Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Althouse

Legal Commentary

: Althouse

Was Michael Jackson murdered?

I can't help thinking about it. Consider what we know:

The police investigation into Mr. Jackson?s death... focused in part on his private doctor, Conrad Murray. The authorities impounded Dr. Murray?s car at Mr. Jackson?s rented home in Holmby Hills late Thursday, with the hope of finding clues to what led to the singer?s cardiac arrest. Police officials interviewed Dr. Murray on Thursday and intended to do so again, officials said....

A 911 tape released Friday featured the voice of a young man imploring an ambulance to hurry to Mr. Jackson?s home, where he described a doctor frantically trying to revive Mr. Jackson. When asked if anyone had seen what happened, the unidentified man replied: ?No, just the doctor, sir. He?s not responding to CPR. He?s pumping his chest, but he?s not responding to anything.?

Dr. Murray, who public records show is a 56-year-old cardiologist with a practice in Las Vegas, has lived in numerous homes over the last decade in several states, filed for personal bankruptcy in 1992 in California and has five tax liens against him for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to HealthGrades, a health care ratings company, Dr. Murray is board certified in neither of his two specialties, internal medicine and cardiology.....

[Biographer, Stacy] Brown said Mr. Jackson?s family had been recently concerned about his use of painkillers, which had started up again a few months ago, he said, and ?tried a number of different times? to get the star to quit once and for all.

Mr. Jackson had become ?very frail, totally, totally underweight,? Mr. Brown said, adding that the family had worried that he would not be healthy enough to handle the pressure of performing.

There seem to be people who might be blamed for unintentionally facilitating his slip out of this world, but did anyone want this to happen? Jackson had a huge comeback planned, with 50 sold-out arena shows, and massive debt. If he was physically/mentally unprepared to take the stage, he/others might have been desperate enough to see death as the only viable option.

Full post as published by Althouse on June 27, 2009 (boomark / email).