EP 2 - Hardcore Con - Simon Says

Summary

Podcast Summary: Johnathan Walton Media – Hardcore Con, Episode 2: "Simon Says" (June 30, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this riveting episode, host Johnathan Walton dives deep into the tragic, true story of Brittany Murphy—Hollywood star, hopeless romantic, and ultimately, the victim of a master con artist. By exploring Murphy’s relationships and untimely death, Walton exposes the inner workings of love scams and the devastating consequences when manipulation bleeds into isolation and tragedy. The episode is a cautionary tale, illustrating how even intelligent, successful people can fall prey to grifters—leaving listeners with tools and red flags to spot scammers in their own lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Environment of Scams (00:47)

• Walton opens by contextualizing cons in everyday life: from crash-for-cash car accident scams (where staged accidents result in fake witnesses shaking down insurance), to more insidious love scams, which he deems the most dangerous.
• Quote: “By far the worst kind of scams… are love scams. People who fall in love with con artists not knowing they’re con artists. And the other thing they don’t know is that falling in love with a con artist can kill you. That's exactly what happened to famous Hollywood actress Brittany Murphy.” – Jonathan Walton [01:23]

2. Brittany Murphy’s Rise and Relationships (02:30–07:16)

• Quick review of Murphy’s acting breakout in Clueless (1995), her iconic roles, and the public’s fascination with her personal life.

• Relationship Timeline:

  • Eminem (2002) and Ashton Kutcher (2003): High-profile romances that end quickly, highlighting Murphy's reputation as a hopeless romantic.
  • Further engagements that also dissolve quickly, suggesting a pattern of searching for lasting love and stability.

• Quote: “Friends and acquaintances of Brittany Murphy have stated ... she wants to get married more than anything in the world so that she can have kids and start a family. And what no one could have imagined at the time was that Brittany Murphy was unintentionally giving a professional con artist all the intel he needed to scam her to death.” – Jonathan Walton [06:35–07:16]

3. The Fatal Love Story: Meeting Simon Monjack (07:16–11:06)

• Murphy meets Simon Monjack after reading his script for The White Hotel. She believes him to be an accomplished filmmaker, unaware that his credentials are fabricated.
  • Key Insight: Monjack’s only directorial credit is a self-funded, unreleased film, and his “story credit” on Factory Girl was extorted through a frivolous lawsuit.
  • George Hickenlooper, director of Factory Girl, publicly refuted Monjack’s involvement, warning Hollywood that Monjack was a fraud.

4. Red Flags and the Mechanics of the Con (13:11–19:36)

• Walton draws parallels between car insurance companies settling with scammers and Hollywood giving Monjack credit—highlighting how institutions and individuals sometimes enable cons just to avoid hassle.
• Monjack’s manipulations: At a 1999 dinner, Monjack spins grandiose lies about wealth, celebrity lovers, and a miraculous cancer cure to ingratiate himself with Hollywood figures. All verifiably false; he even scammed his own mother out of money using a fake illness.
  • Quote: “Most con artists are psychopaths... Con artists will scam anyone they come into contact with.” – Jonathan Walton [21:08]
• Red Flag #1: The “I just want to help” move. Monjack posed as a helper in Murphy’s career, love life, and finances.
• Red Flag of Isolation: Monjack’s classic technique involved isolating Murphy from her friends, family, and professional circle—firing her agents, managers, hair and makeup, and taking control of her communication.

5. The Downward Spiral (24:10–28:25)

• Total Dependence & Control: Murphy becomes completely reliant on Monjack:

  • He handled her finances—draining her bank account under the guise of fake real estate and diamond investments (which turned out to be worthless).
  • He replaced her entourage, limiting her contacts and even badly doing her hair and makeup on film sets.

• Quote: “Simon mjack was just a con man who was bleeding his victim dry.” – Jonathan Walton [28:17]

6. Tragic End (28:25–32:20)

• December 20, 2009: Brittany Murphy, weakened by six weeks of untreated pneumonia (because Monjack refused to seek help), collapses and dies.

