Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups

by David Wayne

  Therefore, our conclusion stands up to intense scrutiny. Marilyn Monroe, to the logical exclusion of all other possibilities, was murdered via a drug-filled syringe-type enema. The evidence itself confirms that the victim was murdered. And please note that we intentionally use the word “murder” rather than “homicide.” The legal definition of homicide is that the death was simply facilitated by the actions of another person. That means that homicide includes the possibility that a doctor accidentally over-drugged a patient, as was the case with Michael Jackson’s death. Murder implies intent. So it’s 100% certain that it was a homicide; and furthermore, appears to be First-Degree Murder.

  That’s more than simply a conclusion—it’s an inevitability determined by the evidence: Marilyn died from a lethal enema that was not administered accidentally via a medical miscalculation, and was not administered herself as a method of suicide. Therefore, we can conclude from a standpoint of science and logic that Marilyn Monroe was murdered and, furthermore, she was murdered not on August 5, which is officially the date of her death, but on August 4, between 8:00-10:00 PM.

  As the Deputy D.A. concluded:

  “I don’t know who killed her.

  But I do know that she didn’t

  kill herself.

  So someone must have killed

  her.”152

  Let’s also take a quick recap of some of the circumstantial evidence. No suicide note? An actress ? Committing suicide? Because of a huge drama? And no note? You gotta be kidding ...

  Would she really make an appointment to get her hair done (as has been confirmed that she did at 9:00 p.m. on the night of her death) if she was about to commit suicide? Would you? Would anybody?

  And if she had and was about to take enough sleeping pills to kill an elephant (many times a fatal dose) then why would she ask her doctor if he had taken her Nembutal? Why would she reportedly call an old friend shortly before her death and ask her if she had any sleeping pills? Jeanne Carmen was Marilyn’s friend and she certainly believed that she was murdered. Why else, she reasons, would Marilyn have called her up late on the evening of her death to ask if she could bring over a sleeping pill? According to Carmen, Marilyn said:

  “Carmen, do you have any

  sleeping pills? If you do, can

  you bring them over?” And I

  said “I can’t.”153

  Jeanne Carmen had been a neighbor of Marilyn’s at the home she’d had prior to Brentwood. The actual level of their friendship has been disputed by researchers, many of whom feel that there are “hangers-on” who attach themselves to the Marilyn story for their own personal aspirations to fame. Many researchers classify Robert Slatzer in that category, and some also include Jeanne Carmen. However, it seems clear that she and Marilyn were, at the very least, one-time neighbors and casual friends.

  If you’re wondering what Jeanne Carmen’s conclusion about it all was, here it is:

  “I would bet my life on the

  fact that she did not take an

  overdose. She was murdered,

  period.”154

  The fact that Robert Kennedy had an affair with Marilyn Monroe was still a career-killer as late as 1985 when ABC News’ 20/20 produced an extremely well-researched segment for the show that was cancelled at the last minute by an ABC executive closely linked to Ethel Kennedy. Research from the segment, however, still exists. Sylvia Chase asked former housekeeper Eunice Murray if Marilyn was romantically involved with Robert Kennedy. Murray responded by detailing a visit of Robert Kennedy’s to Marilyn’s home in June, 1962 and said “I would call it a romantic involvement—yes.”

  Former U.S. Senator George Smathers, a personal friend of JFK’s, also disclosed that President Kennedy had confided in him that Bobby and Marilyn were having an affair after his own affair with Marilyn basically ended.

