Year: 2009

If Michael Jackson died from lethal levels of the powerful anesthetic propofol, then his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, would have had to inject much more of the drug than he reportedly told police, medical experts said.

That opinion is based on court records unsealed in Houston on Monday in which Los Angeles police detectives recount Murray’s statement, taken in a three-hour interview two days after the pop star’s death.

According to the records, Murray told them that he had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol each night over a six-week period. Murray told police that he had been trying to wean Jackson off the powerful anesthetic and, on the night of his death, gave him a combination of other sedatives — until finally succumbing to Jackson’s repeated demands for propofol.

According to the documents, Murray then gave Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol. But those amounts — 25 and 50 milligrams — are far below the dosage required to anesthesize someone and keep them asleep, several experts said.

BREAKING NEWS: AP is reporting the Coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a “homicide”. Here are the facts as we

Michael Jackson’s popularity with British music buyers shows no signs of waning as “The Essential” stayed top of the album charts for the fifth week in a row, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.

Jackson has topped the album chart since his death in June, with “Essential” and hits package “Number Ones” occupying the top spot for the last six weeks as fans snap up copies of his back catalogue.

Authorities may want to know all about the different types of medical treatment Michael Jackson received in recent years—but they’re still zeroing in on only one particular physician.

A law-enforcement source close to the increasingly convoluted investigation into Jackson’s death exclusively tells E! News that cardiologist Conrad Murray remains the only doctor at the center of the Los Angeles Police Department’s manslaughter investigation, despite the interest in any correspondence the doc may have had with six other medical professionals who once counted Jackson as a patient.

“We’re just focusing on Murray at this time,” the source said. “It’s a nightmare as it is. The issue may come up again, but right now, the focus is on Murray.”

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office indefinitely delayed the release of Michael Jackson’s autopsy results Thursday amid signs that police investigators were trying to determine the interplay between the pop star’s personal physician and other medical professionals who treated Jackson in the months leading up to his death.

Word of the delay followed a meeting between officials from the L.A. County district attorney’s office, the Los Angeles Police Department and the coroner’s office to discuss progress in the case. Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the coroner’s office said he could not say when the cause of death would be announced.

“I have no idea,” Winter said.

FRANKLY SPEAKING An exclusive HITS interview with Frank DiLeo

Industry vet Frank DiLeo, who was the manager of Michael Jackson from 1984 through 1989, returned to the fold to help guide the superstar through his “This Is It” concerts and presumably beyond, but it was not to be. Here, the industry veteran shares his thoughts with HITS’ own ambulance-chasing Roy Trakin.

Q. This is like Godfather III… Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in. How did you get involved with Michael again?
Michael first called me a couple of years ago, after he came back from Bahrain, then was in Ireland and Vegas for a while. We chitchatted, he called again and we started communicating about film projects. There were a couple of scripts we wanted to develop and produce. Then he got involved in this concert deal.

He called me in March and said, “Frank, I need someone with a little bit of experience. Would you like to manage me again and take care of all this stuff?” And I said, “Yeah, sure.” By the time I came in, everything was signed. Dr. Thome Thome—who is someone I don’t want to talk about in this interview—had miscalculated the scheduling on the dates, which is something I had to take care of, because Michael didn’t want to perform more than twice a week.

Q. Was Michael aware that he was signing for up to 50 individual shows?
Absolutely. I read the contract. I know what the minimum amount of dates were, as well as the maximum number of dates. That contract was read to Michael by three different lawyers, as well as Dr. Thome. He wanted to beat Prince’s record and be in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was the one who picked the number 50. There were enough ticket sales to do 85 shows, but he was zeroed in on 50. That’s what he wanted and that’s what happened. Dr. Thome had him doing three or four shows a week, though. I was adjusting and moving dates to try to make it more palatable for Michael to do.

CNN’s Randy Kaye reported on Anderson 360 that sources say Conrad Murray is the only doctor they are currently focusing in on in the manslaughter investigation around Michael Jackson’s death.

This is despite many unverified reports that up to 20 doctors were allegedly being looked at.

There is speculation that a mysterious number of unnamed doctors were being probed. But either the police have ruled them out in the death of Jackson, or the cause of death had nothing to do with anything those doctors may or may not have given Jackson years or months ago.