Jackson's personal doctor was in financial trouble

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Conrad Murray was in dire financial shape when he signed on as Michael Jackson's personal physician earlier this year at $150,000 a month.
The Las Vegas cardiologist owed a total of at least $780,000 in judgments against him and his medical practice, outstanding mortgage payments on his house, delinquent student loans, child support and credit cards.
Court records chronicling Murray's woes in Las Vegas, where authorities searched his home this week as part of a manslaughter investigation into Jackson's death, might help explain why — beyond the chance to get close to a celebrity — Murray seized the chance to keep the pop star healthy through a series of concerts in London.
But more than that, the financial pressures on Murray could help prosecutors establish a motive if he ends up facing charges.
"Here he is, dealing with one of the most famous people in the world. There may have been a great deal of pressure to do what Michael Jackson wanted, give him the drugs he wanted, treat him the way Michael Jackson wanted to be treated, even if it wasn't in keeping with medical protocol," said Steve Cron, a criminal defense attorney and adjunct professor at Pepperdine University's law school.
Authorities investigating Jackson's death at his rented Los Angeles mansion believe Murray gave the star a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.
Propofol is commonly used for surgery and is not meant as a sleep agent or to be given in private homes. Because of its potency, only trained anesthesia professionals are supposed to administer it, and patients are supposed to be constantly monitored.
If prosecutors bring charges, Murray's financial trouble "does potentially provide evidence of good motive for financial-based crimes, including prescribing when there is not a medical necessity," said Rebecca Lonergan, a University of Southern California law professor and former federal prosecutor of health care fraud cases.
Murray, 56, has not spoken publicly since Jackson's June 25 death. His lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor did not prescribe anything that "should have" killed Jackson.
Murray was hired through Jackson's promoter in May, as his bleak financial picture threatened to worsen. He was under court orders to pay more than $363,000 for equipment for his heart clinic, and was ordered in April to repay $71,000 in student loans dating to the 1980s. Two lawsuits claiming he owes $240,000 more for unpaid equipment are pending in Nevada courts.
Also, Murray's 5,268-square-foot home near the 18th hole of a golf course is in "pre-foreclosure" after he failed to make payments on his $1.66 million loan, records show. He stopped paying the $15,000-per-month mortgage in December and could lose the home by November, said Mary Hunt, the foreclosure officer handling the case.
Neither Jackson nor AEG Live, the promoter for the London concerts that was prepared to pay him $150,000 a month, paid Murray for the two months the doctor worked for the pop star, according to Chernoff.
"Dr. Murray has lost the ability to make a living as a result of this investigation," Chernoff said. "His hope is he can forestall foreclosure until he can once again begin working as a doctor."
Murray's cresting financial woes fit into a history of money problems. He filed for bankruptcy in California in 1992 and had a string of tax liens in California and Arizona between 1993 and 2003. Also, a former business partner in an energy-drink distribution venture claimed Murray owed him $68,000.
John Thomas, distributor of a drink called Pit Bull, said that in 2005 and 2006 Murray had the rights to distribute the product in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean island nation where Murray lived and worked before coming to the United States in the 1980s to study medicine.
The drink never gained popularity there. Murray paid his bill for a first shipment, then didn't pay for three subsequent shipments, Thomas said.
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Ritter reported from Las Vegas. Contributing to this report were Associated Press reporters Juan Lozano in Houston, Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles and Tony Fraser in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and AP Researchers Judith Ausuebel and Barbara Sambriski in New York.

Michael Jackson's death .....Dozens of doctors probed

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California's attorney general said on Wednesday his office has run dozens of doctors' names, some of them thought to be aliases, through its prescription drug database to aid police investigating the death of Michael Jackson.
Attorney General Jerry Brown said his office was not the lead agency in probing Jackson's sudden death -- a role it took in the fatal overdose of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith in 2007 -- but was assisting other agencies as they try to track down prescription drugs that may have killed the King of Pop.
"We've found some things, but this is early on" to provide details, Brown told Reuters.
Brown's office monitors all over-the-counter prescription transactions in California, using a database that contains the name of each doctor, patient, medication and quantity.
He said his investigators were given "dozens" of doctors' names to run through its system by police probing Jackson's sudden death, although some are considered to be aliases.
The findings could be used to show that "there were drugs in quantities and character that are lethal in combination," which in conjunction with the official autopsy could lead investigators to determine exactly what killed the 50-year-old singer and dancer.
Brown declined to say if he thought murder or manslaughter charges could be brought in the case, but said those kinds of crimes could not be ruled out "any time you've got a dead body and you've got chemicals in large quantities."
Jackson died at his rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest. Official autopsy results are pending toxicology tests, but rampant speculation has centered on Jackson's use of prescription drugs.
On Tuesday, an official from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office visited the office of Dr. Arnold Klein, the singer's longtime dermatologist, to obtain Jackson's medical records as part of its investigation.
Brown, a former California governor who is said to be considering a run for that job again in 2010, said his office took the lead in investigating prescription drug use in Anna Nicole Smith's death because no other agency had done so.
In the Jackson case, he said, Los Angeles Police and coroners investigators were involved

Michael Jackson's sister La Toya says he was 'killed'

