The Betrayal of Marilyn Monroe by Her Psychiatrist

With all the speculation about the role of Anna Nicole Smith's self proclaimed "best friend" psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, we now have this eerie report about the possible role of the psychiatrist Ralph Greenson in the death of Marilyn Monroe. Of course, it is all possible that, as conventional wisdom has it, that 'Marilyn just took one pill and one drink too many … as simple as that'

But for four decades there have been rumors that Marilyn Monroe's death was not a simple suicide. Now a Los Angeles-based Australian writer and director, Philippe Mora, has uncovered an FBI document that throws up a chilling new scenario.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in two reports:

• FBI file links Kennedy to Monroe's death
  
• How Bobby betrayed Marilyn

While there is enough dirt to go around, our attention is on the role of the psychiatrist in the alleged plot. And it points up some of the irresponsible actions of her psychiatrist, even if the alleged plot is pure speculation.

The two reports are a bit long so here are some 'highlights':

The detailed three-page report implicates the Hollywood actor Peter Lawford, Monroe's psychiatrist, staff and her publicist in the plot.

The allegations suggest the 36-year-old actress, who had a history of staging attention-seeking suicide attempts, was deliberately given the means to fake another suicide on August 4, 1962. But this time, it is suggested, she was allowed to die as she sought help.

[...]

"Lawford is reported as having made 'special arrangements' with Marilyn's psychiatrist, Dr Ralph Greenson, from Beverley Hills. The psychiatrist was treating Marilyn for emotional problems and getting her off the use of barbiturates. On her last visit to him he prescribed Seconal tablets and gave her a prescription for 60 of them, which was unusual in quantity especially since he saw her frequently. On the date of her death … her housekeeper put the bottle of pills on the night table. It is reported that the housekeeper and Marilyn's personal secretary and press agent, Pat Newcomb, were co-operating in the plan to induce suicide."

It goes on to say that on the same day, Kennedy had booked out of the Beverley Hills Hotel and flown to San Francisco where he booked into the St Charles Hotel, owned by a friend. "Robert Kennedy made a telephone call from St Charles Hotel, San Francisco, to Peter Lawford to find out if Marilyn was dead yet."

Lawford called and spoke to Monroe "then checked again later to make sure she did not answer". The document claims the housekeeper, Eunice Murray, who had been hired by the actress on the advice of Dr Greenson, then called the psychiatrist.

"Marilyn expected to have her stomach pumped out and get sympathy for her suicide attempt. The psychiatrist left word for Marilyn to take a drive in the fresh air but did not come to see her until after she was known to be dead."

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This sounds like the wildest rantings of tabloid journalism except for a few key points: it is an official FBI document received before RFK's murder and distributed to a small number of high-level FBI officials.

It was declassified only on December 6, 1984, for a person/s unknown and released in October 2006. It is a well written, highly detailed document noting specific phone calls, hotels and names, and reflects the FBI culture of its time, referring, for example, to The Diary of Anne Frank as a "slanted, left-wing picture".

[...]

The document says it is "reported" that Lawford made "special arrangements" with Monroe's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson, who was treating her for "emotional problems and getting her off the use of barbiturates" and on her last visit to him prescribed 60 tablets of the barbiturate Seconal, "which was unusual in quantity especially since she saw him frequently".

The story reported becomes ghastly: Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, and her press agent, Pat Newcomb, were "co-operating in the plan to induce suicide. Newcomb was rewarded for her co-operation by being put on the federal payroll … of the Motion Pictures Activities Division of the US Information Service."

[...]

The housekeeper called Monroe's psychiatrist on her behalf, after she had "taken the bottle of pills", and the psychiatrist "left word for Marilyn to take a drive in the fresh air, but did not come to see her until she was known to be dead.

[...]

The report says the coroner appointing a psychiatric board of inquiry (an "unheard-of procedure") was instigated "so the findings could be recorded that she was emotionally unbalanced", to "discredit any statements she may have made before she died".

[...]

What does one make of all this? I have no dog in this fight. The FBI document is undoubtedly genuine. Its scandalous, terrible contents are released to the general public with no editorial comment from the FBI. Many of the details have emerged piecemeal over the years in different accounts by different people. Were the media and others just spoon-fed bits of this narrative in an attempt to discredit the Kennedys, or did they come across evidence themselves that lends this account credibility?