The preliminary hearings in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, the man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, have yielded yet more damaging testimony from the prosecution.
Photos: Michael Jackson Remembered
Orlando Martinez, the detective who had questioned Murray two days after Jackson’s death, testified yesterday that the doctor provided a timetable suggesting that more than an hour elapsed between the time he discovered that Jackson was not breathing and when he contacted paramedics. The prosecution had previously asserted that Murray had stalled for about 20 minutes based on their examination of phone records.
Photos: Michael Jackson’s Funeral
Martinez also testified that Murray had told him that he had given Jackson doses of propofol, the sedative ultimately responsible for his death, six nights a week for two months while the singer prepared for his This Is It concert series. Jackson apparently told Murray that he would cancel those concerts in London if he could not sleep and demanded the propofol, which Jackson called “milk.”
Photos: Michael Jackson Immortalized
Later in the hearings, pharmacist Tim Lopez testified that Murray purchased more than 250 vials of propofol from his company Applied Pharmacy Services in the spring of 2009, as well as 20 vials of lorazepam. The combination of those two sedatives resulted in Jackson’s death.
Detective raises new question in Michael Jackson’s death [Reuters]
Michael Jackson ‘threatened to cancel concerts’ [BBC News]