• Walton stresses: Murphy’s death was preventable; Monjack’s paranoia and isolation tactics kept her from getting life-saving care.

• Aftermath: Monjack, spiraling into depression, dies of pneumonia six months later, after continuing to exploit Murphy’s legacy for money.

• Quote: “If she had gotten to a hospital even a day before she died ... she would be alive today.” – Jonathan Walton [29:50]

7. Warnings and Takeaways for Listeners (32:20—end)

• Walton urges listeners to educate themselves on scammer red flags:

  • Murphy’s friends and family overlooked alarming signs, including Monjack’s criminal record, lawsuits, previous scams, and pathological lying.
  • Even Monjack’s brother noted: “From early childhood, Simon had the ability to manipulate the environment to get what he wanted.” [32:25]

• Final message: Love scams don’t stop at money—they can be fatal. Don’t let affection blind you or those you care about to manipulation and isolation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Con artists don’t outsmart you, they out-feel you.” – Jonathan Walton [13:06]
• “[Con artists] will scam their own mother ... Con artists will scam anyone they come into contact with.” – Jonathan Walton [21:04]
• “In order for a con artist to successfully scam you, they need to be able to isolate you...” – Jonathan Walton [24:12]
• “If she had gotten to a hospital even a day before she died ... she would be alive today.” – Jonathan Walton [29:50]
• “Simon mjack was just a con man who was bleeding his victim dry.” – Jonathan Walton [28:17]
• “Of all the podcast episodes I've ever produced, this one was hands down the hardest. I teared up a few times writing it, and I was enraged throughout. But this also might be the most important podcast episode I've ever produced.” – Jonathan Walton [32:30]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:47 — Introduction to the world of cons and scams
• 03:33 — Brittany Murphy’s rise in Hollywood and early relationships
• 07:16 — Brittany Murphy’s death and first encounter with Simon Monjack
• 09:11 — The truth behind Monjack’s Hollywood credentials
• 13:11 — How institutions enable grifters (Hollywood/insurance analogy)
• 19:36 — Monjack’s manipulations and lies at the 1999 dinner party
• 24:10 — Isolation as a red flag; Murphy’s intervention
• 26:51 — “I just want to help” – red flag #1 and financial manipulation
• 28:25 — Brittany Murphy’s illness and the tragic outcome
• 32:20 — Warnings, background check, and key lessons

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Listener Takeaways & Resources

• Love scams are not rare, and charismatic con artists often use affection and manipulation as their main tools.
• Key red flags: excessive helpfulness, rapid escalation of intimacy, attempts to isolate from support systems, and a too-good-to-be-true backstory.
• Trust but verify—do background checks and don’t ignore friends’ and family’s concerns.
• Jonathan Walton’s book, Anatomy of a Con Artist: The 14 Red Flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters, and Thieves, is recommended as an educational resource.

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This episode of Hardcore Con is both a tribute to Brittany Murphy and a wake-up call for anyone vulnerable to the manipulations of con artists.

Transcript

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[Jonathan Walton]

Con artists are everywhere. And innocent people are getting scammed left and right every single day, over the phone, over the Internet. Then here in Los Angeles, there's an uptick in staged accidents, a crash for cash, as it's called, where someone will purposely rear end you and then another scammer in cahoots with them will appear on the scene out of nowhere, saying they saw the whole thing and you were in the wrong, just so they can shake down your insurance company for a few thousand dollars. And this scam works really well. It just happened to a good friend of mine. But by far the worst kind of scams happening these days are love scams. People who fall in love with con artists not knowing they're con artists. And the other thing they don't know is that falling in love with a con artist can kill you. That's exactly what happened to famous Hollywood actress Brittany Murphy. She fell in love with a con artist and it literally killed her. I'm Jonathan Walton and this is Hardcore Con. Episode two. Simon says.

[Brittany Murphy]

I don't know why Dion's going out with a high school boy. They're like dogs.

[Jonathan Walton]

It's a movie that defined the Southern California valley girl archetype.

[Brittany Murphy]

Ugh.

[Jonathan Walton]

As if Clueless comes out in 1995 and it's a monster hit grossing nearly $90 million at the box, eclipsing its $12 million budget.

