Murder, mold, drugs? What really killed Brittany Murphy?

December 20, 2009 - TMZ broke the news: American actress Brittany Murphy was dead at age 32. The 'Clueless' actress died in her home in Los Angeles, and while the cause of death was unknown, she died Though the ultimate cause of death remains unclear, she was found in cardiac arrest.

"A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack," the Los Angeles City Fire Department told TMZ. She was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead at 10:04 AM.

May 23, 2010 - The Los Angeles Times reported that Brittany Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, was found dead at their Hollywood Hills home by Brittany's mother yet again, just five months after the actress passed.

What happened to Brittany Murphy? Why did she die? What happened to her husband, Simon Monjack?

Numerous theories surround Brittany Murphy's death, yet only one is official. Her mother discovered the actress's lifeless body after Brittany collapsed in the shower.

According to TMZ, Murphy's mom discovered her unconscious in the shower. Then, when paramedics arrived, they quickly determined Murphy was in full cardiac arrest and immediately administered CPR. They continued CPR en route to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, several miles away, but Murphy was unresponsive.

According to the complete autopsy report for Brittany Murphy, released by CNN, the drugs involved in Brittany Murphy's death were consistent with the treatment of a cold or respiratory infection. It seems the combination of these, compounded by severe iron deficiency and "acute pneumonia," proved too much for her system.

As for Simon Monjack, the coroner's report found the cause of Monjack's death to be acute pneumonia and severe anemia, similar to the causes attributed to his wife's death five months earlier in the same house. His representative Roger Neal said he needed a bypass surgery but had been putting it off over a busy schedule and his sadness.

However, months later, it emerged that perhaps the deaths of Brittany Murphy and her husband, Simon Monjack, weren't coincidental. The theory was sparked by the discovery of mold in the walls of the home they shared, where both their bodies were found.

The mold could have been relevant to both of their respiratory health, as pneumonia was a factor in both their deaths, TMZ reported in 2010. "could have caused respiratory problems for both of them," TMZ reported. However, the investigation into the deaths deemed the mold was "not a contributing factor."

Brittany Murphy bought the home where both she and her husband died from Brittany Spears in 2003. Both Spears and Murphy reported that they thought there was something strange about the home, according to PEOPLE. Spears claimed she had an otherworldly encounter in the home, while Murphy always thought the house was "bad luck" according to her husband Monjack.

In November 2013, Brittany Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, claimed that his daughter's death might have been a case of murder.

Her father commissioned an independent toxicology report that found heavy metals, suggesting she may have been poisoned. "I have a feeling there was definitely a murder situation here," Bertolotti, who fought for years to have new lab testing done on his daughter's blood, hair and tissue, told Good Morning America in 2013. "It's poison, yes, yes, I know that."

Expert Dr. Bruce Goldberger told CNN in 2013 that the theory that she was murdered is "ridiculous." Labeling it as poisoning is "a baseless allegation and outrageous statement to make based on a single hair test," he said.

In an article she penned for the Hollywood Reporter, Brittany Murphy's mother, Sharon Murphy, responded to the poisoning allegations. "She was my baby, and we stood together throughout Brittany's life. Now I must stand up for her again. It is time for those who really knew and loved her to put those who want to exploit her on notice: Your lies will no longer be tolerated, and as long as I live will continue to be exposed.

She explained how she raised Murphy alone and argued that Angelo only wanted to "trade in on Brittany's life, career and good reputation," saying his public allegations were "calculated to make money" and "bring fame."

At the age of 92, in January 2019, Brittany Murphy's father passed away without proving his theories about his daughter's death.

Prominent pathologist Richard Shepherd also spoke about Brittany Murphy's death. Speaking in a 2014 documentary, he said her death might have been preventable.

If she had gone to the hospital 24 hours earlier, he suggested, she might still be alive today. "Brittany was so sedated it's quite possible neither Simon nor Sharon had any idea how ill she actually was. That may be the reason why they didn't call an ambulance," he said.

Pathologist Shepherd explained that "drugs can have a very beneficial effect but they also have side effects. And mixing them together means that these side effects can combine and become lethal," theorizing that the cough medicine Brittany was taking prevented her from coughing up enough of the mucus to clear her lungs.

"In all the time I've known her, she has never, and I repeat NEVER, done drugs," Monjack told the Daily Beast shortly after her death and before his. "Not a line of cocaine, not a hit from a joint, nothing. She was anti-drugs. There are no drugs involved."

Monjack said the stress around her film career was what really "killed her." "There's always some new girl getting off a bus," says Monjack. "In Hollywood, girls like Brittany are disposable."

It appears Brittany Murphy wasn't in the best phase of her career. She had just been dropped from 'The Caller.' Her last film, 'Something Wicked,' was released in 2014, having been shot six months before her 2009 death.

According to Brittany Murphy's husband, Warner Brothers Studios also played a role in the actress's demise, and he said he was suing the studio. Allegedly, they dropped her from voicing in the sequel of 'Happy Feet' just two weeks before her passing.

Monjack explained to the Daily Beast that everyone said HE was the reason she was fired from 'The Caller.' "What I did do was demand they follow union rules and after she had worked 12-hour days, six days a week, that she get the breaks she was entitled to. I was 'difficult' because I was the enforcer to protect Brittany," he said. Brittany's mom Sharon added that "Simon protected Brittany."

The HBO documentary 'What Happened, Brittany Murphy?' also investigated her mysterious death, uncovering that Monjack had a bad reputation. Even his mom, in the documentary, admitted he was "economical with the truth." "The details we found out about Simon were mind-blowing, and somehow managed to get worse," said the documentary's Emmy-award-winning director.

Image: Monjack poses alongside Sharon Murphy before his death

In the doc, Monjack's ex-girlfriend said she was manipulated by the man the same way Brittany Murphy was. She called him "a disturbed individual who was used to conning people and Brittany was one of his latest victims." It seems he was so controlling that he cut Brittany off from her friends and followed her around on set. He also had a bit of a criminal background.

The HBO documentary reveals horrible moments of her career, like when she didn't get the part in 'Coyote Ugly' because she wasn't 'eff - able' and how Howard Stern made fun of her as the "fat chick" from 'Clueless.' Over the years, her weight loss was dramatic as she tried to fit the part of a "leading lady."

Image: Murphy 17 days before her death

Meanwhile, the documentary also debunks the theories that she was murdered, killed by mold or something even weirder... Though it does highlight that if she would have been brought to the hospital earlier, she probably would have survived.

Such was Brittany Murphy, an actress who once seemed to have it all but, at the age of 32, lost her life. What really caused her demise, and the demise of her husband is not totally settled. But what the HBO documentary found consistently was that she was a lovely person bursting with talent right up to the end.

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