True Crime
LA Coroner Hasn’t Ruled Out Reopening Investigation Into Brittany Murphy’s Death
More than six years after the LA Coroner’s Department determined that Brittany Murphy’s death at age 32 was caused by “natural causes,” LA County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has said he’s open to taking a closer look at their initial findings, which ruled her death was the result of pneumonia, anemia and an accidental mix of prescription and over-the-counter pills.
“We would have to have direct evidence,” Winter told E! News. “In all honesty, it would take something like a confession. Something connecting somebody with it.”
RELATED: Here’s Everything We Know About Brittany Murphy’s Death
Suspicions about the cause of Brittany’s death first arose in 2013, when her father, Angelo Bertolotti, commissioned an independent test that found “abnormally high” levels of heavy metals — including Barium, which is usually found in rat poisoning.
Winter didn’t find the 2013 independent findings cause to reinvestigate because, he said, “The levels weren’t off the charts, and the levels weren’t consistent with poisoning.”
RELATED: Brittany Murphy and 6 Other Mysterious Hollywood Deaths
There has been a renewed interest in Brittany’s death, largely caused by an appearance by her friend Jaime Pressly on Hollywood Medium.
Watch the powerful moment Jaime “connected” with her late friend:
