Late actress'husband dies

LOS ANGELES - The husband of Brittany Murphy was found dead late Sunday at the Los Angeles home he shared with the late actress, police said.

The preliminary cause of British screenwriter Simon Monjack's death is natural causes, police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano said. Another spokesman, Sgt. Alex Ortiz, said there were no signs of foul play.

Murphy died after collapsing in her Hollywood Hills home on Dec. 20.

Firefighters responding to an emergency call from a woman at 9:40 p.m. found Monjack dead at the Hollywood Hills residence, Lozano said. Ortiz said he didn't know who called. Monjack, 39, and Murphy had shared their home with Murphy's mother, Sharon.

Ortiz said that the Los Angeles Coroner's Office was taking over the investigation because criminal activity had been ruled out, and would provide more details later on the death and circumstances surrounding it.

At his wife's funeral in December, a visibly emotional Monjack talked about their relationship and called her his best friend and soul mate. The two married in 2007. He had said that they had been planning a family and contemplating a move to New York.