A gruesome account of Michael Jackson’s final few hours has been found, some 15 years after his death.
The King of Pop was found dead at his Bel Air home in June 2009, just three months after the star had announced his farewell residency at London’s O2 Arena. It would have been Jackson’s first concert series after he had disappeared from the limelight following child molestation charges waged against him in 2005.
However, in the months leading up to his death, the star’s final moments have been painstakingly chronicled as he began to become dependant on sedatives in order to carry on. The first account of which came on Easter Sunday 2009 (April 12), when personal nurse Cherilyn Lee recalled that he was begging for propofol.
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Jackson himself used the drug – which is traditionally used as an anaesthetic – as a means of getting to sleep, chillingly referring to it as his “milk”. Lee became gradually more concerned, warning him how easy it is to overdose, but Jackson batted the concerns away.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
As the tour neared, tour promoter AEG Live hired Dr Conrad Murray in May to become his personal physician ahead of the start of the tour dates. Murray would later claim that AEG Live promised him a salary of $150k per month, but the promoter says the contract was never agreed upon.
With a physician then regularly checking up on him, Michael then began to receive nightly infusions of propofol in order to get to sleep. However, as time went on, the singer would become more and more reliant on the drug – reaching the point it was affecting his ability to rehearse, according to choreographer Travis Payne.
On June 19, Jackson – who had been off from rehearsals for a week – finally returned to practice, but appeared shivering and confused. Manager John Hougdahl was shocked and pushed him to take more time off rehearsals.
As the week progressed, Michael’s condition continued to worsen, with him appearing to writhe in pain, and he was put on propofol once again as a way to keep his condition stable. Jackson would return to the rehearsal room on June 23, but was described as a “very different man” by those around him.
(Image: PA)
On the afternoon of June 24, Michael was seen tucking into a meal with his children – Paris, Prince and Blanket, appearing happy and sharing a tender moment with his children. By the end of the day, Jackson was back in rehearsals, before finishing up at midnight, seeming to be in high spirits.
In the early hours of the morning, Dr Murray would go on to plug Jackson with a slew of sedatives as a way to calm him down and get him to sleep for the next day. By 5am, he had administered 16 milligrams of three different drugs, including Valium and lorazepam.
By 10:40am, Murray caved in to Michael’s demands for his “milk” and gave the star a huge 25-milligram dose of propofol. Murray stayed with Jackson until he begins to doze off – however, the dosage of the drug given would prove to be lethal.
(Image: LA Times via Getty Images)
At noon, Murray returned to Michael’s bedside to find that he was not breathing, making a phone call to Jackson’s aides asking for immediate help. By 12:30pm, paramedics arrived at the star’s home and found that he was unresponsive.
Jackson would eventually be taken to hospital, and was later pronounced dead at 2:26pm. Dr Murray would go on to be accused of his murder and arrested; he was put on trial and sentenced to four years in prison, being released on October 28, 2013.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
