Michael Jackson's Death Ruled Homicide

[Sionnach Glic]

AP Source: Coroner rules Jackson's death homicide

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer

Monday, August 24, 2009
(08-24) 16:12 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --

The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide and a combination of drugs was the cause, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died.

Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson's death June 25 in his rented Los Angeles mansion, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson's personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. A designation of homicide means that Jackson died at the hands of another, but does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.

A search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston includes a detailed account of what Murray told investigators.

According to the document, Murray said he'd been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks with 50 milligrams of propofol every night via an intravenous drip. But he said he feared Jackson was forming an addiction to the anesthetic, which is normally used in hospitals only, and was attempting to wean his patient by lowering the dose to 25 milligrams and adding the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam.

That combination succeeded in helping Jackson sleep two days prior to his death, so the next day, Murray told detectives he cut off the propofol - and Jackson fell asleep with just the two sedatives.

Then around 1:30 a.m. on June 25, starting with a 10-milligram tab of Valium, Murray said he tried a series of drugs instead of propofol to make Jackson sleep. The injections included two milligrams of lorazepam around 2 a.m., two milligrams of midazolam around 3 a.m., and repeats of each at 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. respectively.

But they didn't work.

Murray told detectives that around 10:40 a.m. he gave in to Jackson's "repeated demands/requests" for propofol, which the singer referred to as his "milk." He administered 25 milligrams of the white-colored liquid, - a relatively small dose - and finally, Jackson fell asleep.

Murray remained with the sedated Jackson for about 10 minutes, then left for the bathroom. No more than two minutes later, he returned - and found Jackson had stopped breathing.

"There's no surprise there" that death could result from such a combination, said Dr. David Zvara, anesthesia chairman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"All those drugs act in synergy with each other," Zvara said. Adding propofol on top of all the other sedatives "tipped the balance."

Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official told the AP.

When he died, Jackson was skinny but not overly emaciated, and his body had bed sores, the official said. The singer is believed to have developed bed sores in the months following his 2005 acquittal of child molestation charges, when he went into seclusion and spent long stretches in bed.

Murray has spoken to police and last week released a video saying he "told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail." Murray did not say anything about the drugs he gave to Jackson. Murray's attorney, Edward Chernoff, had no immediate comment but has previously said Murray never administered anything that "should have" killed Jackson.

A call to the coroner's office was not returned Monday.

Jackson's family released a statement Monday, saying it has "full confidence" in the legal process and the efforts of investigators. It concludes: "The family looks forward to the day that justice can be served."

The 25 milligrams of propofol Murray told police he gave Jackson the day he died "is not a whopping amount," said Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System. But by combining propofol with a cocktail of the other sedatives, known as benzodiazepines, it "may have been the trigger that pushed him over the edge," Cantrell said.

Cantrell said it's perplexing that someone would give various benzodiazepines if one was found not to be effective.

"This is horrible polypharmacy," he said, referring to the interaction between the various drugs. "No one will treat an insomniac like this."

The affidavit says Murray told investigators he didn't order or buy any propofol and had found about eight bottles of it in Jackson's home along with numerous other medications. But investigators served a search warrant Aug. 11 at a Las Vegas pharmacy and uncovered evidence showing Murray legally purchased from the store the propofol he gave Jackson the day he died.

Murray didn't tell paramedics or doctors at UCLA hospital where Jackson was rushed June 25 about any drugs he administered other than lorazepam and flumazenil, according to the affidavit. The document says it was only during a subsequent interview with Los Angeles Police detectives that Murray gave a more full accounting of the events leading up to the 911 call.

The coroner's office has not publicly released its autopsy findings, citing a request from police detectives to withhold results until their investigation is complete.

Homicide, or "death at the hands of another," is one of several possible findings in a coroner's death investigation. The designation does not necessarily mean a crime was committed though it is a useful starting point for prosecutors, said Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner in New York City and a forensics expert involved in many high-profile murder cases.

