Which primary-source documents (autopsy, toxicology, police reports) from 1962 are publicly available about Monroe's death and where can they be accessed?
Executive summary
The primary forensic documents generated in 1962 — the autopsy report by Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Noguchi and the contemporaneous toxicology findings that attributed Marilyn Monroe’s death to acute barbiturate poisoning — are in circulation in public archives and reproductions; original laboratory specimens and some ancillary records are disputed or reported missing in later accounts [1] [2] [3]. Reproduced copies and press images of the autopsy and toxicology pages can be accessed online through several repositories and news archives, while official custody of originals rests with Los Angeles County coroner/medical examiner records and related law-enforcement archives, which are the formal places to request certified records [4] [5] [6].
1. The autopsy report: what exists publicly and where to find it
The formal autopsy performed on August 5, 1962, by Thomas Noguchi — documenting external examination, internal findings and the coroner’s written conclusion of “acute barbiturate poisoning” with “probable suicide” — has been reproduced and is available in scanned form on specialist archival sites and in print excerpts in major outlets; a photocopy of Noguchi’s multi-page report is hosted on document-aggregator sites such as AutopsyFiles and has been offered by memorabilia sellers [4] [7], while contemporary newspaper coverage reproduced coroner statements and portions of the report in 1962 [5]. For researchers seeking certified originals, Los Angeles County’s coroner/medical examiner archives are the institutional custodian identified in reportage and archival guidance [5] [6].
2. Toxicology findings: accessible pages and factual details
The toxicology results that underpin the cause-of-death ruling — blood and organ concentrations showing chloral hydrate and pentobarbital (reported figures: ~8.0 mg% chloral hydrate in blood, 4.5 mg% pentobarbital in blood and ~13 mg% pentobarbital in liver) — appear within the coroner’s file and have been reproduced in multiple public summaries and document scans online [1] [3] [7]. Those reproduced toxicology pages are the primary-source lab output available to the public via the same document repositories and in news/academic accounts; the Los Angeles County coroner’s office remains the formal source for original certified toxicology records [4] [6].
3. Police reports and investigative records: partial public record and where to request more
Contemporaneous LAPD incident reports and investigative summaries were cited in press coverage and later journalistic reconstructions, and media outlets have published portions or photographs of those reports [5] [6]. Public access to full LAPD investigative case files from 1962 typically requires requests to the Los Angeles Police Department records unit or to county archives; some researchers and authors have gained access to restricted or declassified LAPD files later, but comprehensive, certified LAPD case files are not fully available in general online repositories cited here [1].
4. Gaps, contested items, and reported destruction of material
Several secondary and investigative sources note contested aspects of the record: claims that additional toxicology tests on digestive organs were not performed or that some specimens were later “destroyed” have surfaced in books, interviews and blog reconstructions; these assertions are reported by sources but remain disputed and are not uniformly corroborated in official public records cited [8] [9] [10]. Reporting also notes that advances in forensic toxicology since 1962 mean original testing was limited by period standards — a caveat researchers should bear in mind when relying on the primary 1962 lab reports [6] [11].
5. Practical steps to obtain originals or certified copies
For scholars seeking primary-source originals or certified copies, the documented path is to petition the Los Angeles County coroner/medical examiner for the autopsy and toxicology records and to submit records requests to the Los Angeles Police Department for investigative reports; publicly available scanned copies can be consulted immediately via archival document sites (AutopsyFiles), press archives (Los Angeles Times) and reproduced materials held by collectors or specialist sites [4] [5] [7]. Where archival holdings are incomplete, reporting signals that gaps or disputed chain-of-custody claims exist and that certified official records are the determinative source for verification [6] [9].