What Happened to Brittany Murphy? (Part 2: The Aftermath)

The autopsy only left us with more questions. Then five months later, her husband in question dies in the exact same way as her. Was it negligence, or murder?

Brittany Murphy’s death left many people with questions: did she have a drug problem? An eating disorder? Was she murdered? And why didn’t her husband want an autopsy?

As mentioned in my previous post, actress Brittany Murphy died at the age 32 of pneumonia. But many of those who were around her believed it was much more than that. In the HBO Max documentary What Happened, Brittany Murphy, costars and former friends recalled how much she changed after meeting her husband Simon Monjack in 2006. The bright, bubbly blonde turned into a quiet, difficult, and seemingly medicated version of herself. Trainers, makeup artists, and directors all recalled moments where they noticed Monjack being controlling and isolating his wife from those around her. From doing her own hair and makeup (and poorly), to becoming her whole management team, Simon was everywhere and Brittany couldn’t escape him.

In the weeks leading to her death, her, Simon and her mother Sharon were in Puerto Rico so she could film a movie, only for her to be fired two days later after Simon allegedly assaulted a crew member. Before they left, all three were suffering from flu-like symptoms. Brittany could not get better. A simple illness that could’ve been easily treatable is what killed a 32-year-old actress. Or was it?

Simon and Sharon’s Odd Relationship

Coroner Ed Winter recounted his experience meeting Simon and Sharon in the documentary.

Sharon was sitting on the couch and she'd cry a little bit. Then she'd stop and she'd talk to Simon or say something and then she'd start crying again. [Simon] appeared to be somewhat under the influence, just pacing around, that maybe he wasn't totally coherent.

In the following clip, a neighbor states to CBS News that Simon seemed “completely dazed and shocked.” The news anchor also points out that Simon did not want an autopsy.

And just one month after her death, Simon and Sharon appear on Larry King Live to discuss her death. The interview is one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever seen. At the 15:28 mark, Simon tells King that Brittany’s final words were “Mom, I’m dying I love you.” Sharon starts to cry and say “It was about an hour before—.” Simon replies with “No, no baby. You’ve forgotten time.” Uh, BABY?! Also in the 35:51 mark, Simon also refers to them as a “good couple,” which makes Sharon laugh.

Notice that Sharon one minute cries and then just stops. She seems medicated while Simon slurs his words. It was said in the documentary that the driver thought everything they said in the interview was an act.

This interview led for many people to raise eyebrows. It would lead for Simon to hire publicist Roger Neil. Neil said we would’ve never let them do that interview. "Watching that show, man...wasn't good for them at all. It made you cringe watching some of it." He also did not like how Simon and Sharon would pose together. “I wouldn't have them put in that position, to me that's not a typical mother and son-in-law post.” However, Neil denied if he thought their relationship was romantic in any way, saying it was “absurd to think they were anything other than mother and son-in-law. Nothing like what had been speculated.” Sharon had also called the rumors “disgusting.” However, one journalist might disagree.

Amber Ryland was working with Radar Online at the time of Brittany’s death. On Christmas Day, her boss suggested to leave flowers for Simon and her phone number. Within one hour, Simon called her. 39 days after her death, Ryland met with Simon for dinner. Ryland claimed that he took credit for Brittany’s career. “He said, ‘I know how people see me, they think I'm controlling...the truth of the matter is we were soul mates. What it really was was this great Hollywood love story and no one wants to see it that way.’” He later invited her to their house and showing her the infamous bathroom, with cameras and all.

“It was amazing but it felt weird for this grieving husband to be like, ‘Let's show the world where Brittany died,’” Ryland explained. “Their house, it was so much security. He sort of alluded to like, ‘We've been targeted,’ almost like a conspiracy theorist would. Like people in the government were watching them.”

Ryland would also meet Sharon and she recounted that she “acted submissive” with Simon. When Ryland walked by the master bed, she noticed that was made as if two people slept in it, with her claiming Simon explained, “Sharon crawls in with me sometimes and we just cry.”

