La Toya Jackson: "Michael Was Murdered"
King of Pop's sister said she won't rest until she finds out what killed her brother
By DANIEL MACHT
Updated 11:29 AM EDT, Sun, Jul 12, 2009
Michael Jackson’s entourage murdered the pop star, sister La Toya Jackson has claimed in a British tabloid newspaper.
In a long, emotional interview with The Sunday Mail, Jackson, 53, blamed a “shadowy” group of hangers-on for exploiting her “fragile” and increasingly isolated brother, who, she said, had become the “loneliest man in the world.” She also weighed in against Debbie Rowe as guardian of Jackson's children, and said that Jackson would never want to be buried at Neverland Ranch.
But Jackson's main point in speaking out was to "put the truth out there" that "Michael didn't have to die."
“I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start,” she said. “Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle. Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who weren’t always on his side.”
The fifth of nine Jackson children, La Toya was especially close to the Gloved One, according to the Mail. She signed his death certificate and said she won’t rest until she tracks down the person or people responsible for his early exit at age 50.
“If he died of a drug overdose, then I want to find who supplied him the drugs and who first introduced him to them,” she said. “We’ve still not had a chance to speak to Dr Murray about Michael’s final days. I need to know what he may have seen or heard.”
The allegations come two days after the family’s patriarch, Joe Jackson, told ABC News that he feared “foul play” in MJ’s death. Los Angeles police have declined to rule out a criminal investigation.
On Friday, the Jackson family received results of the independent autopsy they ordered, La Toya told the Mail.
She said she would hold off from discussing details of the independent autopsy until results of Jackson’s formal autopsy are released in the coming weeks.
But she told the Mail that police had found four “fresh” needle marks on her brother’s neck. There were also marks on his arms.
"It will all come out," she said. "You will be shocked."
The stress of preparing for 50 shows for Jackson's farewell tour may have been too much for the singer, she added.
“He agreed to do ten and then the promoters and those around him added more and more shows because they were selling out, “ she said. “It’s impossible even for a healthy person to do that many shows. Michael was fragile.”
Still, she said she had a worse feeling about those whose job it was to look out for her brother -- a civil lawsuit could be in the works.
“I believe he was cut off from the real world and the drugs were a way (for his hangers-on) to get in there,” she said. “They got him hooked on drugs. He was pure and clean and then drugs came back into his system. I think it shocked his system so much it killed him.”
First Published: Jul 12, 2009 4:14 AM EDT
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