Golden State Killer detective finds ‘red flags’ in Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 death

This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

As the world celebrates Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, Paul Holes revisits one of the most scrutinized celebrity cases in Hollywood history.

The retired cold case investigator spent more than two decades solving crimes in California and played a key role in identifying the Golden State killer. Now, he’s applying his expertise to the movie star’s 1962 death in TMZ’s “Celebrity Crime Scene: Marilyn Monroe,” premiering on FOX.

Using artificial intelligence to reconstruct Monroe’s home, the special follows Holes, senior crime scene analyst Alina Burroughs and true crime reporter Kiki Monique as they explore the questions and theories surrounding Monroe’s death for more than six decades.

“I knew how he died – a drug overdose determined to kill himself, but I knew a few details so I started digging into the case,” Holes told Fox News Digital.

“I think a lot of the questions about his death come down to how badly his death was documented and handled by investigators in 1962, leaving unanswered questions that could have been answered if they had done things properly.”

In August 1962, Monroe was found dead, lying naked in her bed with a telephone receiver dangling from her hand. Near the bed, police said they found an empty bottle containing about 50 Nembutal pills, a powerful drug used to treat insomnia, Variety reported at the time. No note found.

“The first red flag, of course, was the lack of documentation,” Holes said. “There are very few photographs of the scene of death. However, even the one photograph that exists, which shows him dead in his bed, my eyes, based on my experience and my expertise, quickly found a conflict, such as sheets [clean and] complete. Arrange the bed in such a way that it does not look like an overdose [to me].”

“The pill bottles in this tiny little bed next to his head were all neatly arranged, all the labels in the right place, including the most notable pill bottle, the Nembutal,” Holes said.

“It was a prescription that had been filled two days before for 50 tablets of this barbiturate, and it was empty. It was neatly placed in that bed with a lid. People who will take that number of tablets at one time usually do not take care to prepare it before they lie down in bed. That’s what I call inconsistency.”

“Whenever you see a conflict, you have to stop and start asking, ‘Am I seeing things correctly, or is there something else going on here?'” he added.

While the “Itch Year Itch” icon struggled with her mental health during her lifetime, Holes said her review of the evidence made her question the conclusion that Monroe took her own life on purpose.

“No one plans to kill themselves to make themselves look better,” he explained. “And one of the contradictions that I think is very remarkable is that, two days before he was found dead, a Nembutal prescription is used. This is a fast-acting drug. It is used in euthanasia to this day. Fifty pills were taken two days before. All of them are gone, an empty pill bottle on the nightstand, yet he does not have these capsules in his stomach.”

Although no barbiturate residue was found in the 36-year-old’s stomach, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the drug may have had enough time to enter the bloodstream and liver. That could explain why the doctor found no remains in her stomach, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Monroe was prescribed Nembutal by her doctor, Dr. Hyman Engelberg, although he received medication from psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson. Holes said he believes Monroe’s treatment raises questions that, in his view, warrant further investigation, including whether his care meets appropriate standards.

The actress often used sedatives and sleeping pills and suffered from insomnia and anxiety. Friends and other biographers described him as increasingly dependent on prescription drugs in the years leading up to his death.

The Times of London recently reported that Engelberg has maintained that he gave Monroe Nembutal, but not the chloral hydrate that was also found in his system. Both drugs can be dangerous if taken together.

Andrew Wilson, author of “I Want to Be Loved by You,” said that, during his research, he found a June 1962 letter of chloral hydrate that was given to Monroe and signed by Engelberg – about two months before her death.

Wilson argued that Engelberg was not fully aware of his role in Monroe’s treatment. He also argued that, under modern standards, questions could arise about whether a doctor who over-medicated a vulnerable patient could face criminal scrutiny. Engelberg died in 2005 at the age of 92.

The night Monroe died, the housekeeper, Eunice Murray, called Greenson after becoming concerned that Monroe had locked herself in her room, the outlet reported.

Greenson arrived at the house, broke the window to enter his room, and found Monroe’s dead body. He then called Engelberg, who said he was dead. However, there was a delay of almost an hour before Engelberg called the police and told them that Monroe had killed herself.

Greenson died in 1979 at the age of 68.

Over the years, there have been many theories surrounding Monroe’s death. Speculation grew to such an extent that the District Attorney’s Office reopened an investigation in 1982. They concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal involvement, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Holes noted that it is important to analyze all theories to better understand what may have actually happened.

“I think that with the program that we have done, part of the toolset is modern technology, which is compatible with the computing power that we have today with artificial intelligence and reconstructing his place of death,” said Holes. “So now, I’m able to walk through this scene, which replicates what it was like when the LAPD first arrived.”

“This case, from the point of view of intelligence, has been done. There is nothing we can do today from the point of view of science, but the examination of the lines of investigation can still be continued.”

“The methods I see today in the Marilyn Monroe case come down to witnesses,” he continued. Yes, most of them are dead, which are eyewitnesses. But it’s going to talk to their close friends or family members and find out what these witnesses said during their lives that have never been reported to law enforcement.”

The screen siren was the subject of FBI surveillance during the last years of her life. Secret records show that agents tracked his contacts with people suspected of having ties to Communism, but the bureau found no evidence that Monroe was a member of the Communist Party. The released files mainly concern his associations and activities, not the investigation into his death.

“What kinds of documents did the FBI keep on him that have never been released?” Holes said. “There are documents, heavily redacted documents, about the FBI’s surveillance of Marilyn Monroe.

“But if Marilyn Monroe was told, say, the national security secrets of President John F. Kennedy and the attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy, the FBI would classify those to this day. And at some point, through Freedom of Information Act requests, maybe those documents could be released. That would be a huge investigative treasure that someone like me would like to dig up.”

Allegations and rumors linking Monroe to the Kennedys continued for decades.

Viewers tuning into “Celebrity Crime Scene” will draw their own conclusions about what happened to the late star. Monroe’s death was officially ruled a possible suicide, and authorities have never produced evidence that the investigation was improperly influenced.

Holes, however, is still critical of the original investigation.

“I’ll just say, in 1962, the LAPD had to deal with this a little differently then,” he said. “They didn’t follow standard procedures. … You always go on the conservative side and investigate it as a homicide until we prove it’s not a homicide. … Today, that’s the way things should be done.”

“It suggests that when you start looking at how resourceful and knowledgeable the LAPD is, why did they drop the ball on the Marilyn Monroe case?