Coroner’s Office: Michael Jackson’s Family Wants Second Autopsy
FIRST PUBLISHED: June 27, 2009 4:41 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
The Jackson family wants an independent autopsy done on the body of Michael Jackson, Los Angeles County Coroner’s Investigator Brian Elias said on Saturday, according to CNS.
The family reportedly told his office before the star’s remains were released that they wanted to have the second autopsy done, following deferred results from the first autopsy on Friday afternoon. “The medical examiner has ordered additional testing such as toxicology and other studies,” Craig Harvey, Operations Chief for the LA County Coroner’s Office, told reporters in Los Angeles on Friday, noting that results could take four to six weeks. According to Harvey, the first autopsy revealed no signs of foul play or severe trauma. However, the family is wasting no time — TMZ reported on Saturday afternoon that the second autopsy is already underway in Los Angeles. The Rev. Jesse Jackson also voiced the need for a second autopsy on Saturday after having visited the Jackson family on Friday.
“They need an independent autopsy to get even more answers to questions that are now being driven by the gap between when Michael was last seen alive and [when] he was pronounced dead day before yesterday,” he told CNN, adding that he was suspicious of Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with the pop superstar at the time of his death. “The doctor’s bizarre behavior here is creating all these suspicions,” he said. “There are lingering questions, such as: ‘How long had he stopped breathing? How long had he been unconscious?’”
Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
The Jackson family has reached out to fans following the loss of Michael Jackson at the age of 50 on Thursday. “In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon,” Michael’s father, Joe Jackson, said in a statement on behalf of the Jackson family, according to People. “It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.
“We miss Michael endlessly, our pain cannot be described in words,” the statement continued. “But Michael would not want us to give up now. So we want to thank all of his faithful supporters and loyal fans worldwide, you – who Michael loved so much. Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live forever.”
Finally, the Jacksons thanked fans for their support – and the impact that it has had on Michael’s children, Prince Michael Jackson, 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael Jackson II, 7. “My grandchildren are deeply moved by all the love and support you have shown for them and their father, Michael Jackson,” Joe Jackson concluded in the statement. Funeral arrangements for the late star have not yet been announced. The Jackson clan, including Janet, are reportedly gathered in mourning at the family’s Encino home.
Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Michael Jackson’s Doctor Hires Legal Firm, Considered A Witness
LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
The doctor who was with Michael Jackson when the singer suffered cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home has hired an attorney. Dr. Conrad Murray has hired the Houston law firm of Stradley, Chernoff & Alford, NBC News reported. The doctor was with Jackson at his Holmby Hills home when the star went into cardiac arrest and died on Thursday afternoon. According to the 911 call that alerted authorities to the singer’s dire condition, “just the doctor” had been with the star when he fell unconscious. The call further stated that the doctor performed CPR on Jackson, who was unresponsive, before the arrival of the paramedics. Firm associate Michael Alford told NBC News that Dr. Murray was now at an undisclosed location with attorney Edward Chernoff, and that the Los Angeles Police Department considered the doctor a witness – not a suspect – and wanted to talk to him to fill in some gaps. On Thursday night, authorities impounded Dr. Murray’s car from Jackson’s rented residence because it potentially contained medications or other evidence, an act the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Access Hollywood. The LAPD also confirmed on Friday that they had spoken with a then-unidentified doctor – Murray – living with Jackson, but were looking to speak with him again for a more in-depth interview.
Alford told NBC News that Dr. Murray had provided care to the singer for a couple of months, and described his relationship with the pop star as a friendship.
According to a source at AEG, the concert promoters behind Jackson’s “This Is It” London shows, which were set to begin in July, Dr. Murray was the doctor the star insisted upon and was on the tour payroll. In May, AEG CEO Randy Phillips told Billboard that Jackson had passed a physical prior to the tour announcement with “flying colors.” But on Saturday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called Dr. Murray’s involvement at the scene suspicious – and the New York Times reported that the doctor has had a number of personal difficulties.
Dr. Murray filed for personal bankruptcy in 1992 in California and has “five tax liens against him,” totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Times reported. Further, the newspaper reported that the doctor is not board certified in either of his specialties, internal medicine and cardiology. However, that is not legally required to practice. With no foul play discovered in Jackson’s Friday autopsy, many reports have speculated that the pop star’s death may have been due to prescription medications. According to TMZ, a member of the Jackson family has claimed that the star received a daily injection of Demerol, a morphine-like narcotic, and was given too much on Thursday, leading to his death.
Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.