Did Dr Murray do it?
Two of Michael Jackson’s children watched horrified as pop star lay motionless on his bed the day he died.
LOS ANGELES:
Two of Michael Jackson’s children watched horrified as the pop star lay motionless on his bed the day he died, told Alberto Alvarez, a bodyguard for the pop star.
“Paris (Jackson) screamed ‘Daddy’ and she started crying, and Dr Murray said, ‘Get them out, don’t let them see their father like this,” said Alvarez.
Alvarez was testifying on the second day of a preliminary hearing that will decide if Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal doctor, should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter.
Alvarez said he was alerted by phone on June 25, 2009, that something was wrong with Jackson He entered the pop star’s room and saw Murray at the bedside. The doctor told him they needed to get an ambulance, Alvarez said.
The security guard said he was reaching for his cell phone, when he saw that Jackson’s eldest two children, Prince and Paris, who were then 12 and 11, had walked into the room.
“I turned to the children and I told them, ‘Don’t worry children, we’ll take care of it, please go outside.’ And I escorted them out of the bedroom,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said Murray told him Jackson had “a bad reaction,” and ordered him to bag up medical vials and an intravenous pouch before calling paramedics.
“He (Murray) then grabbed a handful of bottles or vials and instructed me to put them in a bag,” Alvarez said.
Murray made no mention to first responders that the singer had used the powerful anaesthetic propofol. Prosecutors are seeking to establish that Murray was negligent in his treatment of the “Thriller” singer and tried to cover up his errors. Murray had been hired to care for Jackson before his planned comeback concerts in London.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter but has admitted giving the 50-year-old singer a dose of propofol as a sleep aid, at Jackson’s request. Coroner officials say the “King of Pop” died of a drug overdose, due mainly to acute intoxication of propofol.
Alvarez said Murray told him to take away an intravenous bag that had “a milky substance” inside, and put it with the other bottles in a plastic bag that was placed inside a canvas carrying case. He said he did not know where the bags went.
Prosecutors have claimed that more than 20 minutes elapsed between the time Murray found Jackson motionless in his bed at his rented Los Angeles mansion, and the calling of paramedics.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
Two of Michael Jackson’s children watched horrified as the pop star lay motionless on his bed the day he died, told Alberto Alvarez, a bodyguard for the pop star.
“Paris (Jackson) screamed ‘Daddy’ and she started crying, and Dr Murray said, ‘Get them out, don’t let them see their father like this,” said Alvarez.
Alvarez was testifying on the second day of a preliminary hearing that will decide if Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal doctor, should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter.
Alvarez said he was alerted by phone on June 25, 2009, that something was wrong with Jackson He entered the pop star’s room and saw Murray at the bedside. The doctor told him they needed to get an ambulance, Alvarez said.
The security guard said he was reaching for his cell phone, when he saw that Jackson’s eldest two children, Prince and Paris, who were then 12 and 11, had walked into the room.
“I turned to the children and I told them, ‘Don’t worry children, we’ll take care of it, please go outside.’ And I escorted them out of the bedroom,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said Murray told him Jackson had “a bad reaction,” and ordered him to bag up medical vials and an intravenous pouch before calling paramedics.
“He (Murray) then grabbed a handful of bottles or vials and instructed me to put them in a bag,” Alvarez said.
Murray made no mention to first responders that the singer had used the powerful anaesthetic propofol. Prosecutors are seeking to establish that Murray was negligent in his treatment of the “Thriller” singer and tried to cover up his errors. Murray had been hired to care for Jackson before his planned comeback concerts in London.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter but has admitted giving the 50-year-old singer a dose of propofol as a sleep aid, at Jackson’s request. Coroner officials say the “King of Pop” died of a drug overdose, due mainly to acute intoxication of propofol.
Alvarez said Murray told him to take away an intravenous bag that had “a milky substance” inside, and put it with the other bottles in a plastic bag that was placed inside a canvas carrying case. He said he did not know where the bags went.
Prosecutors have claimed that more than 20 minutes elapsed between the time Murray found Jackson motionless in his bed at his rented Los Angeles mansion, and the calling of paramedics.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.