LOS ANGELES — A law enforcement official said Monday that the Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide.
The finding makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor, Conrad Murray, who was with the pop star when he died June 25. Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson’s personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation.
A designation of homicide means that Jackson died at the hands of another, but does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.
Los Angeles County coroner’s officials found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson’s death, according to the official.
According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston, Murray told Los Angeles police detectives that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks. He had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night using an intravenous line, according to the court records.
But Murray told detectives that he feared Jackson was forming an addiction and began trying to wean the pop star off the drugs. He lowered the dosage to 25 milligrams and mixed it with two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam. On June 23, two days before Jackson’s death, he administered two medications and withheld the propofol.
On the morning Jackson died, Murray tried to induce sleep without using propofol, according to the affidavit. He said he gave Jackson Valium at 1:30 a.m. When that didn’t work, he said, he injected lorazepam intravenously at 2 a.m. At 3 a.m., when Jackson was still awake, Murray administered midazolam.
Over the next few hours, Murray said he gave Jackson various drugs. Then at 10:40 a.m., Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol after Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug, according to the court record.
In an interview with police, Murray told them that he left Jackson alone under the influence of the medication to make telephone calls to his Houston office and family members.
When he returned, he discovered Jackson was not breathing. He performed CPR, and one of Jackson’s staff members called 911. The 50-year-old pop star was rushed to a hospital, where he later was declared dead.
Although Murray acknowledged to police that he administered profofol, authorities said they could find no evidence that he had purchased, ordered or obtained the medication under his medical license or DEA tracking number. However, detectives saw about eight bottles of Propofol in the house along with other vials and pills that had been prescribed to Jackson by Murray, Dr. Arnold Klein and Dr. Allan Metzger.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