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Amber.

[Brittany Murphy]

Ms. Stoeger. My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose. Well, there goes your social life.

[Jonathan Walton]

It's about disparate groups of over the top Beverly Hills teenagers navigating the pitfalls of their high end high school. You mean to tell me that you argued your way from a C to an A?

[Brittany Murphy]

Totally based on my powers of persuasion. You proud, honey?

[Jonathan Walton]

I couldn't be Happier than if they were based on real grades, Clueless turns actress Alicia Silverstone into a household name. Is it tough being, you know, the

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

center of attention, star of the movie?

[Brittany Murphy]

Yeah. Cause nobody treats me like it.

[Jonathan Walton]

But Clueless also introduces the world to 17 year old Brittany Murphy, who steals scene after scene after scene in the movie playing Ty, a grungy, not quite Beverly Hills ready teenager undergoing a makeover metamorphosis.

[Brittany Murphy]

I was like, why am I even listening to you? To begin with, you're a virgin who can't drive.

[Jonathan Walton]

After Clueless, Brittany Murphy goes on to star in a slew of hit Hollywood movies, including Girl Interrupted with angelina Jolie in 1999. My father loves Me, don't say a Word with Michael Douglas in 2001.

[Brittany Murphy]

I'll never tell.

[Jonathan Walton]

Uptown Girls with Dakota Fanning in 2003.

[Brittany Murphy]

You don't know what goes on between me and Ray because you don't know very much about your own daughter.

[Jonathan Walton]

And during Brittany Murphy's rise to stardom, she dates a bunch of different kinds of guys, which ultimately sets her up to fall in love with a con artist. Let me explain. Brittany Murphy starts dating Eminem while starring in his movie 8 Mile back in 2002.

[Brittany Murphy]

I hear you're a real dope rapper.

[Jonathan Walton]

Who told you I was a dope rapper? And then she dates Ashton Kutcher while starring in the movie Just Married with him in 2003.

[Brittany Murphy]

We're really married.

[Jonathan Walton]

I mean, their chemistry doing press interviews for the movie is palpable.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

She's a Scorpio. What else do you need to know?

[Brittany Murphy]

I'm a double Scorpio.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Double Scorpio. She'll be doing it on the wedding night.

[Jonathan Walton]

But after five months, Ashton Kutcher breaks up with Britney Murphy, reportedly telling a friend that he had never met anyone who wanted to get married or more than Brittany Murphy.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

I'm not like a big, like, believer in marriage, like all together. But

[Jonathan Walton]

after Eminem and Ashton Kutcher, Brittany goes on to date two other men who are not Hollywood actors or performers. In 2004, she dates a talent manager, and she actually gets engaged to him, saying publicly that he is the love of her life. But the couple breaks up a few months later. And then the next year, in 2005, Brittany Murphy starts dating a production assistant that she meets on the set of the movie she's filming. Little Black Book.

[Brittany Murphy]

How does a girl who jumps into a rabbit hole, plummeting into chaos, come out unchanged?

[Jonathan Walton]

And even though she only knows this guy, this production assistant for a few months, she gets engaged. A big time Hollywood actress getting engaged to a production assistant from one of her films. It's a rare kind of thing, but it does actually happen. I mean, Christina Aguilera famously falls in love with a production assistant from her film burlesque back in 2010.

[Brittany Murphy]

I need a tough pillow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jonathan Walton]

And they're reportedly still together today and have an 11 year old daughter. But Brittany Murphy's engagement to her production assistant boyfriend is sadly short lived. The couple breaks up just a few months later. Friends and acquaintances of Brittany Murphy have stated publicly that she is a hopeless romantic. That she wants to get married more than anything in the world so that she can have kids and start a family. And what no one could have imagined at the time was that Brittany Murphy was unintentionally giving a professional con artist all the intel he needed to scam her to death.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Okay, is she awake? Is she breathing?

