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The Death of Marilyn Monroe


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There has been much discussion here of "mysterious deaths" following the assaassination of JFK including many deaths in the 1970s as renewed investigations were underway. Some deaths were not "mysterious" they were clearly murders, e.g. Sam Giancana and Johnny Rosselli. The question for the murders is of course if they were related to the JFK assassination. The question for the other deaths is in some cases whether they were natural or were in fact murders; in other cases if they were murders or sucides. If these deaths were murders the question must also be asked if in fact they were linked to the JFK assassination.

I want to start a new thread in this section dealing with the death of Marilyn Monroe. I recently read a book called "The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe" by Donald Wolfe and it argues quite persuasively that Mnoroe's death was a murder rather than either accidental or a suicide; and that it was covered up.

I know there has been discussion of Monroe's death on other threads.

I do not propose at this time to recite Wolfe's persuasive reasons for arguing that Monroe was murdered. I will attempt to summarize them if people request.

Wolfe's book strongly suggests that Robert Kennedy was involved in the murder of Monroe. Here is one of the closing paragraphs:

"Did they intend to murder Marilyn Monroe? Or was the intent to subdue her with a "hot shot" if she caused any problems while they broke into her file cabinent in the guest cottage; took the notes, letters and legal documents, and searched for the book of secrets? The evidence points to premeditated murder. In the presence of Bobby Kennedy, Monroe was injected with enough barbituates to kill fifteen people."

At some point I will discuss Levine's evidence that Bobby Kennedy was present at Monroe's death. (Officially he was in San Francisco.)

An alternative theory is that the Mafia killed Monroe in order to frame the Kennedys for her death. In "Doublecross" a relative of Sam Giancana states that Giancana had her murdered for just that reason. I don't have "Doublecross" with me but it is worth summarizing how that book argues the murder was accomplished.

It seems that if Monroe was murdered, it was either by Bobby or by the Mafia for the reasons cited above. I do not believe any other suspects have been proposed.

Without necessarily assuming the truth of either scenario, I would like to think through the possible implications.

First, if the Kennedys were behind it, the Monroe murder in itself would provide the strongest possible incentive for Bobby to assist in the cover-uo, for fear an unfettered investigation of the Kennedy assassination would cause the reopening of the Monroe case. If the Kennedys murdered Monroe it certainly constitutes the darkest secret of Camelot.

Second, it also provides a possible alternative motive for the murder of JFK: retaliation for her murder. A recent biography of Joe DiMaggio states he believed the Kennedys killed the woman he loved. Now I do not mean to seriously suggest that our beloved baseball icon did it. In fact, I want to use this as an illustration why John's proposal of the Texas oilmen is so meritless. John argues that the Texas oilmen (apparently his favorite suspects) may have killed JFK over his advocating the elimination of the oil depletion allowance. They had the motive (economic, John says) and the means (sufficient money to hire professional assassins). But the same argument applies to DiMaggio if he thought the Kennedys killed his ex-wife: he had both motive and money. It makes as much sense to argue that Joe DiMaggio killed Kennedy as it does a Texas oilman. Neither had history of committing murders.

The Mafia, and its friend Frank Sinatra, were very close to Monroe. If the Mafia did not kill Monroe but thought the Kennedys did, that might have given the Mafia another reason to seek the death of Jack Kennedy.

Many of you believe some element of the power structure killed Kennedy. The Wolfe book never argues that but it does state facts that might bear on, for instead, Shanet's theory of the assassination. I will post that diuscussion next--if not tonight, then tomorrow. Interestingly, that involves a trip that Marilyn Monroe took to Mexico City.

Edited by Tim Gratz
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This may be far afield but if the Mafia killed Kennedy and there was some reason to link it as a motive to the fact that the Kennedys killed Monroe (assuming that to be the case) I suggest the entire cover up could be explained by a desire to preserve the reputation of JFK. I even think that LBJ was enough of a patriot (even if he was a crook) that he would have wanted to preserve that secret not necessarily for the sake of the Kennedys as for the sake of the country.

Or let's assume the Mafia murdered JFK but not for that reason. If the Mafia had evidence of the Kennedys' murder of Monroe, that was probably its "get out of jail free" card, much more so than its evidence that the CIA (perhaps with the endorsement of the Kennedys) tried to kill Castro.

As persuasive as Wolfe's book is, I am not yet ready to accept that the Kennedys killed Monroe. There is not any evidence of which I am aware that there were previous murders committed by any Kennedy family members. Nonetheless, should that be the case I think it could go a long way to explain the cover up.

