Coroner to Hold Michael Jackson Autopsy Results Until Cops Complete Death Probe

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.

Michael Jackson's Mother in Court Fighting for Control of Estate

Meanwhile today, as the investigation continues, Jackson's mother was in court fighting for greater control of his estate, and the godfather of Jackson's three children claimed he was the biological father of Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris.

Former child star Mark Lester made the claim just a week after a California judge gave permanent custody of the children to Jackson's mother.

Lester, 51, said he donated sperm for Debbie Rowe, mother of Jackson's two oldest children, Paris and Prince Michael I, 12. He contends that Paris bears an uncanny resemblance to his own daughters, particularly his 15-year-old.

"Looking at pictures of Harriet and Paris, there's a very strong resemblance between the two of them," Lester, also the children's godfather, told News of the World. "Paris has blue eyes, pale complexion and high cheekbones."

While some were surprised by Lester's announcement, Jackson's friend Uri Geller wasn't one of them.

"I was not surprised because I knew it all along," Geller has said, "simply because Michael told me these facts."

Lester said he came forward now, six weeks after Jackson's death on June 25, because he wants to remain in contact with the pop icon's children.

"I dearly want to remain in contact with those kids, and I feel now this is the only way that I can ensure that," he said.

Lester adds his name to a growing list of men rumored to be the father of Jackson's children, including the singer's longtime dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein. While alive, Jackson insisted the children were biologically his but conceived through artificial insemination.