Brittany Murphy's Hair Shows Evidence of Rat Poison, Father Claims
Brittany Murphy's father believes that his daughter died because of poisoning, The Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday.
Angelo Bertolotti appeared on Good Morning America Tuesday morning to challenge the assertion that his daughter died on natural causes. The Clueless actress died at the age of 32 in December 2009. Initially, the coroner attributed her death to pneumonia and iron-deficiency anemia. It was also noted that she was taking prescription medication. However, her father now has reason to believe she was poisoned.
"I have a feeling that there was definitely a murder situation here," Bertolotti told the morning show in an interview. "Yeah, it's poison. Yes, yes, I know that."
Bertolotti believed that Murphy was given rat poison which led to her death. He claimed to have verified these results through an independent testing of Murphy's hair which was not previously tested by the coroner. He said that the investigation into her death needed to be reopened because arsenic poisoning is sometimes misdiagnosed as anemia.
"We have not seen the results and nothing has been presented to us. We stand by what we ruled on the case," the coroner's office said in a statement.
Nonetheless, Bertolotti is making public his claims he believes took the life of his daughter and possibly her husband. Simon Monjack, Murphy's husband, died of pneumonia five months after her.
"The lab has shown that she was poisoned with criminal intent," Bertolotti told the Daily News Monday.
"We would like the investigation opened again to discover who did it. So as not to jeopardize the new investigation, I can't say who I suspect as of yet," he said.