside the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, not everyone agreed.

Memoirs of a Deputy Coroner: The Case of Marilyn Monroe presents the firsthand account of the deputy coroner’s aide assigned to the investigation — the young official who examined the evidence, processed the property recovered from Monroe’s home, and ultimately signed her death certificate.

His records describe inconsistencies that were never publicly explained: the absence of drugs in Monroe’s stomach despite reports of a massive overdose, the rapid release of the body, altered investigative reports, and evidence that later disappeared from official custody. Among the materials he reviewed was Monroe’s private diary, containing sensitive personal and political associations that raised concern inside the office and then vanished.

After his objections were dismissed and he was pressured by superiors, the case was closed. Twenty years later, he formally petitioned authorities to reopen the investigation and testified before the County Board of Supervisors, prompting a Grand Jury review.

Compiled and organized by his son from preserved notes, documents, and correspondence, this memoir reconstructs the internal handling of the Monroe investigation from the perspective of a participating public official — not a journalist, biographer, or outside researcher.

The revised edition includes rare photographs and archival materials from the deputy coroner’s personal files, offering a documented account of how one of the most scrutinized deaths in American culture was processed behind the doors of the coroner’s office.

This book does not argue a theory.
It presents a record.