Jacko death still unsolved

LOS ANGELES: The body of Michael Jackson has been released to his family for burial, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said yesterday, after an autopsy failed to immediately determine what killed the troubled pop star. Members of Jackson's family were said to be gathering at his parents' home in suburban Los Angeles to plan a funeral for the "King of Pop," whose sudden death on Thursday dominated worldwide headlines and touched off two days of tributes from fans. No funeral or public memorial plans
have been disclosed and it was reported that the family might seek a second, independent
autopsy on the remains.

Coroner's officials have said that with no outward signs of trauma to Jackson's body or evidence of foul play, they would have to wait for the results of toxicology tests and other studies to establish a cause of death. Speculation has centered on Jackson's use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before collapsing at his rented mansion in a Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The 50-year-old entertainer was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, with his personal physician, identified as Dr Conrad Murray, trying desperately to revive him. Police towed Murray's silver Mercedes from the driveway of the home where Jackson died, saying they wanted to search it for evidence and medication, and have sought to arrange further interviews with the Houston-based cardiologist. The Los Angeles Times reported that Murray had agreed to meet with detectives with his attorney present,
although he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Veteran US politican and activist Reverend Jesse Jackson - who is not related to the family - told ABC television's Good Morning America that he had spent Friday counseling the Jackson family at their estate. And he revealed that family members were angry and frustrated by unanswered questions surrounding Jackson's death, and were focusing their attention on the role of the singer's doctor.

However Jesse Jackson said the family had a flurry of questions of their own. "When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did they inject him, if so with what," Jackson said, claiming that Murray had gone missing in the hours immediately following the singer's death. "His absence raises questions of substance that will not go away until they are answered," Jackson said. "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 injec
ted twice?," he said.

They (the family) are suspicious of this doctor and they have real reason to be because any other doctor would say 'Here's what happened in the last hour of his life and I was there. I gave him some medicine.' He owes it to the family and to the public to say 'These were the last hours of Michael's life and here's what happened.' That's a reasonable expectation." Asked if the family would seek their own autopsy, Jesse Jackson replied: "I'm sure they ought to, they probably will.

Jackson's body was held under tight security at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, a spokesman said, and transferred to an area mortuary shortly after 9 pm local time on Friday night (0400 GMT yesterday). Few details were released about the autopsy's findings, but Fox News reported on its website that investigators found his body to be healthier and stronger than they had expected with some scarring on the face.

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.

However friends and associates of Jackson took to the airwaves to voice anger over the role of advisers and physicians that surrounded the star. New age guru and Jackson confidante Deepak Chopra - a qualified cardiologist - told CNN bluntly: "I think drugs killed him." Jackson's former producer Tarak Ben Ammar denounced the doctors around the late pop icon as "criminals." "It's clear that the criminals in this affair are the doctors who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave hi
m medicine to ease his pain," he said.

Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with an unidentified "close member" of the Jackson family, has reported that the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest. 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.

A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that Jackson was "heavily addicted" to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol. Facing a battered reputation and a mountain of debt that The Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, Jackson spent the last two months of his life rehearsing for a series of London concerts that were seen as a make-or-break comeback for the man who dominated the pop charts in the 1980s.

The aftermath of Jackson's death has witnessed a worldwide outpouring of tributes and vigils, with stars, world leaders and devotees of the pop icon offering praise to the man who sold more than 750 million records. Movie icon Elizabeth Taylor said Friday she was "heartbroken" over her close friend's death. "My heart... my mind... are broken," Taylor said in a statement. "I loved Michael with all my soul and I can't imagine life without him... I still can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. It can't
be so.

Fans staged gatherings across the globe, including 10,000 Danish fans who crammed into a square in Copenhagen for a three-hour tribute concert. A moment of silence was held at 2126 GMT, exactly 24 hours after the announcement of Jackson's death. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, thousands of fans queued for hours in boiling sunshine for the right to file past Jackson's star set into the sidewalk.

Jackson's death led to a stampede on the Internet as fans scoured the web for latest updates on the story. While Jackson ruled the charts and dazzled audiences with dance moves like the "moonwalk" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career was overshadowed by his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse. He lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.