Reports: Michael Jackson's death ruled homicide
A recently unsealed court document confirmed that Michael Jackson's death was caused by a drug cocktail of sedatives and the anesthetic propofol, according to the Houston Chronicle. The document confirms that Houston cardiologist Conrad Murray gave Jackson five doses of sedatives the morning of his death before administering the propofol.
No charges have been filed, however the Los Angeles coroner's office has officially ruled the death a homicide, an anonymous source told the Associated Press.
Murray, who had been treating Jackson's insomnia for six weeks, said he had been injecting the singer every night with 50 mg of propofol, diluted with Lidocaine, according to the 32-page search warrant affidavit that was unsealed in Houston yesterday (8/24).
The doctor reportedly said he became concerned about Jackson forming an addiction to the drug and had tried to wean him off of it in the days before his death. Murray said he used a combination of other drugs--primarily benzodiazepines including Valium, Ativan and Versed--to help Jackson sleep the two nights before he died.
However, on the day of Jackson's death, Murray reportedly claimed the other drugs, which he administered five times over six hours, had failed to put MJ to sleep, so he administered 25 mg of propofol after repeated demands and requests from the performer. Murray's comments in the affidavit come primarily from a three-hour interview he gave to Los Angeles police detectives two days after Jackson's June 25 death.
Police also are looking into the allegation that Murray delayed calling the paramedics when he found Jackson was not breathing and didn't tell paramedics or emergency room doctors that he had administered propofol shortly before Jackson stopped breathing, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Murray's lawyer disputed the accuracy of the search warrant affidavit, which was filed before last month's raid at Murray's Houston clinic and storage facility. Attorney Ed Chernoff said in a statement that parts of the search warrant affidavit are factual, but much is just police theory.
Authorities reportedly are investigating at least five different physicians as well as pharmacies in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills. However, Murray is the only one named in court documents as the target of the manslaughter investigation, according to the Times report.
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