Los Angeles – Actress Brittany Murphy suffered shortness of breath and abdominal pain for days before her sudden death on Sunday, TMZ.com said, quoting an investigator’s notes.
The celebrity news website said her screenwriter husband Simon Monjack, 39, told the investigator from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office that she complained of the symptoms for seven to 10 days but he was not alarmed as “she often suffered from severe menstrual pains”.
The revelation came as the authorities said she probably died of natural causes after falling ill with flu-like symptoms.
An autopsy found no signs of trauma to her body, though sources said she showed signs of severe internal bleeding. A conclusion was deferred, pending a toxicology report.
The investigator’s notes said the actress was in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home for half an hour before her mother Sharon found her “lying on the floor unresponsive”.
She yelled for help and Monjack, who was in bed, ran in. While Sharon called 911, he placed Murphy in the shower and ran the water but she was unresponsive and vomited.
The notes also listed many prescription drugs found in her bedroom, including the anti-seizure topamax, anti-inflammatory methylprednisolone, propranolol for hypertension, carbamazepine for diabetic symptoms, painkillers hydrocodone and vicoprofen, and drugs for depression and anxiety.
Monjack on Monday recounted basically the same story to TV show Access Hollywood, saying Sunday had started off as “a regular day”.
“My world was destroyed yesterday,” he said, adding that Murphy had laryngitis and had been tired but it did not seem that serious.
He denied that his wife was linked to people who were “bad influences”, amid talk he was a poor match for her. “I don’t know why anyone would think that. She found love. We found love.”
New interviews by Los Angeles Times have revealed a picture of the actress as one who worked tirelessly despite being ill.
A producer of her indie thriller Something Wicked said she turned up on the set in June looking “10 pounds underweight”, but she said: “I’ve got to get better, but I want to do this part.”
She had just finished a thriller, Abandoned, and was working on The Caller before reports said she was fired.
She had a comedy, Shrinking Charlotte, slated for early next year.
In what might have been her last public appearance, she appeared upbeat at a Dec 3 fashion event, when she said: “As far as having a New Year’s resolution, I’d love to have a child next year.”
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
