Quote from Oladosun Joshua Segun on November 24, 2025, 7:02 PM

Regarding Marilyn Monroe's demise, James Patterson has a theory. The popular author, whose next autobiography, The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe: A True Crime Thriller, explores the life and death of the Hollywood icon, thinks Monroe was probably killed because of her relationships with influential people like Frank Sinatra, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and President John F. Kennedy.

“I think that she was treading in very dangerous waters," in an interview disclosed on November 21, Patterson informed The Hollywood Reporter. "They told her stuff, and she kept track of it. She had information that was kind of dangerous."

The 78-year-old stated, "A lot of people don't know the story," after researching Monroe's career with co-author Imogen Edwards-Jones for the book, which has a fine print disclaimer stating that it is "a work of fiction."

“There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know," he went on. "I didn’t know much about the death scene."

Patterson continued, "The key is, a lot of people know about her a bit, but not that much. You’d be surprised."

Media outlets have contacted Monroe's estate for comment, but they have not received a response.

When Monroe was discovered dead at her Los Angeles residence in August 1962, she was 36 years old. Officials concluded at the time that she had died from a barbiturate overdose after finding empty medication bottles close to her bed and sedative traces in her blood.

But in the years that followed, many questioned Monroe's way of death, which prompted the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to launch an investigation in the 1980s.

''Based on the evidence available to us,'' then-John Van de Kamp, the district attorney, informed the Los Angeles Times, ''it appears that her death could have been a suicide or a result of an accidental drug overdose."

According to a report the publication was able to get at the time, detectives claimed murder ''would have required a massive, in place conspiracy'' it comprised numerous people, notably ''the actual killer or killers; the chief medical examiner coroner; the autopsy surgeon to whom the case was fortuitously assigned; and most all of the police officers assigned to the case as well as their superiors.''

The authorities included in the summary, ''Our inquiries and document examination uncovered no credible evidence supporting a murder theory."