  An even more explosive aspect of the ABC 20/20 segment was the fact that they established a highly credible link concerning the Mafia blackmailing of the Attorney General and President of the United States. In their interview with surveillance expert Fred Otash, he documented that he had been contracted by the Kennedy brothers’ arch enemy—Mob-affiliated Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa—to wiretap and record Marilyn’s liaisons with Robert and President Kennedy. The tapes clearly demonstrated the sexual nature of their relationships with Marilyn. The potential for blackmail was blatantly obvious. 20/20 segment producer Stanhope Gould spelled it out crystal clear:

  “It was the documentation,

  coupled with the Mob angle

  that made it a story—the fact

  that the President and the At torney General of the United States had put themselves in a position to have the nation’s most powerful criminals eaves drop on their affairs with the nation’s most famous actress, and were exposed to blackmail. That was one hell of a story.”155

  You can judge the gravity of an event by its fallout: Hugh Downs, Sylvia Chase, and Geraldo Rivera all protested what they viewed as censorship and then resigned from ABC.156

  HISTORICAL CONTEXT

  By 1962, in addition to most “industry people” in Hollywood, most politicians in Washington also knew of JFK’s affair with Marilyn, and the pressure was increasing to break it off before it threatened the upcoming elections. For example, when it became known that Marilyn planned to sing Happy Birthday to the President at his gala event at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Kennedys advised her not to attend, and Marilyn’s studio sent her attorney a two-page legal threat of dismissal for contract violation if she went to the party. When Marilyn asked the Kennedys to use their influence with the board members of her studio, whom they knew, the Kennedys declined. Reports of the outrage of Democratic Party leaders were reaching JFK and prior to the event, three Democratic Senators and six Democratic Congressmen went so far as sending telegrams to the President urging him to cut Marilyn from the program at the huge birthday ceremony.

  The heat was on. Marilyn went anyway.

  In an event that mirrored the dissolving distance between the private and public lives of President Kennedy, the gala event held in honor of his 45th birthday was a celebration of 15,000 friends, colleagues and contributors—including reporters from around the world—that was held on May 19, 1962 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was nationally televised. The entertainment included a song for the President from Marilyn, whom many knew was engaged in a romantic affair with President Kennedy.

  Marilyn almost seemed to be making a “go-for-it-all” attempt to capture President Kennedy by strongly implying what many already knew. To sweeten the pot, she appeared on stage dressed in a form-fitting see-through gown. The revealing dress was actually a sheer slip, so tight against her naked body that she—quite literally—had to be sewed into the dress. The sequin-studded slip was composed of 2,500 luminous rhinestones and prompted UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson to remark:

  “I don’t think I had ever seen anyone so beautiful as Marilyn Monroe that night. She was wearing skin and beads- I didn’t see the beads.”157

  The event was so dramatic that when Marilyn finally walked out on stage, there were audible gasps:

  “The figure was famous and, for one breathless moment, the 15,000 people in Madison Square Garden thought they were going to see all of it. Onto the stage sashayed Marilyn Monroe, attired in a great bundle of white mink. Arriving at the lectern, she turned and swept the furs from her shoulders. A slight gasp rose from the audience before it was realized that she was really wearing a skintight flesh-toned gown.”158

  As Hugh Sidey of Time Magazine put it: “When she came down in that flesh-colored dress, without any underwear on, you could just smell the lust.”159

  Marilyn then stunned the crowd by singing a long, slow, and slutry song to President Kennedy—actually a slowed-down and very sexed-up version of “Happy Birthday (Mister President).” Reporter Dorothy Kilgallen noted that it was like “making love to the President in the direct view of forty million Americans.”160 Firs
t Lady Jackie Kennedy wasn’t steaming in the shadows because she was smart enough to have seen the whole thing coming. The moment that she heard that Marilyn would be singing at the event, she canceled her plans to attend the party and left town. All indications are that she was all-too-aware of the affair between her husband and Marilyn.

  The combination of the sultry song, the mesmerizing performance, and the dress that left little to the imagination, certainly captured the complete attention ofeveryone in the arena. It was a very difficult situation to handle, yet, true-to-form, President Kennedy handled it well. After the song, he went to the podium, smiled with a commandeering charm and then stated, very underwhelmingly:

  Emblematic of the event’s significance, the dress she wore that night was sold at auction at Christie’s in New York in 1999 for $1,260,000.

