It's been 13 years since the world was rocked by the sudden death of actress Brittany Murphy. And the situation got even more shocking and mysterious when her husband, Simon Monjack, died just five months later. Now, Brittany's brother Tony Bertolotti is claiming his famous sister was killed in a plot to cover up a financial mystery.
Tony believes something isn't right after his sister died in 2009 at the age of 32.
The 74-year-old, who shares a father with the late actress, is speaking out about what he claims are concerning irregularities regarding Brittany's death. He told The Sun that he'd discovered that three people controlled his sister's estate while she was alive and that Brittany had "no control" over her own financials.
"There were huge amounts of money in [Brittany's] pension plan and bank account, and all of that's gone," he explained.
He says $10 million has vanished into thin air.
One of the three people to have control over Brittany's estate was her mother, Sharon Murphy. Tony said Sharon had been living with her daughter and Simon prior to the couple's deaths. "Sharon knows the truth and she hasn't picked up the phone with one member of the family and told them the truth," he said of Brittany's mother, who has remained silent and stayed under the radar since her daughter's death.
At the time, rumors were flying that Brittany's husband had been written out of her will before she died.
The whole of Brittany's fortune is believed to have gone to Sharon, something that isn't sitting well with Tony, considering the curious circumstances of both her and Simon's deaths.
"There's no way Brittany died of natural causes," Tony said according to The Sun. "It's impossible. It's bulls—, total crap. It was obvious to me that she was taken out."
Both Brittany and her husband had the same cause of death.
Despite dying five months apart, Brittany and Simon were given the same cause of death by the coroner: pneumonia. The two also were suffering from iron deficiency at the time and taking over-the-counter medications to treat the condition, which the coroner's report noted had also contributed to Brittany's death.
The mystery surrounding the couple's deaths has prompted plenty of speculation over the years.
In 2021, HBO Max aired a docuseries called What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, addressing some of the prevailing theories about the actress' life and death, including speculation that she was killed by her husband, her mother, or a combination of the two, according to Esquire.
Sadly, it seems fans will never know the truth about what really happened, given Simon's sudden death and Sharon's silence. It's clear that Brittany's legacy has lived on, though, with many people, including Tony, continuing to fight for answers after the Clueless star's life was cut too short.
