Hicks: Was Brittany Murphy poisoned? - San Jose Mercury News

Brittany Murphy's father is behind an investigation as to whether the actress was poisoned when she died in 2009.

According to a new report at the Examiner.com ^[1] , the actress's father, Angelo Bertolotti, has been pursuing further tests on the deaths of Murphy and her husband, Simon Monjack, who died five months after Murphy.

Bertolotti didn't believe the coroner's conclusion that Murphy died of pneumonia and Monjack of anemia. He has since fought to have additional hair, blood and tissue samples tested for heavy metals and toxins, due to the similar symptoms Murphy and Monjack exhibited before their unexpected deaths.

According to the Examiner, the resulting lab

Actress Brittany Murphy rests after taping an appearance on "The Tonight Show, " Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Ric Francis)

report says "Ten (10) of the heavy metals evaluated were detected at levels higher that the WHO (The World Health Organization) high levels ... We have detected ten ... 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."

Whoa.

MSN.com ^[2] pointed out that heavy metals can be found in household products including rat poison and insecticides. The Examiner.com ^[3] pointed out that symptoms of heavy metal poisoning -- "headache, dizziness, gastrointestinal, neurological, respiratory, or dermal symptoms such as abdominal cramps, tremors, tachycardia, sweating, disorientation, coughing, wheezing, congestion and pneumonia" -- were all exhibited by Murphy and Monjack shortly before they died.

"My daughter was neither anorexic nor a drug junkie, as they repeatedly implied," Bertolotti said. "I will not rest until the truth about these tragic events is told. There will be justice for Brittany."

Toxic mold in the couple's home has also been mentioned as a possible cause.

Contact Tony Hicks at Facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks ^[4] or Twitter.com/insertfoot ^[5] .