14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and is to stand trial for being responsible for the death of the King of Pop. Dr. Murray admitted to giving Michael Propofol, the powerful anesthetic that is usually administered by professionals in hospitals only, but it could very well be that he lied about the amount of the drug he injected in the singer’s leg, TMZ says.
In the early stages of the investigation, Dr. Murray told police officers that he only gave Michael 2.5ml of the drug, but he may have lied about that. Not only would this quantity not have been enough to put the singer to sleep, especially since he was suffering from severe insomnia and would often resort to drugs to fall asleep and then wake up, but investigators have also found another, bigger, empty vial by his bedside. If the DA can prove Dr. Murray also injected Michael with the contents of said bottle, then they have the person responsible for the singer’s death on June 25.
“A small, empty, 20ml bottle of Propofol was found in the bedroom, but there was a secret compartment in a nearby closet that could be the key to the prosecution’s case. Several days after Jackson’s death, law enforcement found numerous bottles of Propofol in that closet, including a large, empty, 100ml bottle with a large tear in the rubber stopper. The tear could be critical evidence. There are two ways of administering Propofol. The first is sticking a syringe into the rubber stopper, withdrawing a small amount and then injecting it into the tubing. The second way is by using a spike – which creates a tear in the rubber stop – and connects the entire bottle of Propofol to the tube,” TMZ says.
Given that the amount of Propofol found in Michael’s body was similar to that administered before undergoing massive surgery (therefore considerably bigger than the 2.5ml Dr. Murray says he administered), the DA wants to prove the doctor acted recklessly, thus killing the singer. The prosecution is now trying to prove Dr. Murray injected the contents of the other bottle as well, and then left the room, during which time Michael slipped into unconsciousness and then death.
“Dr. Dombrowski [member of the board of the American Society of Anesthesiologists] says if a spike is used to connect the bottle directly to the IV tube, the doctor must use an infusion pump to regulate the flow of Propofol – otherwise, the patient could easily OD. There was no infusion pump found in Jackson’s home. Dr. Dombrowski and law enforcement sources believe Dr. Murray may have connected the 100ml bottle of Propofol to the tube, and then either tried regulating the flow by eyeballing it or just letting it flow by itself... and Dr. Dombrowski calls either scenario ‘reckless.’ […] If Dr. Murray did indeed attach the 100ml bottle to the tube and the contents emptied into Jackson’s system, that would be 40 times more Propofol than Dr. Murray said he administered,” TMZ goes on to say.