Brittany Murphy may not have been poisoned, as her father suspects, but in fact may have exposed herself to drugs that had been mixed with chemicals like rat poison.
Sources tell us that around the time of the actress’s 2009 death, LA was flush with meth and cocaine that had been mixed with toxins, including rat poison.
The coroner at the time said she died from pneumonia and a mix of legal prescription and over-the-counter medications.
There was no evidence found of illegal drugs. But a new toxicology report on Murphy’s hair samples commissioned by her father, Angelo Bertolotti, found high levels of toxins such as barium, found in rat poison, on her hair.
He suspects his daughter was poisoned and has sued the LAPD, claiming they didn’t properly investigate her death. But experts question the lab’s findings, saying that doesn’t necessarily mean she was poisoned by a third party.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden questions whether the results came from contamination of the samples.
“If the hair was taken at the time of the autopsy and then kept at the coroner’s office for four years, finding the heavy metals can all be an artifact . . . from the container in which it was kept,” he says, adding that the results are “interesting, but do not demonstrate criminality or cause of death.”
The Los Angeles Coroner has the new results but says it will not reopen the case unless it gets more details.