Was Michael Jackson Murdered?

Michael Jackson died suddenly on June 25th 2009. The world was shocked and so was his family. Long before the official announcement of his  death, accusations started to fly. A family friend, Brian Oxman, hinted at the culpability of people who had “enabled” Jackson’s misuse of prescription drugs.  

While rumours of drug addiction exploded across the Internet and TV in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, suspicions linger as to how he was able to access  the drugs that supposedly caused his cardiac arrest, or who was responsible for supporting his habit. In the wake of the pop icon’s death, Ian Halperin,  released  his book, Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson.  In the book, damaging claims were made that hint at the possible  culpability of others in the death of the superstar.

The book claims that some of Jackson’s closest advisers tried to control him with medication, drugs and false hopes, that they were concerned that he would bail out of the O2 gigs, and that they would not receive the money Jackson owed them. Also mentioned in the book are the numerous reports of Jackson’s ill health and that he was not well enough to do 50 concerts, but could not cancel because, according to an aide, ”There was too much money at stake”.  He was told he would be a laughing stock if he cancelled.

Just recently, Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya Jackson made the claim to a London News service that her brother Michael had been murdered as a result of a conspiracy to steal his fortune and that millions of cash and jewellery had been stolen from his home after his death. Does La Toya know more than she is saying at this time? Does she have a suspect or suspects in mind? La Toya echoed what her father, Joe Jackson said to an ABC interviewer earlier, that he believed Michael’s death was a result of “foul Play”.

Who had the most to gain from Michael Jackson’s death? No one knows for sure.  It is well known that Michael Jackson was surrounded by an army of an inner circle; doctors, lawyers, friends, producers, backers, concert promoters, a real estate firms and many others including family. Was Michael Jackson worth more dead than alive to someone or some group? If La Toya’s claim that his estate is worth over 1 billion dollars is accurate, and given that he was said to be bankrupt in his final years, then the theory that he was  worth more dead for some, may be worth exploring.

As with the case of Anna Nicole Smith’s death, only time will tell if any of Michael Jackson’s associates or persons unknown at this time, acted in a manner that resulted in his death. Drug addiction is an insidious killer. A person who is dependent on drugs, does not use sound judgement.  Those who peddle the drugs always have the upper hand and can made demands that the user is in no position to refuse. This of course does not absolve Michael Jackson from any responsibility for the decisions he made, yet many unanswered questions remain about his death.