[Jonathan Walton]

It's the morning of December 20, 2009, and 32 year old Brittany Murphy is lying dead in her gigantic marbled bathroom in her Hollywood Hills home. Her lifeless body is sprawled out in the shower. A powerful spray of cold water drenches her. She will not come to. So her husband of two years, a man named Simon Monjack, lays her body out on the floor and starts performing cpr.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Let the chest come all the way

[Jonathan Walton]

up between pumps as her frantic mother is on the phone with 911.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Count out loud so I can. I can count with you. Okay. I want to hear. It's got to be at this rate, like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Keep going at that rate. That's too slow, too slow, too slow.

[Brittany Murphy]

Okay, he's still.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

It's got to be a little faster than that. Somebody's doing mouth to mouth.

[Brittany Murphy]

Yes.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Okay. All right. Bam. Did somebody see what happened?

[Brittany Murphy]

No.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Okay.

[Brittany Murphy]

My daughter's passed out.

[Jonathan Walton]

Her daughter Brittany Murphy wasn't passed out, though. She was dead. And her actual cause of death can be traced all the way back to the moment she falls in love with Simon mjack. It's September now, in 2006, three years before Britney Murphy is lying dead on her bathroom floor. She's in Japan shooting a movie called the Ramen Girl.

[Brittany Murphy]

I'm training to become a. A ramen chef.

[Jonathan Walton]

That's a wrap. It's the end of a long day on set and she's sitting in bed in her Tokyo hotel room reading a new script titled the White Hotel, written by British filmmaker Simon Monjack, based on a book about an Austrian opera singer. Being treated by Sigmund Freud for psychosomatic pains in her left breast and vagina. It's a truly bizarre story that the likes of Nicole Kidman, David lynch and Barbra Streisand have all tried and failed to bring to the screen. But Brittany Murphy loves this latest incarnation, supposedly written by Simon mjack, and she wants to meet with him as soon as she gets back to Los Angeles to talk about possibly starring in it. This is your captain speaking. We'll be touching down in Los angeles in about 20 minutes. The temperature is 68 degrees with clear skies and a light breeze coming out of the east. Brittany Murphy is under the impression that Simon mjack is a writer and a director and a producer, but he's actually just a con artist who cleverly appears to be a writer and a director and a producer. But the only film Simon Mjack is credited with directing is a 2001 UK movie called Two Days Nine Lives, a movie that was funded entirely by his own family and a movie that was never actually released to the public. And the only other film credit to Simon Mjack's name is a bizarre story credit for 2006 film called Factory Girl.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Here is prop. Okay, you're disposable to him.

[Jonathan Walton]

But the actual director of Factory Girl, George Hickenlooper, the reason I made the

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

film was to sort of tell a story about, you know, what it means

[Jonathan Walton]

to look for love, has stated publicly that, quote, simon mjack had nothing to do with the film Factory Girl and that he filed a frivolous lawsuit against the movie, making bogus claims that they'd stolen his script and they were forced to settle with him as he held the production over a barrel. Simon mjack wanted a story credit on the movie in order to drop his lawsuit and producers just gave it to him because it was much cheaper and quicker than going to trial. I mean, a trial would have held up the film's release and cost producers millions of dollars.

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[Jonathan Walton]

8.

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[Jonathan Walton]

