Michael Jackson’s personal doctor is an official target in a manslaughter investigation into the singer’s death, according to legal documents filed in a Houston court.
An approved search warrant allowed authorities to seek “property or items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offence”.
Police accompanied by federal drug agents entered the clinic used by Dr Murray, who was staying at Jackson’s rented Los Angeles home on the night that Jackson died.
Officials said that they were looking for information on the use of the powerful anaesthetic Diprivan (propofol), which is used to induce unconsciousness in hospital patients before major surgery. Reports have said that it was found in Jackson’s home.
Dr Murray, 51, has been a central character in the investigation from the outset – he tried to revive the King of Pop with cardiac massage when he lost consciousness on June 25. The surprise search of his property on Wednesday indicated that authorities were focusing on him, but the warrant language makes it clear that he could face a manslaughter charge.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman confirmed that a search warrant was served but declined to comment further. LAPD investigators have interviewed Dr Murray twice so far.
Dr Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, would only respond to the development by referring to an earlier statement in which he confirmed a search warrant had been executed and that none of the items seized had previously been requested by authorities.
The documents filed yesterday detailed items taken when officials descended on the clinic. Among them: 27 tablets of the weight-loss drug phentermine, a tablet of the muscle relaxant clonazepam, a forensic image of a hard drive, Rolodex business cards and e-mails.
Dr Murray, a cardiologist, is licensed to practise in California, Texas and Nevada. Records show he has had no disciplinary actions taken against him. He was hired as Jackson’s personal physician not long before he died.
The official coroner’s verdict into what caused Jackson’s sudden death at the age of 50 has been delayed, despite a second post-mortem examination demanded by the singer’s family. An official determination of what killed Jackson is expected to be made in about a week, when the Los Angeles County coroner receives a completed toxicology report.
The gossip website TMZ.com, which broke the news of Jackson's collapse and death, reported today that the verdict was due to be released last week and the cause of death would "almost certainly" be listed as homicide.
On Monday, Joe Jackson, his father, accused Dr Murray of being involved in his son’s death, something the doctor has fiercely denied through his lawyer. “The doctor gave him something to make him rest and he don’t wake up no more. Something is wrong,” Mr Jackson told the talk-show host Larry King.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter confirmed last night that he has sought information from seven or eight doctors and said that Dr Murray was the only one he yet to talk to him.
Mr Winter said his lawyer had offered to speak with the coroner last week but without Dr Murray present.
“We don’t want to talk to the attorney, we want to talk to Murray,” Mr Winter said.
