Conrad Murray#Michael Jackson's death and trial

Conrad Robert Murray was born on February 19, 1953, and was raised by his maternal grandparents, who were farmers in Grenada. He later joined his mother, Milta, in Trinidad and Tobago when he was seven years old. He is black and grew up poor in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. He did not meet his father, Rawle Andrew Sr., also a physician, until he was 25. Andrew, who died in 2001, was devoted to providing medical services to the poor. Murray finished high school and worked as a volunteer elementary school teacher in Trinidad. After teaching, he worked as a customs clerk and insurance underwriter to save up for college tuition.

In 1973, Murray moved to Houston, Texas, where his father worked, to attend Texas Southern University, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in pre-med and biological sciences. Murray continued his education at Meharry Medical College, in Nashville, Tennessee, the same school his father attended, and the first medical school in the Southern United States for African Americans.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} He began his internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Murray completed it at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. He then completed a cardiology fellowship at the University of Arizona.

Murray worked at the Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego as an associate director of its cardiology fellowship training program. In 1990, he opened a private practice in Las Vegas. In 2006, he founded the Acres Homes Heart and Vascular Institute in Houston. Murray met Michael Jackson in 2006, in Las Vegas, and treated his daughter Paris when she fell ill. Jackson hired Murray to be his exclusive personal physician prior to his tour in July 2009. Jackson insisted that Murray be employed by his show promoter, AEG Live, for $150,000 monthly. However, AEG later claimed that there was never a contract with Murray.{{cite web|last=Connelly|first=Chris|title=Michael Jackson Overexerted Himself in Tour Rehearsal, Insiders Say|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/MichaelJackson/story?id=7990611&page=1|work=ABC News|date=July 2, 2009}}{{cite web|last=Whitcraft|first=Teri|title=Promoter and Conrad Murray Had No Contract|url=http://abcnews.go.com/2020/michael-jackson-wrongful-death-lawsuit-aeg-medical-equipment/story?id=11014828|work=ABC News|date=July 25, 2010}} Murray and AEG agree that Murray was never paid.{{cite news

|title=Michael Jackson Doc Conrad Murray Never Got Paid Prior to Singer's Death

|first=Russell

|last=Goldman

|date=August 25, 2009

|newspaper=ABC News

|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/MichaelJackson/story?id=8412538}} In 2018, Murray released a memoir, This Is It!, which detailed his experience as Michael Jackson's physician and tells of having treated Mother Teresa. Murray wrote,

{{cquote|However my most magnanimous and noble patient is also deceased. She was the world-renowned quintessential nun who is now a saint: Mother Theresa. I loved the way I dedicated my services to her, it was totally selfless because when I agreed to serve her, I literally had no idea then that she was widely known…}}

The A.V. Club called the book "literary poison with no antidote"{{cite web|last=Rabin|first=Nathan|title=This Is It!—the memoir of Michael Jackson's doctor—is a morbidly fascinating train wreck|url=https://www.avclub.com/1798259426|work=AV Club|date=November 27, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024}} and The Daily Telegraph said that any revelations it contains are "mired in several thousand words of self-aggrandising, poorly punctuated and repetitive text."{{cite web|last=Vincent|first=Alice|title=Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson - what we learnt from the doctor's terrible book|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/conrad-murray-and-michael-jackson---what-we-learned-from-the-doc/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/conrad-murray-and-michael-jackson---what-we-learned-from-the-doc/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Telegraph|date=November 27, 2018}}{{cbignore}}

In May 2023, Murray opened his own institute entitled, "DCM Medical Institute" in El Socorro, a suburb of San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago.{{cite web |title=Michael Jackson's Doctor Conrad Murray Opens Medical Institute 12 Years After Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction |url=https://people.com/michael-jackson-doctor-conrad-murray-opens-medical-institute-7554294 |website=people.com}}

Murray is a naturalized U.S. citizen. In May 2009, Murray began working as Jackson's personal physician.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/03/us/conrad-murray-fast-facts/index.html |title=Conrad Murray Fast Facts |date=April 3, 2018 |work=CNN |access-date=July 18, 2021 |language=en}} By that time, he had reportedly fathered seven children by six different women.{{cite web|last=Ackerman|first=Todd|title=The contradictory life of Michael Jackson's doctor|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6857062.html|work=Houston Chronicle|date=February 8, 2010}} He was in arrears on the mortgage for the Las Vegas home occupied by his first wife and children and owed child support to the mothers of children outside of his marriage, which he could not pay due to the amount of money he owed to Michael Jackson's family. He was married to Blanche, his second wife, whom he met at medical school, and helped pay rent for another woman, Nicole Alvarez. Murray met Alvarez at a gentlemen's club in Las Vegas when she worked as a stripper, and Alvarez gave birth to their son Che Giovanni Murray in March 2009.{{cite web|last=Mikulan|first=Steven|title=Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray and the Stripper|date=January 7, 2011|url=http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/michael-jackson-conrad-murray-and-stripper-23740?page=0,0|publisher=the wrap.com|access-date=August 15, 2011|archive-date=June 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616082516/http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/michael-jackson-conrad-murray-and-stripper-23740?page=0,0|url-status=dead}} Another relationship, with a cocktail waitress from Houston, was also reported.{{cite web|last=Ryan|first=Harriet|title=Women tell of relationships with Dr. Conrad Murray|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-jan-08-la-me-conrad-murray-20110108-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 11, 2011}}