LONDON (AFP) – Michael Jackson was killed by a band of greedy hangers-on, his sister La Toya alleged in interviews with British Sunday newspapers.
The King of Pop's sister spoke about her younger brother's death and the aftermath with The Mail on Sunday and the News of the World weeklies.
"I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start," the 53-year-old said.
"Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle. Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that.
"Less than a month ago, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he was surrounded by people who didn't have his best interests at heart.
La Toya said she had ordered a private autopsy.
Jackson, one of the world's most popular entertainers, died on June 25 at the age of 50.
"Michael was worth more than a billion dollars. When anyone is worth that much money, there are always greedy people around them. I said to my family a month ago, 'He's never going to make it to London'. He was worth more dead than alive."
Murder under Californian law can include killings that are not premeditated.
La Toya accused a "shadowy" group of cutting her sibling off from his family and friends and forcing him to sign up for 50 comeback concerts at London's O2 Arena, shows billed "This Is It".
They saw him as a "cash cow" and "got him hooked on drugs... I think it shocked his system so much it killed him," she claimed.
"I am not going to stop until I find out who is responsible. Why did they keep the family away? It's not about money. I want justice for Michael. I won't rest until I find out what -- and who -- killed my brother."
La Toya said Jackson was found in the bedroom of his physician Doctor Conrad Murray.
"Michael walked from his room to Doctor Murray's room. What happened in there we don't know," she said.
La Toya said she was driving to see Jackson in hospital when her mother screamed down the phone: "He's dead!".
"I nearly crashed my car," she said. "My legs went weak... They took me up to the area where Michael had been taken. Mother was crying and Michael's kids were crying."
She also claimed jewellery was missing from his house and no cash was found, despite the fact he regularly kept more than a million dollars around.
La Toya said the family had an open coffin viewing before the public memorial in Los Angeles' Staples Center arena.
She put one of his sequined gloves in the coffin, while his daughter Paris, 11, put a one half a heart-shaped "mood necklace" around his wrist, keeping the other piece.
La Toya said it was Paris's idea to speak at the memorial.
Of Jackson's children, she said Paris wanted to be an entertainer, Prince Michael was "assertive", while Blanket was "very funny, a real prankster like his father."
La Toya said her brother would "absolutely not" be laid to rest at his Neverland ranch and added that Jackson's brain, removed in the autopsy, had been put back in his body.
La Toya said Jackson wanted to give up music and become a film director.
"The first one was to be a horror film called 'Thriller'," she said. "'This Is It' really was the end. He didn't want to perform any more."
She said Jackson updated his will roughly every five years, "so we expect another one to emerge from 2007".

Michael Jackson's sister La Toya believes He was effectively Murdered

Michael Jackson Remains King Of U.K. Charts

As Cascada's "Evacuate The Dancefloor" (All Around The World/Universal) started a second week atop the new U.K. singles chart yesterday (Sunday), Michael Jackson's catalog sales enjoyed another healthy week in the market. Although his tally of Top 40 singles fell from 13 to 11, it now includes a "new" hit for the Jackson 5, while his album chart presence increased from three to four of the top five, six of the top ten and nine of the top 20."The Essential Michael Jackson" (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment) began a second week at No. 1 (with sales of 113,000, according to Official Charts Company data), with English act Florence and the Machine's debut album "Lungs" (Universal Island) entering at No. 2. Jackson's "Off The Wall" took over as his best-rated studio album of the posthumous wave of interest in his work, climbing 10-3 to overtake "Thriller," which improved 6-4. Motown/Universal's 2008 compilation "The Motown Years," by Jackson and the Jackson 5, re-entered at No. 5, having reached No. 34 last September.The singer's "Number Ones" collection fell 3-7 as Cascada's album, named after their current chart-topping single, arrived at No. 8. The 25th anniversary deluxe reissue of "Thriller" joined the top ten, climbing 18-9, as "King of Pop" fell 5-14. Another UMTV/Universal release by Jackson and his brothers, "The Very Best Of," climbed 23-15, and "HIStory — Past Present & Future Book 1" jumped 33-17. "Boxed," a new package containing Kings of Leon's first three albums for Hand Me Down/Sony Music Entertainment, entered at No. 20."Thriller" is likely to figure in the U.K. charts a third time soon, as Sony Music Entertainment has a July 20 release scheduled for a five-disc box including it along with Jackson's other vintage albums "Off The Wall," "Bad," "Dangerous" and "Invincible."The Cascada single stayed ahead on the singles chart as La Roux's former No. 1 "Bulletproof" (Polydor/Universal) moved back 3-2, swapping places with Jackson's "Man In The Mirror." Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" (Interscope/Universal) also edged back 5-4, with "Diamond Rings" (Jive/Sony Music Entertainmemt) by 18-year-old London "grime" star Chipmunk, featuring Emeli Sande, new at No. 6.
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Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" (Interscope/Universal) raced 39-10, Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" (Jive/Universal) 20-11 and Pitbull's "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" (Positiva/EMI) 28-13. Arctic Monkeys' "Crying Lightning" (Domino) debuted at No. 12.Most of the Jackson singles that raced up last week's chart fell back, although "They Don't Care About Us" climbed 32-28 and the Jackson 5's version of Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You," their original b-side of "I Want You Back," appeared at No. 36 after it was performed by 12-year-old Welsh singer Shaheen Jafargholi at last week's Jackson memorial. Jafargholi had previously sung it on the last series of "Britain's Got Talent," prompting its first-ever appearance on the U.K. singles chart for a week at No. 54 in late April, but this is its first Top 40 showing.Jackson has the top four titles on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums, led by "King of Pop," while "When Love Takes Over" (Positiva/EMI) by French DJ David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland climbed 3-1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.

Michael Jackson comeback