What really killed Marilyn Monroe?

But, 53 years after she was found dead in her bed, a documentary has accused Dr Hyman Engelberg, her personal physician, of ‘signing her death sentence’ by prescribing a lethal cocktail of sleeping pills.

It has also revealed damning evidence showing that he lied under oath during the 1982 investigation into Miss Monroe’s death about what drugs he had instructed her to take.

The actress famously suffered from severe insomnia and relied on a cycle of sedatives and amphetamines to help her function. 

Medical records obtained by Autopsy, broadcast tonight on Channel 5, reveal that Dr Engelberg, prescribed both Nembutal and Chloral Hydrates, even though when taken together these powerful sedatives can be lethal. 

Dr Engelberg, who died in 2005, later falsely claimed he had never prescribed the latter drug.

The shocking documentary also reveals that the Some Like It Hot star suffered from bipolar disorder and had a history of suicide attempts using sedatives, making the prescriptions even more reckless.

The programme comes to the conclusion that Miss Monroe had taken her normal dose of chloral hydrate before either accidentally or intentionally overdosing on Nembutal. 

She attempted to call for help but the combination of the drugs meant she passed out before being able to, leading to her death.

This follows the pattern of previous incidents in which she would take an overdose of sleeping pills but then call for help so that her life could be saved.

The documentary shows that the actress’ doctors were making a concerted effort to reduce her drug dependency by weaning her off Nembutal and replacing it with chloral hydrate.

However, it seems that just two days before her death, Dr Engelberg changed his mind, possibly under her insistence, and gave her a new prescription for Nembutal.

Dr Richard Shepherd, who led the new investigation, said: ‘Chloral Hydrate and Nembutal taken together can have a fatal effect on the respiratory system. It’s curious that she should be given both drugs together. 

'She was a powerful, beautiful and seductive woman, used to getting her own way and I can imagine she would be very difficult to resist [if she was asking for the drug] but prescribing Nembutal on top of the Chloral Hydrate was like signing her death sentence. 

'This is a damning piece of evidence [for Dr Engelberg] and it’s the final piece in the true story about the death of Marilyn Miss Monroe.’

The actress, a global sex symbol with her platinum blonde hair and voluptuous figure, was one of the world’s biggest movie stars at the time of her death at the age of 36. 

She was discovered dead in her bed on August 5, 1962, beside a table full of pill bottles and the official autopsy ruled the incident a probable suicide.

However, numerous conspiracy theories have since arisen, many implicated the American political dynasty the Kennedys. 

Monore had affairs with both John F Kennedy while he was President and then shortly later his brother Robert. 

The theories claim they either they, or people working for them, murdered the actress so she could not embarrass them by revealing the scandals. 

However, the documentary has once again concluded that there is no evidence of foul play.

It does, however, shed new light on the actress’ fragile mental state. 

The three-time divorcee – she had been married to policeman James Dougherty, baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller – suffered from what is now known as bipolar disorder.

Miss Monroe was known for having a volatile temperament, sometimes to the detriment of her career. 

Her autopsy report contained a psychological evaluation which said: ‘Miss Miss Monroe suffered from psychiatric disturbance for a long time, she experienced severe feats and frequent depressions. Mood changes were abrupt and unpredictable.’ 

On the back of this, the programme says she was suffering from bipolar disorder.

Psychologist Anjula Mutanda told the documentary: ‘Bipolar disorder is a series mental disorder characterised by extreme shifts in mood. 

'A person can go from being very, very high and have feelings of grandeur to feeling very, very low and have feelings of being depressed. In a very low mood a person may even have thoughts of suicide.’

(dailymail.co.uk)