One of the most surprising celebrity deaths of the last 10 years or so is probably the untimely passing of actress Brittany Murphy at the age of 32 in 2009. Murphy, known for her roles in CLUELESS, GIRL, INTERRUPTED, JUST MARRIED, SIN CITY, and 8 MILE, was an infectious mix of character actress sensibilities with the unconventional beauty that could've also made her a leading lady. When she passed in December of 2009, the Los Angeles County coroner ruled her death to be accidental and "determined to have been caused by a combination of pneumonia, an iron deficiency, and multiple drug intoxication" Murphy's death has always been shrouded in this sense of mystery because something about it never seemed quite right and thanks to a recent Investigation Discovery documentary, more speculation has caused the actress to gain even more notoriety after her death.
Investigation Discovery aired the documentary Brittany Murphy: An ID Mystery on Tuesday and within an hour of its airing, Brittany Murphy began to trend on Twitter as viewers poured over new information that was featured during the program. While the death of Brittany Murphy caught the world off guard, the passing of her husband, Simon Monjack, is what sparked a fury of conspiracy theories. Monjack died months after Murphy and it was also caused by severe anemia and acute pneumonia. The fact that he died in the same eerily fashion as Murphy is explored in the documentary but so is the concept that a lot of people believe there's more to the story than death by natural causes.
One of those people is Brittany Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, who gave his last on-camera interview for this documentary before passing in 2019 at the age of 92. Bertolotti didn't believe that his daughter died natural causes and in a lab report commissioned by Bertolotti before his death, it is revealed that ten potentially heavy metals were present in a hair strand sample, hinting that Murphy could've been poisoned. Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht was hired by Bertolotti to investigate his daughter's death and he was interviewed for the documentary.
Like many, Wecht had many questions pertaining to the death and the first question being "how could she have developed such an advanced state of pneumonia and such an incredible state of iron deficiency?" The second thing Wecht wanted to know was how her husband and mother Sharon Murphy, who was living with the couple at the time, let her get to this state. Lastly, Wecht wanted to know why the actress has access to so many opiates.
There are various allegations thrown about in the documentary, including her husband's controlling nature. Many believe that he was a bit of a svengali, which is a person who controls another's mind or has the ability to control others, usually with sinister intent. In the last years of Murphy's life, the actress appeared to be cut off from friends, living most of her young life with her husband and her mother. Murphy had also lost traction as an actress, appearing in straight to video fare when rumors began circulating that she would show up late and disoriented to work. In the documentary, Bertolotti also hints at an unsavory relationship between Monjack and Murphy's mother, especially after it was revealed that he died in the same bed he shared with his wife with her mother sleeping beside him.
Murphy's mom wasn't interviewed in the documentary but she has denied in the past that her daughter was poisoned. She has also stated that she feels her estranged husband's claims aren't based on what actually happened. Sharon Murphy has mostly remained in hiding since the passion of her daughter and Monjack and since Brittany's father is also now gone, all we're left with is this mystery that surrounds the passing of a promising talent that left us far too soon. I'd personally like to remember Murphy on film through her various likable performances but like most Hollywood tragedies, the star's personal life begins to overshadow the work they have left behind.
You can draw your own conclusions by checking out Brittany Murphy: An ID Mystery which can currently be streamed on the Discovery ID website.