so they settled with Simon mjack and gave him a story credit, which didn't cost them anything just so they could release their movie on time. A movie that Simon MJack had no part in making. It's the same reason car insurance companies will just pay off those crash for cash scammers I mentioned earlier, because cutting them a check for 5 or $10,000 is way cheaper than paying a lawyer to go to trial. But the director of the movie Factory Girl, George Hickenlooper, desperately tried to sound the alarm that Simon mjack was using his ill gotten scammy Factory Girl movie credit to solicit money from Hollywood. But actresses like Britney Murphy were just not listening. It's early 2007 now, a few months after Simon Mjack scammed his way into getting that Factory Girl movie credit, and he and Brittany Murphy are having dinner at a swanky Los Angeles eatery, discussing the movie he's planning to cast her in, the White Hotel. Brittany Murphy loves his script and his refined British accent. There's just something about a British accent to most Americans that engenders trust and respect and imbues whatever they're saying with authority and a tinge of majesty. Brittany Murphy wholeheartedly believes this movie, the White Hotel, is really gonna happen, and she's excited for the opportunity. But the White Hotel will never actually be made. Remember, con artists don't outsmart you, they out feel you. And right now Simon Monjack is ruthlessly out feeling Britney Murphy, weaponizing her excitement against her to hook her into his latest scam. Keep in mind, Simon mjack is not a good looking man by any stretch. He's about 100 pounds overweight and really greasy. But as I explain in my book Anatomy of a con artist. The 14 red flags to spot scammers, grifters, and thieves. I what most professional con men and con women lack in physical appearance, they more than make up for with their personality and charm and charisma. That is their superpower, and that's how they rope their victims in. Simon mjack appears exceedingly charming and charismatic to Brittany Murphy, and he's chokingly reverential. He tells her that if she listens to to him and if she does a good job on his film, she could win her first Oscar for the role he's giving her. And just so you know, the desire to win an Oscar is like crack to most actors in this town. Some of them will literally do anything for it.

[Brittany Murphy]

I would like to thank Harvey Weinstein.

[Sean Duffy]

Thank Harvey Weinstein.

[Brittany Murphy]

Thank you, Harvey Weinstein.

[Jonathan Walton]

At some point during that first dinner with Simon mjack, Brittany Murphy makes the fatal mistake that every victim makes. In the midst of every professional con artist. She reveals the thing she really wants more than anything in the world and the thing that she's having trouble getting in life, and that's a husband and a baby. If you recall, Brittany Murphy's four previous relationships with Eminem and Ashton Kutcher and the other two guys she was engaged to all ended. And Ashton Kutcher tells a friend in a disparaging way that he'd never met anyone who wanted to get married more than Brittany Murphy. Well, the second Simon Monjack figures out her problem, he quickly begins to position himself as the solution. Just four months after that inauspicious dinner in Los Angeles, where Simon Monjack casts Brittany Murphy as the lead in a film that he tricks her into believing is really happening. She actually marries him in a private ceremony to the utter shock and awe of all her friends and family, all except for Brittany Murphy's mother. She gets taken in by the con man, too, and she gets sucked into this fictitious world he creates out of whole cloth made up of lies he's been telling for years, perfecting each fantastical tale over time. Eight years before Brittany Murphy marries Simon Mjack, it's 1999, and Alison Burnett, the screenwriter for the movie Autumn in New York, starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, is hosting a dinner party for industry friends and invites Simon Monjack to attend. Because Burnett's heard tell that Simon Monjack is a billionaire from London who just got to Hollywood and is looking to mix things up. Burnett thinks maybe Simon Monjack can fund a film I want to make. I'd like to propose a toast. During dinner, Simon Monjack is quite the bon vivant raconteur, regaling everyone at the table with tales of his incredible wealth. He says his grandfather is the founder of British Steel and that he, Simon Monjack, personally owns 17 Ferraris and that his past girlfriends include supermodel Elle McPherson and Madonna. Now, remember, this dinner party is happening in 1999. There are no smartphones, no social media, and only 26% of homes have Internet. So people can't really Google stuff in the moment, making the tall tales told by con artists of the day that much more believable.

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[Jonathan Walton]

about that, doesn't she? See, that's the thing. Simon mjack also tells those Hollywood writers and producers gathered at that long and important dinner table that night that he recently had terminal brain cancer and beat it into remission by ingesting a rare and very expensive potion derived from shark fins. Keep in mind, nothing Simon mjack tells the people at that dinner party that night is true. And his cancer story is actually a rerun. Years earlier, he tells the same story to his own mother and tricks her out of thousands of dollars for fictitious treatments and hospital stays. That did not happen. Most con artists are psychopaths, which means there's a stark difference between con artists and other kinds of criminals. Let's take a mob boss, for instance. Yes, a mob boss will order the murder of dozens of people who cross him, and there will be blood on his hands for sure. But a mob boss loves his own mother and would never do anything to harm his own family. Con artists, on the other hand, will scam their own mother and their father and their brothers and their sisters and their children. Con artists will scam anyone they come into contact with. So the fact that Simon mjack scammed his own mother using fake cancer treatments as a ruse should tell you everything you need to know about his character. Or lack thereof. It's 2003 now, four years before Brittany Murphy marries Simon Mjack. She's still dating Ashton Kutcher at this point, and she plunks down nearly $4 million and buys a beautiful five bedroom, 8,000 square foot mansion in the Hollywood Hills from none other than Britney Su Spears. Spears is reportedly thrilled to be getting rid of that house because in her mind, it's haunted. She tells a friend that a ghost tried to push her down the stairs, and she's glad to be getting out of it.

