It is one of Hollywood’s most haunting mysteries — the tragic deaths of Brittany Murphy and her husband just five months apart.
While the world obsessed over how the 32-year-old actress died, a second drama was unfolding behind the scenes: the collapse of a $15 million fortune and a “cursed” property that became a financial black hole.
From claims of “bad spirits” to a botched estate plan that saw millions vanish, here is how the star’s legacy slipped through her family’s fingers.
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Brittany Murphy and her husband, Simon Monjack. Picture: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for IMG
Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash and Brittany Murphy in the 1995 fim Clueless. Picture: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection
The house Britney Spears fled
Long before the tragedy, the mansion on Rising Glen Road was already a place of dread.
Murphy purchased the Hollywood Hills home in 2003 for $US3.85 million ($A5.7 million) from pop princess Britney Spears.
The Toxic singer reportedly fled the home after a terrifying encounter with what she described as “bad spirits.”
The experience left Spears so shaken she refused to ever step foot in the residence again.
Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, later revealed the Clueless star shared those fears, believing the home was “unlucky.”
“She absolutely hated the Rising Glen house,” Monjack told The Hollywood Reporter before his own death.
“Every time we would drive up Sunset, Brit would say, ‘Please can we stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel?’ I’d say, ‘Honey, you’ve got to be realistic. We have our house, a 10,000-square-foot home, we’re going to stay in it.’”
Murphy purchased the home from pop star Britney Spears. Picture: JB Lacroix/WireImage
‘Cursed’ property
On December 20, 2009, Murphy was found dead in the bathroom of the home. In a tragic twist, Monjack, 40, passed away in similar circumstances just five months later.
The LA coroner ruled both deaths were due to a combination of pneumonia, anaemia, and drug intoxication.
The coincidence sparked wild conspiracy theories, with many blaming the “cursed” property itself.
The stigma made the home nearly impossible to sell. Murphy’s mother, Sharon, eventually offloaded it in 2011 for $US2.7 million ($A4 million) — taking a massive $1.5 million loss.
The property that now stands on the original lot, is not the exact same dwelling where Murphy and Spears lived.
That home was torn down in 2013 in order to make way for an ultra-modern six-bedroom, 8.5-bathroom mansion, which was sold in March 2017 for $US14.53 million ($A21.9 million).
The home was torn down in 2013 in order to make way for an ultra-modern six-bedroom mansion, which was sold in 2017 for $US14.53 million. Picture: Google Maps
Where did Brittany Murphy’s $15 million fortune go?
Back in 2022, Murphy’s half-brother, Tony Bertolott had questions about where her $US10 million ($A15 million) fortune went.
Mr Bertolott claimed that there were three people in control of the estate after Brittany passed – Sharon, a newspaper editor, and a doctor she was being treated by.
“The estate was left to Sharon, an editor of a major Hollywood newspaper — he was on the paperwork for her estate — and also a diabetes doctor from Miami she was seeing,” he explained to The US Sun.
“Those were the controlling names on the estate.”
Bertolotti didn’t name the newspaper editor, and it’s unclear how he knew Murphy.
The brother claimed that family members have been trying to get details about Murphy’s estate, to no avail.
“Those were the controlling names on the estate. Brittany had no control over that estate,”
Monjack was written out of Murphy’s will. Picture: David Livingston/Getty Images
Reports at the time said Monjack was written out of the will and the whole of the estate went to Sharon, but as Brittany’s assets were held in a trust, it avoids probate public record and her estate’s contents remain confidential.
It’s believed Monjack siphoned off hundreds of thousands with her business manager Jeffrey Morgenroth suggesting up to 80 per cent disappeared, adding: “There were huge amounts of money in [Brittany’s] pension plan and bank account, and all of that’s gone.
“I would see it on the statements. There was money being withdrawn by Simon, hundreds of thousands.”
Mr Bertolotti, who said he doesn’t want any of his sister’s money, added, “Somebody would have to come forward with proof and testify.
“The guy that’s got the real information is the butler,” the brother said.
“He knows more than anybody else. He quit because the place was a nuthouse. He confided with my father.
“Pop passed away and wasn’t able to get any more forward otherwise it would still be moving.
“I just pray for my sister to rest in peace,” Bertolotti added.
Parts of this story first appeared in The US Sun and was republished with permission.
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