"It is an easier prosecution when the medical examiner calls it a homicide," said Baden, who is not involved in the Jackson investigation.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press Writers Justin Pritchard and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles; AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee; and AP Writer Michael Gracyzk in Houston.

[Teaos]

Are they dead serious about that?

[stitch626]

Nice Teaos.

[Tyyr]

Well, we'll never hear the end of this.

[Mikey]

Yeah, I'm sure Jackson protested very strongly against taking thos drugs. Negligence - most probably. Homicide - nope.

[Tsukiyumi]

Yeah, I'm sure Jackson protested very strongly against taking thos drugs. Negligence - most probably. Homicide - nope.

Negligent homicide is still homicide. A doctor should know better about drugs like that, no matter how much the patient protests. At the very least, he should lose his medical license permanently.

[Mikey]

I call BS. Yeah, the doc is a weird combination of stupid and immorally irresponsible; but blame for Jackson's deathr ests primarily with Jackson.

[Tsukiyumi]

I call BS. Yeah, the doc is a weird combination of stupid and immorally irresponsible; but blame for Jackson's deathr ests primarily with Jackson.

Except Michael Jackson wasn't a licensed physician. He had no access to Propofol without this guy. I think he's extremely negligent at best, and explicitly responsible in all honesty.

[stitch626]

Thats the whole point of negligent homicide. He provided the drugs, which makes him just as guilty (legally) as Jackson.
If he's convicted that is.

[Tyyr]

Ohhh, Diprivan. Oh yeah, that stuff's pretty trippy. I had it when I went in for surgery and so did my daughter. She was kinda funny. She was pissed, scared, and just generally unhappy about things when she went in for her last surgery. We comforted her as best we could be she still didn't like it. Then they gave her a dose of that stuff. Her little eyes suddenly dilated big time and she looked at us, smiled big, and then giggled for no apparent reason.

[Tsukiyumi]

Thats the whole point of negligent homicide. He provided the drugs, which makes him just as guilty (legally) as Jackson.
If he's convicted that is.

Listen, I understand the guy's situation: he had a powerful person asking him for powerful drugs, and Jackson probably threatened to fire him if he didn't comply.

So, his greed won out over his common sense. Tough sh*t. He knew better, but decided to override his professional judgment for a fat paycheck.

Ohhh, Diprivan...

Plus the stuff I mentioned, plus other powerful stuff. No reasonable person would think it was okay to dose someone with that many drugs, unless your intent was to kill them.

[Mikey]

So, let's take a hypothetical trip back in time. If I had managed to kill myself on a meth bender, you're really saying it would be someone else's fault? I mean, I decided to take the drugs, but I'm no biochemist, so it's not my fault, right?

[Tsukiyumi]

So, let's take a hypothetical trip back in time. If I had managed to kill myself on a meth bender, you're really saying it would be someone else's fault? I mean, I decided to take the drugs, but I'm no biochemist, so it's not my fault, right?

But, the dealer most likely wasn't a doctor. Right?

If this had been some guy off of the street who sold him illegal drugs (they are restricted), I might agree, but just the same as police officers, doctors should be held to a higher ethical and moral standard. He knew what would happen, or at least should have; otherwise he should never have been made a doctor.

[Sionnach Glic]

Indeed. You weren't being administered those drugs by a trained physician. Jackson was. The only way those drugs were available to him was through his doctor. And after taking the first few drugs, he'd have been way too out of it to ask for any more. Any responsible doctor would have refused to give him anything else.

[Tyyr]

While I'm normally all for personal responsibility I'm with Tsuki on this. This wasn't Jackson shooting himself full of drugs. This was a trained certified physician administering drugs to someone under his care. He has a duty to treat his patient, but he also has an obligation to not kill them in the process. He should know the dangers of the drugs he was using. It doesn't matter if Jackson was begging for them, the doctor decided to give them to him. Jackson isn't innocent, but neither is the doctor.