A large and ever growing crowd of media has gathered this morning outside the Las Vegas office and home of Dr. Conrad Murray. Multiple officers from the DEA and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department have entered his offices and his home at approximately 9 a.m. (PT) – and few officers have come out. Dr. Murray appears to be cooperating with the officers.
Though final toxicology and autopsy reports are pending later this week, the case is ramping up against Dr. Conrad Murray, the personal doctor of Michael Jackson who gave the King of Pop a powerful drug on the day he died on June 25 at his rented Holmby Hills mansion in Los Angeles.
On Monday, The Associated Press reported that Dr. Murray, administered a dose of the powerful anesthetic Diprivan, the drug authorities believe killed the singer.
Dr. Murray, who has since closed his Las Vegas medical practice, has received numerous death threats and reportedly remains cloistered in his sprawling Red Rock Country Club estate in Las Vegas.
Found inside Jackson’s rented mansion upon his death was a bedroom outfitted with many oxygen tanks and an IV drip. Another of his bedrooms was left in shambles, with clothes and other items strewn about and handwritten notes on the walls. One read: “children are sweet and innocent.” In a security guard’s shack, 15 oxygen tanks were found.
TMZ reported that during an interview with police two days after Jackson’s death, Murray himself told Los Angeles Police Department detectives that he had given the intravenously administered drug to his client just hours before his passing. Citing unnamed multiple law enforcement sources, the site claims that Murray allegedly hooked Jackson up to an IV drip of the drug — typically used for sedation during medical procedures in doctor’s offices or hospitals — and apparently either wasn’t paying attention, fell asleep or left the room when the singer’s heart stopped beating.
TMZ also reported that there was no EKG machine or pulse oximeter found in Jackson’s home, though those machines are always used in a hospital setting to monitor the pulse of a patient being administered Propofol (also known as Diprivan).
Last week officials carted away evidence from the doctor’s Houston office and a nearby storage locker in connection with their manslaughter probe.
In the days after Jackson’s death, his nurse/nutritionist Cherilyn Lee also said Jackson was desperately seeking Diprivan in the weeks before his death, despite the dangers of the drug. Lee was also subpoenaed to hand over medical documents regarding Jackson, however she is not a suspect in Jackson’s death.
Meanwhile, the offices of dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein — Jackson’s friend and the rumored biological father of Jackson’s two eldest children — was also asked to hand over medical records.
The investigation has been made more complex by the fact that Jackson often used aliases when procuring prescriptions.
Dr. Zeev Kain, who heads the anesthesiology department of the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, said he has never encountered a situation in which propofol was given in a home to help someone sleep, adding that such a situation would constitute malpractice.
Should the Jackson investigation officially turn into a manslaughter case — no charges have been filed to date — prosecutors would have to provide clear evidence that his doctor, or other health care providers, acted in a reckless or negligent manner, thereby causing the singer’s death.
Dr. Murray, who has already been identified in court papers as the subject of a manslaughter investigation, confessed he likes “being in the limelight, meeting all the celebrities,” and also has left a trail of legal and financial troubles amounting to a liability of about $450,000 during his 10 years in Las Vegas. Two other pending lawsuits seek additional judgments totaling more than $366,000.
Reportedly, Dr. Murray was charging $150,000 a month for being the personal physician concierge to Jackson.
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