Michael Jackson's Death Reportedly Ruled Homicide

08/25/09 11:41am

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Michael Jackson's death has reportedly been ruled a homicide, which could result in criminal charges against Jackson's doctor.

Although the Los Angeles County coroner's report has not been officially released, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press the coroner determined the King Of Pop died from a lethal combination of the anaesthetic propofol and at least two other sedatives.

No charges have been laid against Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's cardiologist who was originally reported to have found him on June 25 and who was reportedly the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department in the weeks following Jackson's death. The coroner's finding means it is more likely Murray could face charges at some point in the future.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Murray told detectives he tried to induce sleep by giving Jackson a dose of Valium early that day. The Associated Press reports Murray followed that with an injection of lorazepam half an hour later and midazolam an hour after that, according to the affidavit.

Murray told investigators he then gave Jackson more drugs before giving Jackson a dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. that morning after Jackson repeatedly asked him for it. The Associated Press reports that court records show Murray had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night intravenously.

The Associated Press also reports Murray says he then left 10 minutes later to use the washroom and make telephone calls and returned around 11 a.m. to find Jackson was not breathing, initiated CPR and gave him another drug to reduce the effects of the sedatives.

But police say Murray's cellphone records show he made three separate calls from between 11:18 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. instead. In the affidavit, Murray told police he had been administering CPR to Jackson during that time.

Murray also told police he was worried Jackson was becoming addicted to propofol, and had been trying to wean him off it. According to the affidavit, he administered the two other sedatives two days before Jackson's death, but did not give the singer propofol due to his concerns.

Edward Chernoff, Murray's lawyer, said in a statement he would not comment on the report that Jackson's death had been ruled a homicide. He also disputed the information in the affidavit, and said Murray had never told investigators he had left and returned to discover Jackson was not breathing.

"Much of what was in the search warrant is factual," Chernoff said in the statement, according to MTV News. "However, unfortunately, much is police theory. Most egregiously, the timeline reported by law enforcement was not obtained through interviews with Dr. Murray, as was implied by the affidavit.

"Dr. Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11:00 a.m. not breathing. He also never said that he waited a mere 10 minutes before leaving to make several phone calls. In fact, Dr. Murray never said that he left Michael Jackson's room to make phone calls at all."