Brittany Murphy’s mom breaks silence, disputes poison claim with scathing open letter

Brittany Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, made headlines when he came forward recently claiming that his late daughter and her late husband Simon Monjack might have been poisoned. He based this speculation on lab tests he had done of hair, blood and tissue samples. The report stated in part:

Testing the hair strand sample identified as” back of the head” we have detected ten (10) heavy metals at levels above the WHO high levels recommendation. If we were to eliminate the possibility of a simultaneous accidental heavy metals exposure to the sample donor then the only logical explanation would be an exposure to these metals (toxins) administered by a third party perpetrator with likely criminal intent.”

Angelo told The Examiner:

“Vicious rumors, spread by tabloids, unfairly smeared Brittany’s reputation. My daughter was neither anorexic nor a drug junkie, as they repeatedly implied. Brittany and Simon were ridiculed by The Hollywood Reporter, when they complained of being under surveillance and in fear for their lives. I will not rest until the truth about these tragic events is told. There will be justice for Brittany.”

Fresh off this shocking revelation, Brittany’s mother Sharon Murphy has finally responded by writing a scathing open letter chastising Bertolotti via the very publication that he singled out, The Hollywood Reporter.

Jezebel put together a timeline of events since the passing of Murphy. Here’s what they had in regards to Sharon’s major involvements since her daughter’s passing in December 2009:

• February 2010 • Sharon and Monjack had a foundation in Brittany’s name that turned out to be a fraud.

• March 2010 • Sharon listed Brittney’s home for $7.25 million.

• April 2010 • Sharon takes the house off the market. Monjack stated that Sharon felt uncomfortable showing the home with Brittany’s belongings still inside.

{May 23rd, 2010 – Monjack found dead}

• July 2010 • Sharon labels rumors about the possibility of mold being a culprit in her daughter’s death “absurd.” Sharon was living in the home at the time. This confusion may have stemmed from the fact that a house inspection was performed in 2009 because of some alleged shoddy work. A lawsuit was later filed and settled against the contractor.

• January 2011 • Despite rumors of foreclosure, Sharon puts the house up for sale again, this time at a price of $5 million.

• April 2011 • Sharon auctioned off a number of Brittany’s personal items including costumes worn during her acting and even her passport.

• July 2011 • Brittany’s home was eventually sold for $2.7 million.

• December 2011 • Sharon files suit against her own attorneys for not letting her know that by settling with the contractors from the previous lawsuit stemming from supposed shoddy work, that she was foregoing her right to sue for wrongful death of her daughter due to mold.

• February 2013 • Sharon settles the lawsuit against her own lawyers. Sharon’s new attorneys file papers indicating the sides had settled. Terms of said settlement were not released.

All of this leads us up to Sharon Murphy’s recent open letter. Here are some of the highlights of what she had to say:

• I have no choice now but to come forward in the face of inexcusable efforts to smear my daughter’s memory by a man who may be her biological father but was never a real father to her in her lifetime. He has made outrageous statements over the past few years, culminating in this latest madness: that my darling daughter was murdered.

• The lab Angelo used, if you can call it that, is an Internet site that farmed out the actual testing and then wrote horribly untrue things under the guise of “analysis.” It mentioned rat poison as a possible cause and claimed to be able to say that a third party murdered my beloved daughter.

To even mention that the heavy metals that were listed in his test are in rat poison, leading to articles suggesting Brittany ingested that or anything like it, is absurd. If she had, don’t you think it would have shown up in the coroner’s test of her blood and tissue? A reputable expert will tell you that what this lab did is an ethical violation of the highest order; to even pretend to be able to draw such conclusions on unreliable evidence is the real crime.

• A hair sample can be affected by many outside factors, including hair dye, hair spray, prescription medications, foods, smoking the occasional cigarette and environmental factors. One cause we now know may have been toxic mold that was eventually discovered in that house — which may have been what really killed her.

We will never know for sure. However, we do know the Los Angeles County Coroner did extensive tests and found that she died of natural causes. And now she is a real living angel in heaven.

• Now I must stand up for her again. It is time for those who really knew and loved her to put those who want to exploit her on notice: Your lies will no longer be tolerated, and as long as I live will continue to be exposed.

You can read Sharon’s entire letter via The Hollywood Reporter.