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Michael Jackson death still unsolved after autopsy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-27 16:56 LOS ANGELES: Doctors conducted an autopsy on the body of Michael Jackson on Friday but could not immediately determine what killed the "King of Pop," amid reports he had been injected with a narcotic painkiller shortly before collapsing.
The 50-year-old pop superstar was rushed to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead without regaining consciousness. "The cause of death (determination) has been deferred, which means that the medical examiner has ordered additional testing such as toxicology and other studies," Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey said. "Those tests we anticipate will take an additional four to six weeks." Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the coroner's office, Harvey said, "There was no indication of any external trauma or indication of foul play to the body of Mr. Jackson." Police said they were seeking to question Jackson's personal physician, identified by news media as Houston-based cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray.
Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with an unidentified "close member" of the Jackson family, reported the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest. Daily shot of demerol? TMZ, citing family members, said Jackson received a daily shot of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, and that the family believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug. Detectives searched Jackson's home and impounded Murray's Mercedes from the driveway, saying it might contain evidence. An unidentified man called a 911 emergency phone line from the mansion at 12:21 p.m. local time, saying Jackson was unconscious and not breathing. In excerpts from the call released by authorities, the caller said the physician was the only other person present and was frantically performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the unconscious Jackson without results. "He's pumping, he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything, sir, please," the man said. |
