Coroner Who Performed Marilyn Monroe's Autopsy FINALLY Tells All: Thomas Noguchi, 98, Declares He 'Was a Pawn in Their Cover-up' on 63rd Anniversary of Blonde Bombshell's Mysterious Death

Marilyn Monroe's death, 63 years ago, continues to be shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories, and the man who performed the autopsy on the blonde bombshell has finally spilled it all, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Thomas Noguchi was one of the newest deputy coroners working in Los Angeles County in August 1962 when he was handed the responsibility of looking into Monroe's death, and now in the book LA Coroner by Anne Soon Choi, he revealed how he was truly never confident suicide was the cause of death.

"It was straightforward," Noguchi told Choi for the book. "But an autopsy would need to be done to confirm the death." In the "Additional Information" section of his report, Noguchi had learned the Hollywood legend had been given a prescription for Nembutal two days earlier, and that she was "very despondent" when she spoke to a psychiatrist a day earlier.

During his autopsy, Noguchi, 37 years old at the time, checked to see if Monroe had been injected with any sort of drugs.

Choi wrote: "[Noguchi] checked the usual spots: the crook of the elbow, the upper thigh, in the webbing of the fingers and toes. He found none. He pushed aside her platinum blond hair to examine her scalp. Nothing."

"After turning her right side up, he turned to a tray of tools, picked up a scalpel, and began the familiar Y-incision," Choi continued of Noguchi's autopsy.

Noguchi also "removed and weighed the organs for the physical autopsy report. He noted that the gallbladder was missing, which explained the scar on her abdomen," as the Some Like It Hot actress had gallbladder surgery the year before.

At the time, Noguchi had noted Monroe had "died of an overdose of sleeping pills. A routine suicide." However, "alarm bells went off in his head" when the toxicology results arrived.

The head toxicologist, Raymond Abernathy, after he discovered fatal levels of pentobarbital and chloral hydrate in the movie star's system, decided additional tests on the stomach and other organs were not needed.

"A wave of anxiety washed over [Noguchi]," Choi said. "He knew that not running the additional tests would become a problem for him. It left too many questions unanswered, and ultimately, as the pathologist who conducted the physical autopsy, he would be held responsible."

Noguchi, "wanted to rectify the situation by having the stomach's contents and organs tested," Choi explained, "but the toxicologist disposed of them once the coroner's report was issued.

"Without a complete analysis, it was impossible to rule out that Monroe had died by injection rather than by swallowing pills. But what could he do? He couldn't challenge Curphey or the head toxicologist."

While Monroe "was perhaps the most famous woman in the country, if not the world, why would the Chief Coroner have passed on such an opportunity?" Choi pondered. "[Noguchi] couldn't shake the sense of uneasiness that had dogged him since the beginning. Was there a chance that she was murdered? Was he a pawn in a cover-up?"

Monroe's death sparked has continued to stir up theories, most notably that President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert 'Bobby' Kennedy, were behind her death.

Recordings from a secret surveillance microphone, which had been hidden in Monroe's home, revealed a vicious fight between the star and RKF. The equipment was installed by former vice detective Fred Otash, who made his living as a "fact verifier" for gossip magazines, as noted in Josh Young and Manfred Westphal's book, The Fixer.

In the recording, RFK, along with English actor Peter Lawford in attendance, heard it from Monroe, who demanded to know why he was not eager to tie the knot with her. Both RFK and JFK were rumored to be in a relationship with the blonde at some point.

According to Otash, Monroe "was screaming. Bobby gets the pillow and muffles her on the bed to keep the neighbors from hearing. She finally quieted down, and then he was looking to get out of there."

Monroe was found naked and lying on her back on the bed, clutching her telephone on August 5, 1962. She was announced dead, with a barbiturate overdose as the cause of death.

Another conspiracy theory claimed Monroe was pregnant with JFK's baby during his 1960 presidential campaign, and declassified FBI files suggested rogue government operatives plotted her demise.