When movie goddess Marilyn Monroe’s naked body was found on her bed at her Hollywood home, it was assumed she had killed herself.

Devastated by tangled affairs with American President John F Kennedy and brother Bobby, the 36-year-old star of The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot was said to have overdosed on sleeping pills.

Now, nearly 50 years after her death on August 5, 1962, a bombshell book claims to finally reveal who murdered Marilyn.

Investigative author Darwin Porter – who knew the star – claims five Mafia hoodlums working under orders from mob boss Sam Giancana carried out the hit.

But he believes Bobby, who secretly visited Marilyn with his British brother-in-law Peter Lawford hours before she died, had a lot to do with her death.

Three-times-married Marilyn had fallen head over heels in love with the married President – shocking the world by breathlessly singing happy birthday to him wearing a gown so tight little was left to the imagination – but he passed her on to his brother.

Attorney General Bobby promised to leave his wife for Marilyn but weeks before she died, he stopped returning her calls.

Distraught, Marilyn had a brief fling with the youngest Kennedy brother, Ted, then started telling friends she was going to call a press conference to reveal all of her affairs.

The vulnerable star, who was battling problems with drugs and alcohol, intended to expose the Mafia’s secrets too.

Marilyn’s phones in Brentwood, California, were bugged and spies heard numerous accounts of the gossip-loving icon revealing all about her affairs to friends.

She told pals she was pregnant but wasn’t sure whether the father was Jack or his brother.

Porter says Marilyn used private detectives to bug her home to keep records of her trysts with the President and other famous men. He claims Roselli called at Marilyn’s house at 10pm on August 4, leaving the door unlocked so five hitmen could sneak in.

“Slipping behind Marilyn, one of the men removed a chloroform-soaked washcloth from his bag,” Porter says.“The cloth was forced over her nose and mouth. Giancana had issued orders that her body was not to be bruised.”

(Read by Rosie Tuck. Rosie Tuck is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

點擊查看更多雙語新聞

(Agencies)