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Wolfe's book strongly suggests that Robert Kennedy was involved in the murder of Monroe.  Here is one of the closing paragraphs:

"Did they intend to murder Marilyn Monroe?  Or was the intent to subdue her with a "hot shot" if she caused any problems while they broke into her file cabinent in the guest cottage; took the notes, letters and legal documents, and searched for the book of secrets?  The evidence points to premeditated murder.  In the presence of Bobby Kennedy, Monroe was injected with enough barbituates to kill fifteen people."

At some point I will discuss Levine's evidence that Bobby Kennedy was present at Monroe's death. (Officially he was in San Francisco.)

Well, I suppose it makes a change from Castro killed JFK. However, both theories are linked. They both come out of a right-wing Republican political campaigns. The Castro theory was an attempt to provide a reason to invade Cuba. The RFK theory was used in various presidential election campaigns by the Republicans against the Democrats (like the smear stories against Kerry in the last election).

It of course makes no political sense at all for the Kennedys to order the murder of Monroe. A large number of people knew about JFK’s relationship with Monroe. The story was always going to come out. If Monroe was murdered, this was more than likely carried out by Republicans attempting to smear the Kennedys.

Even if you are willing to believe that JFK ordered the murder of Monroe, do you really think that his brother would be at the scene of the crime? However, if I wanted to implicate the Kennedys in the murder, I might well wait until RFK was going to be in the same town as Monroe before doing it.

Anyway, let us see your evidence that RFK killed Monroe and then we can discuss your theory.

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John, it is not mutually exclusive to argue that the Kennedys killed Monroe and Castro killed JFK. (Perhaps he was a secret admirer of her.)

It is possible there is no DIRECT link between Monroe's death and Kennedy's assassination (even if the Kennedys killed Monroe) other than it certainly explains Robert Kennedys' participation in the cover-up.

Tomorrow I will post a lengthy summary of Levine's evidence that Robert Kennedy was on the scene when Monroe died. The motive, of course, would be to prevent Monroe from revealing Kennedy secrets. Desperate men do desparate things, the saying goes.

My summary will never adequately explain everything in Levine's book and I would strongly encourage interested Forum members to read the book.

As I said in a post I was doing as you were posting, I am not yet prepared to advocate the theory that the Kennedys killed Monroe. I do think there is enough in Levine's book to merit discussion.

By the way, if I recall right you once said you thought Dorothy Kilgallen's death might be related to what she knew about Monroe's death. Can you elaborate on that?

Also, do you believe that Monroe was in fact murdered? If so, who do you propose as a suspect?

I should not even state the following after the last sentence but when Marilyn went to Mexico City she became friends with a man who was also friends with E. Howard Hunt. This man was in LA the day Marilyn died and in fact she made a very interesting call to him. More on that later.

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A man named Jose Bolanos called Marilyn Monroe at 9:30 a.m. on the night of her death. He had come to LA to see Monroe and was calling from a bar in Santa Monica. Anthony Sommers interviewed Bolanos in 1983. Bolanos told Sommers that Marilyn told him "something shocking--something that will one day shock the world." But he did not reveal what it was. There is some reason to believe Monroe knew about the Mafia plots to kill Castro, but this could not be the shocking secret since those plots were well known by 1983.

When Marilyn Monroe was in Mexico City she met Bolanos who was a screenwriter. He was dark, lean and handsome, the epitome of a "Latin lover". He hung with leftists such as Luis Bunuel and Dalton Trumbo but apparently many left-wingers did not trust him. According to Wolfe's book, Bolanos was also friendly with E. Howard Hunbt who made frequent trips to Mexico City. As support for Bolanos' association with Hunt, the book footnotes the Dalton Trumbo papers at the UCLA Library.

Edited by Tim Gratz
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By the way, if I recall right you once said you thought Dorothy Kilgallen's death might be related to what she knew about Monroe's death.  Can you elaborate on that?

What I argued was that right-wing forces used a false CIA document to link the death of Monroe to the Kennedys. This document (dated 3rd August, 1962) has been posted on the web.

Wiretap of telephone conversation between reporter Dorothy Kilgallen and her close friend, Howard Rothberg; from wiretap of telephone conversation of Marilyn Monroe and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Appraisal of Content: (Blacked Out).

1. Rothberg discussed the apparent comeback of subject with Kilgallen and the break up with the Kennedys. Rothberg told Kilgallen that she was attending Hollywood parties hosted by the "inner circle" among Hollywood's elite and was becoming the talk of the town again. Rothberg indicated in so many words, that she had secrets to tell, no doubt arising from her trists (sic) with the President and the Attorney General. One such (illegible) mentions the visit by the President at a secret air base for the purpose of inspecting things from outer space. Kilgallen replied that she knew what might be the source of the visit. In the mid-fifties Kilgallen learned of secret effort by US and UK governments to identify the origins of crashed spacecraft and dead bodies, from a British government official. Kilgallen believed the story may have come from the (illegible) in the late forties. Kilgallen said that if the story is true, it could cause terrible embarrassment to Jack and his plans to have NASA put men on the moon.

2. Subject repeatedly called the Attorney General and complained about the way she was being ignored by the President and his brother.

3. Subject threatened to hold a press conference and would tell all.

4. Subject made references to "bases" in Cuba and knew of the President's plan to kill Castro.

5. Subject made reference to her "diary of secrets" and what the newspapers would do with such disclosures.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKkilgallen.htm

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John,

for your information there is in Wolfe's book a photocopy of a CIA report dated August 3, 1962. It is not identical to the report you recite but it also includes reference to wiretap conversations with Dorothy Kilgallen. It is hard to see from the photocopy but the book states this CIA report is signed by James Jesus Angleton.

One of the items in this report is the foilowing: "Subject made reference to bases in Cuba and knew of the President's plan to kill Castro."

Later I will try to retype the entire contents of this report.

What basis do you have for believing the report to which you refer was faked?

Do you agree that Monroe's phone was tapped? Wolfe says it was tapped by a Los Angeles private investigator named Fred Otash who was acting for Bernard Spindel. Spindel told Otash he was working for Jimmy Hoffa to get damaging information on the Kennedys but Wolfe suspects Spindel was a "cut-out" for the CIA. Wolfe notes Spindel's company B. R. Fox had a history as a CIA contractor. (Citing Jim Hougan's "Spooks").

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A man named Jose Bolanos called Marilyn Monroe at 9:30 a.m. on the night of her death.  He had come to LA to see Monroe and was calling from a bar in Santa Monica.  Anthony Sommers interviewed Bolanos in 1983.  Bolanos told Sommers that Marilyn told him "something shocking--something that will one day shock the world."  But he did not reveal what it was.  There is some reason to believe Monroe knew about the Mafia plots to kill Castro, but this could not be the shocking secret since those plots were well known by 1983.

When Marilyn Monroe was in Mexico City she met Bolanos who was a screenwriter.  He was dark, lean and handsome, the epitome of a "Latin lover". He hung with leftists such as Luis Bunuel and Dalton Trumbo but apparently many left-wingers did not trust him.  According to Wolfe's book, Bolanos was also friendly with E. Howard Hunbt who made frequent trips to Mexico City.  As support for Bolanos' association with Hunt, the book footnotes the Dalton Trumbo papers at the UCLA Library.

Tim,

Here is Jose Bolanos with Marilyn who by the way, is looking particularly gorgeous.

James

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Thanks again for your simply amazing work, James!

Wolfe identifies Bolanos as the possible source of a confidential memorandum from the FBI field office in Mexico City linking Monroe with a man named Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Field was a suspected Soviet agent and he was under intense FBI surveillance. In July Field left Mexico City and traveled to New York City where he stated at Marilyn Monroe's apartment on East Fifty-Seventh Street.

This raises the spectre that not only was JFK sharing a lover with Sam Giancana of the Mafia he was also sharing a lover with a man suspected of being a Soviet agent.

James Lesar has apparently seen a confidential FBI report stating Monroe had shared with Field confidential information she had learned in discussioins with JFK and RFK. There is no indication that Monroe knew Field was a possible Soviet agent.

According to Wolfe's book, when Hoover saw this memo re Monroe's conversations with Field "he became enraged and demonstrated a degree of anger seldom witnessed by his subordinates. Incredibly, the president of the United States had become a security risk."

I do not subscribe to Shanet's theory of the assassination, but if there is anything to it its genesis may be in those sentences.

Edited by Tim Gratz
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John wrote:

What I argued was that right-wing forces used a false CIA document to link the death of Monroe to the Kennedys. This document (dated 3rd August, 1962) has been posted on the web.

John, what basis do you have for believing this CIA memo is "false"?

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'The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe" states Kilgallen was working on a story about Kennedy's frelationship with Monroe immediately before Monroe's death.

She noted in her column in the "New York Journal-American" in early August of 1962:

"[Monroe's][ cooking in the sex-department too. She's proved vastly alluring to a handsome gentleman who is a bigger name than Joe DiMaggio in his heyday."

Monroe died within days of that oblique reference to JFK.

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