Michael Jackson's doctor delayed calling 911 after the pop star stopped breathing so he could cover up evidence, a court heard. Dr Conrad Murray waited for up to 21 minutes before raising the alarm, it was claimed.
He called the singer’s security team and ordered a guard to pile drugs and other medical paraphernalia into his bag before calling emergency services, it was heard.
Jackson’s personal doctor is accused of being responsible for his death and is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter. A preliminary hearing to decide if he should face a full trial began in Los Angeles yesterday, as prosecutors outlined the case against him.
The court heard he had given the King Of Pop a cocktail of sleeping drugs and a ‘powerful anaesthetic’ in the hours before he stopped breathing.
Prosecutors claim Murray, 57, was then distracted by a phone call and said his later attempts at resuscitating Jackson were ‘ineffectual’.
Prosecutors claim Murray, 57, was then distracted by a phone call and said his later attempts at resuscitating Jackson were ‘ineffectual’.
“There are a number of actions displayed by Dr Murray that show an extreme deviation from the standard of care,” the
Daily Mail
quoted District attorney David Walgren as telling the court.
Walgren said Murray had failed to tell paramedics or hospital doctors that he had given Jackson an intravenous drip containing propofol, a surgical anaesthetic.
The court heard that Murray treated him in his bedroom, and gave him a valium pill at 1.30am, followed by an intravenous drip containing the sedative lorazepam.
He administered more sedatives at 3am and 7.30am, and just before 11am he put Jackson on a drip containing propofol.
At 11.51am Murray was phoned call and spoke for 11 minutes, but stopped talking during the call.
“That may be when Dr Murray first paid enough attention to learn of Michael Jackson’s death,” Walgren said. At 12.12pm, ten minutes after his phone call finished, Murray called Jackson’s security and told them the star had had ‘a bad reaction’.