Next, Noguchi took a scalpel and made a Y-shaped incision to open up the torso. He began the autopsy with an external examination, proceeding slowly and methodically from the face and neck to the chest, upper arms, and abdomen, inspecting the entire body for the smallest trace of blood or other clues. Even in death she was beautiful, he said. The film star Marilyn Monroe was lying there naked in front of him. For a moment he found it difficult to breathe. Noguchi can still recall vividly how she looked at the end.
He stood in front of the stainless steel table and lifted the white sheet. After skimming through the report from the investigator who had dealt with the body, he went straight to the autopsy room. Bottles containing sleeping pills were found on a bedside table.Īt that time Noguchi was kept constantly busy examining unnatural deaths at the understaffed coroner’s office, with almost no time off. She had been found lying naked, face down, in an unnatural position, her right hand gripping the telephone receiver. The 36-year-old actress had been discovered dead at her Los Angeles residence the previous evening. Noguchi to do the autopsy on Marilyn Monroe.” On his desk he found a message relayed from the chief examiner: “Dr. Still relatively new on the job as Los Angeles County deputy coroner, Noguchi had reported for work as usual that Sunday morning on August 5, 1962. “I want this to be my last word on the subject,” Noguchi says, as he prepares to tell his story. However, I had the opportunity to speak with him at length while doing research for my book Hariuddo kenshi fairu: Tōmasu Noguchi no yuigon (Hollywood Inquest Files: The Final Testament of Thomas Noguchi). He is vexed by the continuing sensationalism surrounding the postmortem examination, which he conducted as part of his regular duties. Thomas Noguchi is not eager to speak about Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe on a visit to Japan in 1954 (© Jiji). And each year, as the anniversary of Marilyn's death approaches and story enters the media spotlight once again, Noguchi is at the center of the debate.
Even today, over 50 years later, speculation and controversy continue to swirl around the death of the twentieth century’s greatest sex symbol. Noguchi himself performed the autopsies and established cause of death for a long list of newsmakers, including singer Janis Joplin, who died at the height of her fame legendary comedian John Belushi, who starred in The Blues Brothers William Holden, known for such movies as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Sharon Tate, the young actress and wife of Roman Polanski who was murdered by the Manson Family.īut of all of Noguchi's postmortems, Marilyn Monroe remains the most talked about. Noguchi (second from left) at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. Each day the office's medical examiners and coroners dispatch such duties as performing autopsies to determine cause of death, investigating possible crime scenes, issuing death certificates, and transporting bodies to funeral homes. The jurisdiction of the coroner's office is death. Noguchi ranks as one of the world's most distinguished forensic pathologists, but he is remembered above all for his high-profile years as coroner for Los Angeles County. Has been president of the National Association of Medical Examiners and is currently president of the World Association for Medical Law.
That was when he conducted the postmortem examination of Marilyn Monroe.īorn Noguchi Tsunetomi in 1927, he grew up in wartime Japan before immigrating to the United States in 1952 and settling in California. As chief medical examiner for Los Angeles County from 1967 to 1982, Thomas Noguchi performed autopsies on so many celebrities that he became known as the “coroner to the stars.” Noguchi was the first Japanese-American to occupy such a high-profile position, but he first entered the public eye in 1962, while still deputy coroner.
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