In May 2010, Ryland was on vacation with her then-girlfriend when she received texts from Simon. She didn’t replied, which made him frustrated. “I certainly never viewed my friendship with Simon as anything romantic. And I don't think he did? I mean, I have a wife, I don't even look at men that way. So, it definitely wasn't something, but it did cross my mind, just because you never know. That probably was hard for him at the time.” Ryland would not ever know. Just days after she returned from her vacation, she learned that Simon Monjack had died.

What Happened to Simon?

On May 23, 2010, it was reported that Simon Monjack died just nearly six months after his deceased wife. Not only was found in the same house, and the same bathroom as Brittany was, but both of them were found by the same person—Sharon Murphy. Autopsy results showed Monjack even died from pneumonia and anemia, “just like Brittany.” Neal had stated he saw Monjack two days prior and that he was planning to have bypass surgery due to his heart condition.

Was the House Haunted?

In 2003, Brittany Murphy purchased the fully furnished house in Sunset Plaza for $3.85 million dollars from Britney Spears. Spears was dating Justin Timberlake at the time was living there, and had told friends that she had an otherworldly encounter that led her sell the property immediately. Julianne Kaye, Spears’ then-makeup artist recalled the incident in 2021 on the podcast “We Need to Talk About Britney.”

She had that place up on Sunset Plaza — and I'm just gonna say, this is really weird … She calls me … I had my friend do reiki healing on her, he had come up, I guess she'd had a crazy partying weekend and needed to relax. He left, and she swears to God that he opened some spirit portal or something, and these bad spirits had come in … and they were trying to, like, push her down the stairs or something crazy. It was so bad that she left. She went to the Casa Del Mar hotel to stay there and never went back to the house. She goes, 'I know you're gonna think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy. I know what I saw. I know what I felt.'

Shortly after Murphy’s death, Monjack said in The Hollywood Reporter that his wife wanted to leave the property as well.

She absolutely hated the Rising Glen house. Every time we would drive up Sunset, Brit would say, 'Please, can we stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel?' I'd say: 'Honey, you've got to be realistic. We have our house, a 10,000-square-foot home. We're going to stay in it.'

He also told reporters that Murphy thought the house was “unlucky,” and wanted to move the three of them to New York by the following year so she could become a mother.

In 2011, Sharon sold the property for only $2.7 million after failing to make a buyer. In 2013, the house was torn down and rebuild into a contemporary style home. The new home was last sold for $11.59 million in 2020.

Brittany’s Father Speaks Out

In January 2012, Brittany’s father Angelo Bertolotti sued the L.A. County Department of Coroner over its findings, and requested to have samples from his daughter's remains tested by an independent lab for other toxins or heavy metals. The judge dismissed the suit months later, but Bertolotti continued to believe that his daughter was poisoned, suggesting that chronic arsenic poisoning could have been mistaken for anemia. In 2013, Bertolotti claimed that the test results had come back showing traces of "heavy metals," including barium, which is consistent with rat poison. The independent report stated:

If we were to eliminate the possibility of a simultaneous accidental heavy metals exposure to the sample donor then the only logical explanation would be an exposure to these metals (toxins) administered by a third party perpetrator with likely criminal intent.

In the documentary, coroner experts stated that the heavy metals in Brittany’s hair was consistent with the same chemicals in hair dye. The LAPD has stated they stand by their initial report in her death. By 2017, he told Radar Online that he had “lost hope.” He died in 2019.

Where is Sharon Now?

During the time of internet conspiracy theories revolving her daughter’s death, Sharon has made multiple statements about them. Following Monjack’s death, Murphy asked people to “stop the reckless innuendos that my daughter and son-in-law misused any kind of prescription medications.” Instead, Sharon insisted on the fact that mold was a huge problem in their home. Winter claims he talked to Monjack, Sharon and their attorneys about possible mold problems during the investigation of Murphy’s death. Sharon claimed she had “never been personally asked by the Coroner or anyone from the Health Department to come and inspect my home for mold.” Winter denied this claim, while Neal defended for Sharon. Neal claimed the house has been inspected for mold just two months prior before Murphy’s death with inspectors telling them it was safe. Winter stated that are “no indicators” that mold was a cause of death and called Sharon’s theory “absurd.”

In 2011, Sharon filed a malpractice lawsuit against her former attorneys, alleging she was advised to accept a settlement from the builders of the home, whom she said had been dishonest about issues with the house, earlier that year rather than go after the builders for wrongful death. It’s never been confirmed whether mold was actually found inside as the results of the review were never made public. She dropped her lawsuit in 2013.

While her ex was claiming that their daughter had been killed, Sharon made a scathing statement towards him:

I have no choice now but to come forward in the face of inexcusable efforts to smear my daughter's memory by a man who may be her biological father but was never a real father to her in her lifetime. Angelo Bertolotti has relocated to California in his old age to claim he is here for Brittany, as he never was in life. He has made outrageous statements over the past few years, culminating in this latest madness: that my darling daughter was murdered. His claims are based on the most flimsy of evidence and are more of an insult than an insight into what really happened, as I will explain to you shortly.

Sharon also stated that Bertolotti did not reappear in Brittany’s life until after she appeared in Clueless and denied any possibility that she was poisoned.

Sharon has since remained out of the public eye.

Conclusion

So exactly what do I think “killed” Brittany Murphy? I don’t have an exact answer, but I know what let to her downfall. Simon was bad man who saw Brittany as a meal ticket. He knew he would never have to work again if he married her. But he also wanted to treat her like a possession. He wanted to have her all to himself so no one could have the chance to have her money and fame like him.

I also have lots of question about her mother. While she was never labeled a “child star’s mom” like others have, I’m always been confused as to why Sharon had to live with Brittany all these years of her having money. While of course they had a close relationship given Sharon was a single mother, any daughter who would end up having millions of dollars would want their mother to live in a nice house that was their own. And why would Sharon want to stay with her daughter even after she got married? Were they too reliant on each other? Did your mother have a problem letting go of her daughter? In the YouTube video of Brittany on MTV’s Cribs, you hear her mention her mom multiple times. It almost remind me in Jeanette McCurdy’s book I’m Glad My Mom Died, where despite Jeanette moving out of her parent’s house, her mother still found excuses to spend the night with daughter, and even wanting them to sleep in the same bed.

I don’t buy the mold theory. All three of them were already sick when they were in Puerto Rico. It was only Brittany that did not get better. I do believe that’s because of Brittany’s very thin figure. Despite her denials, I do believe she suffered in eating disorder and it only worsened once she met Simon. Because Simon was so controlling, he would not let her go to the hospital because he wanted her to be weak enough for him to still control her. Hence why in the 9-1-1 call you can hear he was not doing chest compressions fast enough. He didn’t necessarily want her dead, but he didn’t do much to keep her alive.

As for his death, that I’m at a lost. It’s possible that he was too stubborn to go to the doctor to get better, yet why was it also the exact same thing his wife died of? And why did Sharon find BOTH of them dead? Sharon’s claims that the mold was what killed them does not add up to me because she was the only one who managed to make it out of that house alive. It does seem as though the house was haunted of some sorts, given that both Britney Spears and Brittany Murphy had felt something was off with it.

To me, this was a classic case of psychological abuse in a relationship that killed both the victim and the abuser. Meanwhile, the mother of the victim stood by and let it happen.

Brittany’s death was one that left a mark on me because Uptown Girls was one of my favorite movies growing up. She was a star that didn’t look like every Hollywood actress. She was a girl-next-door with a spunky attitude that was under appreciated by the industry. Because of that, she was vulnerable. She needed someone to help her feel special, only for her to find someone that take advantage of her money and fame.

What makes her death even sadder is she died just days before saying she hoping to become a mother. She had a short life and career, but it was a life and career that many see today that wasn’t treated fairly. Instead, we at least honor what she had accomplished and imagine what could’ve been.