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[Jonathan Walton]

So in 2003, Brittany Murphy moves into that house with her mother, who she's been living with ever since she was born. I mean, Britney and her mother are inseparable. She's 28 years old at this point, but when she was a kid, her mother sees tremendous talent in Brittany Murphy. This is her at 12 years old, charming a local New Jersey TV reporter at the fair into including her in his story. She precociously walks right up to him, braver than Gunga dinner, and asks point blank if he'd like a children's perspective on the fair story he's covering that day.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Yes, I would like a children's perspective.

[Brittany Murphy]

Great.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

What is your name?

[Brittany Murphy]

Brittany.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Brittany. How you doing today, Brittany?

[Brittany Murphy]

Great. How are you?

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Very good. You want a job hosting a television show?

[Brittany Murphy]

Sure.

[Jonathan Walton]

You seem to have like a good personality. Even at 12 years old, Brittany Murphy had it that ineffable quality most Hollywood stars have. They just pop and they really stand out in a crowd. Britney's mom knew her daughter was special ever since she was a kid doing school plays. And in 1991, she moves Britney from New Jersey to Los Angeles. When Britney is just 13 years old so she can pursue a legitimate acting career.

[Brittany Murphy]

Line up and when you're called on, say your lines to camera.

[Jonathan Walton]

And just a flat four years later, in 1995, Brittany Murphy lands that breakout role in Clueless.

[Brittany Murphy]

This is a bunch of junk that reminded me of Elton, but I want to burn it because I am so over him.

[Jonathan Walton]

Fast Forward now to 2008 and 2009 and Brittany Murphy's married life with her husband, con artist Simon mjack. I want to point out here that one of the major 14 red flags that every scammer waves. It's the red flag of isolation. In order for a con artist to successfully scam you, they need to be able to isolate you to lure you away from friends and family members who might otherwise talk you out of going along with a con who might poke holes in all the incredible stories you're being told. And over the course of their two plus years together, Simon Monjack isolates Brittany Murphy from all of her friends and family. It gets so bad that one day all of her Loved ones orchestrate a bonafide intervention to try to get Brittany Murphy to understand that her husband is a pathological liar and he's been isolating her from them and he's not good for her. But by this time, it was too late. Brittany Murphy was madly in love with Simon mjack, or rather, madly in love with the man she believed him to be. And love is the most powerful force there is in the universe. People kill for love all the time and die for love all the time. Most people, myself included, will do anything for the person they love. Anything. And if you're in love with a con artist like Brittany Murphy was in love with Simon mjack, doing anything included turning her back on all of her friends and family who tried to talk some sense into her that day. During that intervention, And to complete the utter isolation of Brittany Murphy, con artist Simon mjack fires her agent, fires her manager, and fires her lawyer, and he takes control of her cell phone and her email account. He didn't want anyone outside his purview talking to her or telling her anything that might pierce the veil of the made up world he was holding her hostage in. He even fires her hair and makeup person on her last film and insists on doing her hair and makeup himself. And he does an awful job. It's a movie called Something Wicked, and Brittany Murphy's hair and makeup lives up to the film's title.

[Brittany Murphy]

Ever since the accident, he's been displaying signs of post traumatic stress.

