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Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal Top Stories
Doc Murray trial: was a third person involved?
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 18 April 2011
There were new revelations in the tabloids this weekend regards the upcoming Conrad Murray trial, with further claims that the accused medic did not actually administer the shot of propofol that killed Michael Jackson back in June 2009. As much previously reported, Murray is accused of manslaughter through negligence, and will stand trial for killing the late king of pop next month.
We already knew that Murray’s defence team planned to claim that the doc didn’t actually give Jackson the fatal dose of the anaesthetic propofol. The medic’s lawyers initially indicated they would say Jackson himself administered a second shot of the drug, either in a desperate bid to bring on sleep, or perhaps with suicidal intent. But reports suggest that new evidence has surfaced that indicates a third person may have been involved.
According to the News Of The World, Murray’s lawyer asked to see the coroner’s evidence in relation to Jackson’s death, and he says his team found fingerprints on the crucial syringe that were neither Murray’s nor the pop star’s.
Commenting on that revelation, the Mirror this morning quotes a source as saying: “The mystery fingerprints are the biggest breakthrough for Murray so far. If it is handled right it would mean a jury cannot convict him. Murray and Michael were the only ones supposedly at the house and all the syringes were vacuum-packed and sterile before use. The fingerprints point to someone else using the fatal syringe”.
This new conspiracy theory comes with some other allegations too. The defence team had already complained that they had only received a few minutes of CCTV footage from the security cameras at the house where Jackson was living, and it now seems other such footage has been lost, which Team Murray presumably find suspicious now there is the possibility of a third person being involved. There have also been allegations, though I’m not sure where these come from, that a large amount of money may also have gone missing shortly after Jackson died.
Quite which of these rumours will be formally presented in court next month remains to be seen, though insiders say Murray’s lawyer Ed Chernoff plans to rely greatly on the fingerprints on the syringe, telling the jury: “If the print doesn’t fit, you must acquit”.
In related news, it is thought Murray himself hopes to avoid having to testify during the upcoming trial. According to the tabs, his lawyers will instead read a simple statement to the court, which will read: “I didn’t do it and I don’t know how it happened. I am deeply sorry for Michael’s death. I never wanted him to die – he was my friend”.
