Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal

Michael said “give me ‘milk’ so I can sleep”: Murray trial update

By | Published on Monday 10 October 2011

Conrad Murray

Jurors in the ongoing Conrad Murray trial heard a recording on Friday of a police interview with the doctor that took place just two days after Michael Jackson died. Murray, of course, is accused of causing Jackson’s death by negligently administering the drug propofol.

In the interview, Murray discusses Jackson’s use of the surgical anaesthetic, which, the doctor tells officers, the singer called “milk”. Speaking calmly throughout, Murray explained that “after joining his team, I fell into a situation of caring for a gentleman who wanted regular, daily propofol. That was not my purpose for joining his team”. Murray says that he was trying to wean Jackson off the drug, banning him from self-administering it, and using smaller doses. However, the singer was still taking propofol on an almost daily basis to help him sleep.

Most of that we already knew, despite not having heard directly from Murray yet during this trial. So much so, the doctor’s description to police of what happening in the hours leading up to Jackson’s death was arguably more interesting, mainly because it conflicts in some ways with the evidence already shown by the prosecution in the case. Murray told police that on the morning of his death Jackson had begged for a shot of propofol to help him sleep, saying to the doctor “Please, please give me some milk, so I can sleep”.

Having already tried other sedatives, Murray complied with Jackson’s requests. Then, he told police, “I watched him for a long enough period that I felt comfortable, then I needed to go to the bathroom so I got up and went to the bathroom. Then I came back to his bedside and was stunned in the sense that he wasn’t breathing”.

Of course phone records show that Murray spent much of the hour between administering the propofol and discovering Jackson wasn’t breathing checking emails and talking to his girlfriends on his mobile, despite the fact in hospital someone receiving propofol would get constant monitoring (Jackson’s room, as previously revealed, had no heart or other monitoring kit). The police recording seems to show that Murray lied about his actions prior to his patient’s death, something which again – the prosecution would argue – shows the medic realised he had acted negligently and was trying to cover up his failings.

Murray, of course, claims that Jackson administered the fatal shot of propofol himself. The case continues.

Elsewhere in Murray news, the Sunday Mirror focused on the doctor’s financial problems this weekend, noting that the doctor’s Las Vegas home was recently repossessed and sold for half the sum he originally paid for it. He is also in dispute with a former partner over child support payments. Murray’s financial woes are partly down to his legal fees, and partly because of a slump in his income as a doctor since Jackson’s death.

Elsewhere in Jackson news, the big tribute show in Cardiff honouring the late king of pop went ahead relatively smoothly on Saturday, despite a headline act dropping out and the planned Facebook webcast being cancelled in the days before the event. Although backed by some of the Jackson family, other siblings of the late king of pop criticised the timing of the show, in the midst of the Murray trial. The Michael Jackson estate also distanced itself from the concert, which they felt was unfairly profiting off the singer’s legacy.

Although some of the profits will go to charity, it’s not clear what portion, and that’s assuming there are profits given there were 10,000 unsold tickets on Friday and, even if those were all sold on the day, that still left the upstairs portion of Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium empty. Still, the fans seemed to have a good time, and were particularly excited when the three Jackson brothers backing the show, and later MJ’s three children, appeared on stage.



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