  “I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.”161

  White House control over the press was exercised forcefully. Following the party after the event at Madison Square Garden, U.S. Secret Service agents reportedly seized photos of the Attorney General dancing with Marilyn. At 2:30 AM, Secret Service agents knocked on the hotel door of White House reporter Merriman Smith:

  “They wanted to make sure I didn’t write about Marilyn and Bob-by.”162

  Early the next morning, U.S. Secret Service agents went to the photo lab of Time Magazine and demanded they hand over the photographs of the Kennedys and Marilyn at the party.

  After the party, President Kennedy broke off the affair, and Marilyn never saw JFK again. Since it was more for political purposes than personal reasons, it’s not too hard to see how things got quite dicey. Taking the counsel of Washington insiders, JFK cut off all contact with Marilyn—her calls were no longer accepted at the White House switchboard, and the private number that the President had given her to contact him at was disconnected.

  Although it was a well-established fact that JFK had numerous extramarital affairs, in the context of 1963 America, the press would not publicize that fact—in the perspective of the era, that simply wasn’t done. Furthermore, JFK’s charm and wit helped him establish an excellent rapport with the White House and Washington press corps. Additionally, JFK benefited from a vast network of media assets and contacts that stemmed from the business empire of his father Joseph Kennedy. In short, the press was very deferential to the charismatic President Kennedy.

  Therefore, JFK’s sexual exploits—Marilyn Monroe, Judy Campbell, Ellen Rometsch and Mary Pinchot Meyer were some of the more prominent names— were well-known but were kept out of the press. The danger—as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover pointedly warned—was the potential for blackmail as a result. In that regard, Ellen Rometsch was deported when she was suspected of being an East German Spy; and JFK abruptly halted his affair with Judy Campbell after being warned by Hoover that he was aware of her close ties to Sam Giancana, the Chicago Mafia chieftain.

  No Love Lost Here, Folks: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover warned President Kennedy that he was very vulnerable to blackmail because FBI surveillance had confirmed his sexual escapades with women linked to the Mafia and the Communist Party. Robert Kennedy also implored his brother to curtail his sexual indiscretions, especially those that made him vulnerable to the Mafia-Marilyn Monroe and Judy Campbell. President Kennedy eventually succumbed to this pressure, and his relationship with Marilyn ended a short time later, a few months before her death.

  Although President Kennedy had an excellent relationship with the press, his multiple sexual relationships were becoming a bit too public. The numerous extramarital activities were pushing the limits of acceptability—especially in 1963 America. JFK then ended his relationship with Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn had reportedly benefited professionally from her friendship with Johnny Roselli, the high-ranking Mafia associate of Sam Giancana. The Chicago Mafia was reportedly responsible for Marilyn Monroe’s success. Her career was said to have been launched and pushed hard by Tony Accardo, predecessor to Sam Giancana as chief of the Chicago Mob.

  “The extensive influence the Chicago mafia had over Hollywood is best illustrated in 1948 when Chicago Mafia boss Tony Accardo had told John Rosselli to force powerful Columbia Pictures’ president Harry Cohn into signing then-unknown actor Marilyn Monroe to a lucrative multi-year contract. The usually highly combative Cohn quickly complied without opposition, mainly because Cohn had obtained control of Columbia through mob funds and influence provided by both Accardo and Rosselli.”163

  So through Johnny Roselli, the Chicago Mafia bought its way into the film industry in Hollywood through their backing of Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Studios. This gave the Chicago mob a strong trajectory into show business, which they reportedly leveraged to their advantage in promoting the careers of Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, among others. Harry Cohn is rumored to be the producer depicted in the “horse’s head” incident in the film, The Godfather. In the “real-life” version, Roselli was sent by “Chicago” to tell Cohn that Sinatra would star in the film. Cohn resisted:

  “In a tense meeting in Cohn’s office, Roselli reportedly ordered Cohn to give Sinatra the part of Angelo Maggio in the film. Cohn not only refused, he told Roselli, ‘John, if we have a problem here, I’m going to have to make some phone calls,’ referring to Cohn’s own considerable contact in the underworld.

  But Roselli had the backing of the entire national syndicate behind him and knew that Cohn was defenseless. ‘Harry,’ he said, ‘If we have a problem here, you’re a fucking dead man.’

