Mumbai, June 27: Coroner Investigator Jerry McKibben says Jackson’s body was returned to the singer’s family Friday night. No funeral plans have been announced.
The coroner’s office, which has completed its autopsy, says there are no signs of foul play or trauma, but determining the cause of death will require further tests that will take six to eight weeks.
Michael Jackson insisted that his concert promoter’s payroll include his personal physician, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed.
Dr. Conrad Murray was hired by AEG Live to accompany the pop star to London for his comeback series of concerts, said AEG Live President and Chief Executive Randy Phillips.
“As a company, we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired,” Phillips told The Associated Press. “Michael said he had a rapport with him.”
Jackson, who collapsed Thursday at his rented home in Los Angeles, appeared to have suffered a heart attack, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, said Jackson had a heart attack, which is a blocking of the arteries that deprives the heart of adequate blood.
Jackson’s brother Jermaine said Thursday that it was believed the pop singer went into cardiac arrest, an interruption of the normal heartbeat that can be caused by factors other than heart attack.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office, which completed its autopsy Friday, said there were no signs of foul play or trauma, but determining the cause of death will require further tests that will take six to eight weeks.
A heart attack could help explain why Jackson was in the care of a cardiologist while he went through vigorous training for an upcoming series of concerts in London: Heart attacks can indicate a long-term problem, such as heart disease. It would not necessarily rule out another factor, such as drug use, however.
Coroner’s spokesman Craig Harvey said Jackson was taking some prescription medications, but did not specify what they were.
Police seized Murray’s car the night before, saying they believed the car may contain drugs or other evidence, but have insisted that Murray has been cooperative and do not consider him a criminal suspect.
“We do not consider him to be uncooperative at this time,” said police Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, noting that detectives spoke with the doctor after Jackson’s death. “We think that he will assist us in coming to the truth of the facts in this case.”
Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray, who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas. His Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, was slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments, and he faces at least two other pending cases and several tax liens.
Beck declined to answer questions about how long the doctor had been with Jackson before paramedics were summoned, or if any drugs had been administered.
Phillips said AEG Live advanced Jackson money to pay for Murray’s services as part of the production costs. Phillips said he asked Jackson why he wanted Murray with him full-time.
“He just said, `Look, this whole business revolves around me. I’m a machine and we have to keep the machine well-oiled,’ and you don’t argue with the King of Pop,” Phillips said.
The promoter said that sometime in February Jackson submitted to “five-plus hours of physicals that the insurance underwriter insisted on. We were told he passed with flying colors.”
Based on those results and the nature of the comeback shows, all of which were to be held at the same venue from July 13 to March, AEG Live wasn’t concerned about Jackson’s history of medical issues.
“This wasn’t as strenuous as a tour. There was no travel,” Phillips said. “He and the kids were going to be living in this beautiful home outside London and shows were spread out over six months. For him, it seemed like the perfect way to come back.”
Phillips attended Jackson’s rehearsal at Staples Center on Wednesday night, when the entertainer was on stage for about three hours before leaving at 12:30 a.m.
“He was dancing as well or better than the 20-year-old dancers we surrounded him with,” the promoter said. “He was riveting. I thought we were home free. I thought this was going to be the greatest live show ever produced. He looked great.”
“We had pretty good coverage, but a lot of it is going to depend on the toxicology results,” he said. “We need to know what the cause of death was.”
A 911 call released by fire officials Friday shed light on the desperate effort at the mansion to save Jackson’s life before paramedics arrived Thursday afternoon. Jackson died later at UCLA Medical Center.
In the recording, an unidentified caller pleads with authorities to send help, offering no clues about why Jackson was stricken. He tells a dispatcher that Jackson’s doctor is performing CPR.
“He’s pumping his chest,” the caller says, “but he’s not responding to anything.”
Asked by the dispatcher whether anyone saw what happened, the caller answers: “No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor has been the only one there.”
Lou Ferrigno, the star of “The Incredible Hulk,” said he had been working out with Jackson for the past several months. Still, Jackson’s health had been known to be precarious in recent years, and one family friend said Friday that he had warned the entertainer’s family about his use of painkillers.
–Agencies