'Michael Jackson's personal doc gave deadly shot'

Washington, July 28 (IANS) Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, administered the final deadly shot of the anaesthetic propofol that would end the pop star's life June 25, media reports here said.

Murray, who was at the Jackson California rental home when he died, administered the powerful drug that authorities believe killed the singer, CNN said citing a source close to the Jackson family and with knowledge of the investigation.

The coroner's office in Los Angeles is investigating the cause of Jackson's death. It has been waiting on toxicology lab results, but a final autopsy report is expected as soon as this week, a coroner's spokesman has said.

The cause of death is also the focus of an investigation by police, the state attorney general's office and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dr. Conrad Murray has been identified in court papers as the subject of a manslaughter investigation, ABC News said. Edward Chernoff, an attorney for Murray, declined to comment on the report.

Murray, who was hired to monitor the entertainer for his planned "This Is It" tour, was called to Jackson's house on June 24 and was the person who found him unconscious, not breathing in bed the next day. Murray's lawyers have maintained for weeks that the doctor was simply a witness in Jackson's death and had nothing to do with it.

Murray has been widely criticised by medical professionals for waiting more than 30 minutes to call 911 and for performing CPR on a bed instead of a hard surface, but he has continually denied giving Jackson any drug that could have killed him.

He has been secluded at his Las Vegas home and reportedly goes out with a security detail due to death threats.

In the aftermath of his death, Jackson's addiction to a variety of drugs was revealed, including propofol (trade name Diprivan), the analgesic Demerol and the painkiller Oxycontin. Track marks found on his arms support the theory that he was addicted to propofol.

Medical experts cited by the ABC News Medical Unit said that the amount of medications reportedly found in Jackson's rented home was "jaw-dropping" and "amazing."

"That list is enough to put down a swarm of zombies," said Richard Bradley, chief of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

• Hollywood News