Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of death and drug overdose. Reader discretion is advised.
On June 25, 2009, paramedics found Michael Jackson unresponsive at his house in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Reports suggested that the paramedics tried reviving the musician before taking him to a hospital. Despite their efforts to save him, the King of Pop ultimately succumbed to cardiac arrest and passed away. Authorities sent his body for an autopsy in June 2009, and almost two months later, the report confirmed that the medical examiner found anesthetic propofol with sedatives inside his body. As a result, the police ruled his death as homicide.
According to the Associated Press (via CBS News), the autopsy report found that Michael Jackson was “fairly healthy” before he passed away. Moreover, the report stated that his heart was strong and other major organs were normal. Citing the report, CBS News noted that the musician’s lungs were chronically inflamed and had reduced capacity, which likely caused him to experience shortness of breath. However, the report concluded that his severe lung condition could not be identified as the cause of death.
After an extensive investigation, in August 2010, authorities apprehended Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson’s physician, and filed an involuntary manslaughter charge against the physician. Per The Los Angeles Times, the trial of Michael Jackson’s death began in September 2011. During the trial, Murray and one of his friends testified how Jackson asked for propofol for sleep-related issues. After hearing several testimonies, the jury deliberated for nine hours and delivered a guilty verdict. Subsequently, the court sentenced Murray to four years in jail.
What happened to Michael Jackson?
Many startling details came out of Michael Jackson’s death trial. One of Conrad Murray’s lawyers claimed that Jackson swallowed the drug that killed him. Some reports suggested that Murray’s attorneys had alleged that the singer killed himself because of overwhelming debt. However, in October 2011, the defense dropped the claim and moved ahead with the case.
Per Rolling Stone, one of the medical experts criticized the defense’s earlier theory of Jackson self-administering a lethal dose of propofol. Meanwhile, Murray decided not to testify in his trial. On November 7, 2011, the jury found Conrad Muray guilty and sentenced him to four years. However, the physician spent less than two years in prison and got out in October 2013.
Many documentaries on Michael Jackson explore his life and death in detail. These titles are currently available on several streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and Apple TV+.
