Coroner to Hold Michael Jackson Autopsy Results Until Cops Complete Death Probe
Jackson toxicology complete, results held pending manslaughter investigation.
Aug. 10, 2009— -- The Los Angeles County coroner's office says it has completed the autopsy of Michael Jackson, but will not release the results until police complete their investigation into the events that led up to the singer's death.
The coroner has not yet provided a date for when the results will be released.
Jackson died June 25 at his Los Angeles rental home in the presence of his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
The Los Angeles police said they are continuing to investigate Jackson's death. A search warrant executed last month at the home and offices of Murray indicated that authorities believed Jackson's death may have been the result of manslaughter.
"The LAPD has requested that the Jackson autopsy findings regarding the cause and manner of death remain confidential. The LAPD has respectfully requested from the coroner's office that the existing security hold on the results of the coroner's investigation remain in place," the police said in a statement.
Results of a toxicology screening to determine what, if any, drugs were in Jackson's body at the time of his death were expected weeks ago, but the coroner has given no explanation for the delay.
After his death, it was revealed that Jackson was addicted to a variety of drugs, including the potent anesthetic propofol and the painkillers Demerol and OxyContin.
Track marks were found on his arms and among the 20 drugs found in his rental home were Methadone, Fentanyl, Percocet, Dilaudid and Vicodin.
"That list is enough to put down a swarm of zombies," said Richard Bradley, chief of the division of EMS and Disaster Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Search warrants indicated the Houston-based doctor is a specific target of a police manslaughter investigation, and searches of his office and a storage facility yielded drugs, documents and computer hard drives.
Among the items seized from Murray's Texas office were a vial containing 27 tablets of the weight loss drug phentermine, a vial containing a tablet of the muscle relaxant clonazepam, a photocopy picture of Murray, Rolodex cards, public storage receipts, and a receipt for a "Cricket" phone, according to a receipt attached to the warrant.
