The dark history of Brittany Murphy's house

Murphy was at the height of her career when she bought the furnished home from pop star Britney Spears (who shared it with ex Justin Timberlake) in 2003 for $3.85 million. At this point, Murphy had successfully transformed from "that dorky girl in Clueless" (1995) into a household name. She'd starred in a popular and diverse array of films, including 8 Mile (2002), Just Married (2003), and Uptown Girls (2003), all of which made a pretty penny at the box office. She proved to the critics she had serious chops in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and Riding In Cars with Boys (2001). She maintained a steady revenue stream thanks to her regular supporting role in the hit animated TV series King of the Hill (1997-2010). Bottom line: buying the house was icing on the sweet cake of Murphy's young life.

Murphy's mother and husband discussed the final moments of the actress' life with The Hollywood Reporter in 2011. According to their accounts, Murphy and Monjack returned from the San Juan, Puerto Rico set of The Caller—a film which she refused to complete after discovering it was a horror movie—in late November 2009 because she was suffering from staphylococcus aureus. That illness reportedly lingered in her system and transformed into pneumonia, which in combination with her cocktail of medications and her anemia, turned deadly.

The morning of her passing, Murphy reportedly went out on a balcony off of the bathroom around 3 a.m. to try to catch her breath. Her mother, Sharon, recalled her daughter saying, "Mommy, I can't catch my breath." Rather than taking her to the hospital right away, Sharon offered her daughter tea, reasoning that she looked parched and was "always so dramatic" about illnesses. At approximately 7:30 a.m., the ailing actress supposedly returned to the bathroom she loved so much and collapsed on the floor. Monjack said he ran a cold shower over her while Sharon called the police. By the time Murphy arrived at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, it was too late. Her death was ruled accidental.

In the wake of her daughter and son-in-law's deaths, Sharon Murphy grew agitated with persistent gossip about drug abuse playing a role in their demise. She began to suspect toxic mold in the home may have contributed to her family's fatal illnesses. However, Sharon's suspicions attracted criticism because she supposedly waited two years before voicing those concerns. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles County coroner's office claimed Sharon would not allow its staff to inspect the property for mold after Monjack's death. Sharon refuted that claim.

In 2011, Sharon reached a settlement with the home's builders over defects on the property, but the following year, she sued the lawyers who helped broker that settlement for malpractice, alleging they "tricked her into settling," according to the Los Angeles Times. That suit was reportedly settled out of court in 2013.

Monjack's mother, Linda Monjack, also claimed that her son had found mold in the home before his passing. "All I know is that before Simon's death, he was having hallucinations that things were crawling out of his skin," she told the Daily Mail.