LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Michael Jackson’s family gathered at his parents’ suburban Los Angeles home yesterday to make funeral arrangements for the troubled King of Pop amid reports that they are seeking a second, independent autopsy.
Jackson’s body was returned to his family on Friday night after an examination by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office failed to determine what killed the 50-year-old entertainer, pending toxicology tests that were expected to take four to six weeks.
Meanwhile a lawyer for Dr Conrad Murray, who was at Jackson’s rented mansion in the Holmby Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles when he collapsed, said the physician had agreed to answer questions from police detectives.
“Dr Murray intends to fully cooperate with investigators and law enforcement as they attempt to piece together what happened,” attorney Bill Stradley told Reuters in an interview.
“Contrary to what has been out there, Dr Murray has been cooperating with authorities from the outset and will continue to do so,” Stradley said. “The impression that he has been hiding from authorities, that’s not correct.”
Murray was desperately trying to revive Jackson when paramedics arrived and he rode with the singer in an ambulance to the hospital where the pop star was pronounced dead.
Police have said they wanted to further question Murray, a Houston-based cardiologist, about the circumstances of Jackson’s death but had not been able to arrange an interview.
Murray’s silver Mercedes was towed from the home where Jackson died so that detectives could search it for evidence and medication.
The celebrity website TMZ.com reported that a second autopsy was underway at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon on the orders of the Jackson family.
The Rev Jesse Jackson, who has been acting as a spokesman for the singer’s parents, told CNN that the family would “without a doubt” order an independent examination of the remains.
“This thing has gone from inquiry to investigation,” Jesse Jackson told CNN. “Right now there is no peace. We don’t know what happened and we need to know. Michael was not sick before [Wednesday] night. He was not frail.”
Speculation has centred on Jackson’s use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before he went into cardiac arrest.
Jesse Jackson told ABC News that they also had questions for Murray.
“When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did he inject him? If so, with what?” he said in an interview with the network.
“Was he on the scene twice? Before and then reaction to? Did he use Demerol? It’s a very powerful drug. Was he injected once? Was he injected twice?”
TMZ reported that police were also interested in speaking with another Jackson adviser, Tohme Tohme, about the superstar’s use of prescription medication.
