Despite reports saying to the contrary, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said there is not enough evidence to re-open the case.
- Mar 26, 2016
AceShowbiz - L.A. County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has clarified his earlier statement about an investigation to Brittany Murphy's death. Contrary to reports out there, the case will not be re-opened because there is no new lead.
"At this point we have nothing that points us to reopening the investigation," Winter told Entertainment Tonight. "If there was additional evidence or someone came forward then we would direct them to law enforcement."
Murphy died six years ago on December 20 after suffering a cardiac arrest at her Hollywood Hills home. The 32-year-old actress was found unconscious by her mother Sharon in the shower at the home that belonged to her screenwriter husband Simon Monjack. Early autopsy suggested that she died of pneumonia combined with anemia and numerous drugs.
Winter said in February 2010 that Murphy could still be alive today if she had sought the advice and treatment of a doctor as soon as she fell ill in 2009. "This death could've been preventable. Murphy was planning on seeing a doctor, but she unfortunately passed away before she did," he said at that time.
So why all of a sudden there's a report circulating that Murphy's death investigation could be opened after six years? Winter apparently told E!, "We would have to have direct evidence. In all honesty, it would take something like a confession. Something connecting somebody with it." He added that a reexamination, which could include exhuming a body, would happen, "if law enforcement contacted us. Or we can reopen the case if there is substantial evidence."