[Jonathan Walton]

From the moment Brittany Murphy starts dating Simon mjack, he is ferociously waving the first con artist red flag that I write extensively about in my book, it's red flag number one. I just want to help, because who doesn't immediately love a helper? And from day one, Brittany Murphy believes with all her heart that Simon mjack is helping her. Helping her with her career, helping her with her love life, and helping her with her finances. In the two years they were married, Simon Mjack takes $3 million out of Brittany Murphy's bank account and convinces her he's investing it in real estate. And he buys her diamonds with some of that money and tells her they're investments too, and that these diamonds will appreciate astronomically in value as the years go by and will be worth many millions more very soon. But the truth of the matter is there were never any investments. No real estate, no nothing. And all of those diamonds he bought her were fake. Simon mjack was just a con man who was bleeding his victim dry.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

911, what's the emergency? Police.

[Brittany Murphy]

Oh, somebody's Passed out.

[Emergency Operator / 911 Dispatcher]

Somebody.

[Brittany Murphy]

What somebody? My daughter's passed out.

[Jonathan Walton]

So on that morning of December 20, 2009, when Brittany Murphy's mother is calling 911 and Simon Mjack is doing chest compressions on her lifeless body, it's too late. She's already dead. And her official cause of death is pneumonia. But here's the thing. Brittany Murphy had been battling a respiratory infection for six weeks. Six motherfucking weeks. And she just kept getting worse and worse. And Simon mjack wouldn't take her to a doctor and he wouldn't take her to a hospital. Why? Because like all con artists who isolate their victims, they are constantly terrified and on edge. That someone their victim talks to on the outside might snap them out of the spell they're in. Might ruin the con. A dozen different doctors who've investigated the death of Brittany Murphy all say the same thing. That if she had gotten to a hospital even a day before she died or at some point during her six week respiratory infection, that she would be alive today. Because pneumonia is curable as long as you catch it in time. In the aftermath of Brittany Murphy's death, Simon Monjack took money from the media to give tours of her home. And he created a phony non profit in her name and solicited tens of thousands of dollars in donations. It's obvious to me that the last thing in the world Simon mjack wanted was Brittany Murphy dead. I mean, she was his meal ticket, she was his livelihood. And now that she's gone, there's no money coming in. Simon Monjack quickly falls into a deep depression and starts drinking and gets very sick himself. He actually catches pneumonia and refuses to go to the hospital. And six months after Brittany Murphy's death, on May 23, 2010, Simon Monjack dies in bed of pneumonia, just like his wife. Of all the podcast episodes I've ever produced, this one was hands down the hardest. I teared up a few times writing it, and I was enraged throughout. But this also might be the most important podcast episode I've ever produced. Because you all need to know how these love scams are hatched so you can spot them not just in your own life, but in the lives of the people you care about. I wish someone close to Brittany Murphy would have run a background check on Simon MJack early on before she fell madly in love with him and that love blinded her. And God knows, before she married him, they would have seen criminal charges and a warrant issued for his arrest for credit card fraud in 2005. They would have seen that he ripped off a UK bank for half a million dollars and that bank successfully sued him for it in 2006. They would have discovered he's not the heir to British Steel. In fact, he's not wealthy at all. They might have even dug up the fact that he did similar things to previous girlfriends, isolated them from their family and friends, and bought them fake jewels. Simon mjack's own brother summed him up thusly. Quote from early childhood, Simon had the ability to manipulate the environment to get what he wanted out of it. And his brother didn't say this in a disparaging way. It was just a matter of fact. Simon mjack was a dyed in the wool con artist and he was waving every single one of the 14 red flags that I write about in my book that con artists wave before they scam you. But no one noticed until it was much too late and it cost Brittany Murphy her life. Dead at just 32 years old. Hardcore Con was created, written and hosted by me, Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Media Executive Producer Evan Goldstein. All editing and sound design was done by Jimmy O'. Holligan. My book, Anatomy of a Con Artist the 14 Red Flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters and Thieves is available everywhere. Books are sold in print and audio, so it's like a podcast. And both print and audio are also available for free at most public libraries throughout the country and on the Libby app. God, I love the Libby app. Make sure you subscribe to Jonathan Walton Media on whatever podcast platform you're listening on so you can get alerts when new episodes drop and new seasons. And if you've got a story you think deserves its own podcast, pitch it to me@Jonathan Walton.com.

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