  In the end Sinatra got the part and the Academy Award to boot.”164

  The exact same links to Organized Crime apparently played roles in the deaths of both Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and President Kennedy in 1963.

  POSSIBLE SCENARIOS

  The Kennedys

  Some books have pointed to the possibility that the Kennedys had Marilyn killed because she was getting too public about her affair with the President. This theory is usually dismissed due to the fact that JFK and his brother Robert may have had their affairs and they may, at times, have gotten messy—but one thing that has been established is that neither one of them went around killing their girlfriends. Their interest in Marilyn was quite obviously of a more carnal nature, and it was simply on a different playing field than murder. Robert Kennedy in particular seemed genuinely concerned about the poor woman’s well-being and, well, let’s just say that murder is a bit of a stretch in that particular case. However, there is substantial evidence that Robert Kennedy was in town, and that he got out of town very quickly following her death.

  CIA

  The next group that can probably be eliminated from most serious discussions is the CIA. Some have posited that the CIA killed her to avenge the Kennedys for what some Agency people perceived as their betrayal of the intelligence community at the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba.

  But the biggest problem with “the CIA did it” theory is very well-evidenced by one simple question:

  “If the CIA wanted to implicate the Kennedys in murder, why make it look like suicide?”165

  Mob

  But if the Mob did it ... then it would have been a stroke of brilliance to make it appear a suicide. That’s another theory out there and, frankly, one that makes a lot more sense.

  That was the scenario that was reported in the revealing Mob book, Double Cross (written by Giancana family members) and it’s also the scenario suspected by many Mob investigators. The Chicago outfit reportedly sent Tony “The Ant” Spilotro and Frank “The German” Schweihs to kill Marilyn (chloroforming her and then giving a lethal Nembutal enema) and to make it look like an overdose.166 Other accounts from Mob insiders posit that it was a different team of hit men—but they are consistent that they were sent by “Chicago.”167

  It’s also very interesting to note that Chloral Hydrate (which was found in Marilyn’s body at a level of over seventeen capsules worth), is related to chloroform; hence the nickname of “knockout drops
.”

  It’s no secret about the war that was going on between Robert Kennedy’s Justice Department and Mafiosos like Sam Giancana and Carlos Marcello who felt that they had been completely double-crossed by the Kennedys.

  What better way to cause the total career-collapse of Robert Kennedy than to have it go public that his heart-broken extramarital lover had felt so rejected by him that she decided to end it all? The evidence was right there at the death scene for discovery, in letters, notes and her diary. That’s why—so the theory goes—there was a long gap between her death and its being reported—it had to take time to clean up the crime scene and protect the Attorney General and President of the United States from being blackmailed by a bunch of hoodlums.

  We looked into that scenario and, actually, quite a bit of it makes sense. We do not know exactly what happened at the time of Marilyn’s death, but we do know, bear in mind, what happened after it. And it gets pretty messy.

  So somebody (or, more accurately, a lot of somebodys) went to a lot of trou-ble to cover the tracks that led to the White House. That much we know.

  “If mobsters had hoped to use the Monroe connection to destroy Robert Kennedy, they were thwarted by the successful cover-up, however, worked largely thanks to Edgar. By grabbing the telephone records on their behalf, he made the Kennedys more beholden to him than ever.”168

  According to a true crime author Christopher Claire, the hypnotic drug Chloral Hydrate had been used in murders by the Mob, to the extent that it was the Mafia’s pharmaceutical murder weapon of choice. In the year previous to Marilyn’s murder it was reportedly used in a number of Mafia murders.169

  Looking at the big picture, a very complicated dance was taking place and it wasn’t just on Marilyn’s shag carpet either. It has been documented that Joe Kennedy, father of the president, went to Chicago prior to the 1960 election and enlisted the support of Organized Crime there. Some say they delivered the state of Illinois to JFK. Others say the Mob actually delivered Illinois and West Virginia. In any event, they certainly helped.