Murray was at risk of losing his California medical license due to unpaid child support to one of his children and owed $13,000 to a California woman, Nenita Malibiran.{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Nick|title=Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray in trouble over child support|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6276635/Michael-Jackson-doctor-Conrad-Murray-in-trouble-over-child-support.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6276635/Michael-Jackson-doctor-Conrad-Murray-in-trouble-over-child-support.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Telegraph|date=October 8, 2011}}{{cbignore}} Murray was a defendant in numerous civil lawsuits (though none for medical malpractice). By 2008, he had accumulated over $600,000 in court judgments against him for medical equipment and unpaid rent for his practices in Texas and Nevada. He also owed $71,000 for student loans at Meharry Medical College.{{cite web|last=McKinley|first=James|title=Differing Sides of Physician Who Tended to Jackson|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/us/27murray.html?pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|date=September 26, 2009}} Murray had filed for bankruptcy in 2002, in California.{{cite magazine|last=Fletcher|first=Dan|title=Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1918722,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828012436/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1918722,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 28, 2009|magazine=Time|date=August 26, 2009}}

{{see also|People v. Murray}}

On June 25, 2009, months after hiring Murray, Jackson died due to a lethal dose of propofol administered by Murray. Court documents released in August 2009 revealed that the coroner's preliminary conclusion indicated that Jackson overdosed on propofol. However, the coroner's office declined to comment on reports claiming that the death was ruled a homicide.{{cite web|title=Coroner's preliminary finding: Jackson overdosed on propofol|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/24/michael.jackson.propofol/index.html#cnnSTCText|work=CNN|date=August 24, 2009}} Retrieved February 3, 2019

Several offices of doctors who were believed to have treated Jackson were searched. Based on the autopsy and toxicology findings, the cause of Jackson's death was determined to be acute propofol intoxication with a contributory benzodiazepine effect and the manner of death to be a homicide, eventually, so that the focus of the investigation shifted toward Murray. He admitted administering 25 mg of propofol intravenously, for insomnia, on the night of Jackson's death. He claimed that he tried treating him with other drugs and that he only administered the propofol after Jackson insisted, according to a police affidavit.

Murray said he worried that Jackson had become dependent on the drug to get to sleep and was trying to wean him from it.{{cite web|last=Irvine|first=Chris|title=Michael Jackson: who is Dr Conrad Murray?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/6084022/Michael-Jackson-who-is-Dr-Conrad-Murray.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/6084022/Michael-Jackson-who-is-Dr-Conrad-Murray.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Telegraph|date=August 25, 2009}}{{cbignore}} Though any FDA-approved drug can be used off-label in a responsible manner that is medically appropriate for their patient,{{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=James M. |last2=Azari |first2=Elizabeth D. |title=FDA, Off-Label Use, and Informed Consent: Debunking Myths and Misconceptions |journal=Food and Drug Law Journal |date=1998 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=76–80 |pmid=11795338 |url=https://www.druganddevicelawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2011/10/Beck-1998-FDLJ-Off-Label-Use-Article.pdf |access-date=21 Sep 2022}} the indicated use for propofol is for anesthesia—not as a sleep aid—and is therefore properly given in a hospital or a clinical setting with close monitoring. Accordingly, propofol is supposed to be administered on the orders of an anesthesiologist, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), critical care physician (intensivist), or an emergency medicine physician who received extensive training in the use and monitoring of anesthetics; Murray had no such specialty training.

In February of 2011 Murray was formally charged with involuntary manslaughter.{{cite web|last=Ryan|first=Harriet|title=Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, pleads not guilty in the singer's death|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2011-jan-26-la-me-conrad-murray-20110126-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 26, 2011}} On September 27, 2011, Murray went on trial in Los Angeles and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011. His bail was revoked and he was remanded to custody pending his November 29 sentencing date. He received the maximum penalty of four years in prison. His Texas medical license was revoked, and his California and Nevada licenses were suspended.Duke, Alan (November 30, 2011) [http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/29/justice/california-conrad-murray-sentencing/ Conrad Murray sentenced to four years behind bars], CNN, Retrieved June 24, 2016. After serving two years, Murray was released on parole on October 28, 2013.Duke, Alan (October 28, 2013) [https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/28/showbiz/conrad-murray-release/index.html Conrad Murray completes jail time for killing Michael Jackson] CNN, Retrieved February 22, 2019.

Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray in 2010{{cite web|title=Joe Jackson Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Dr. Conrad Murray|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/joe-jackson-files-wrongful-death-suit-against-dr-conrad-murray/|work=Fox News|date=June 25, 2010}} but dropped it in 2012.Michael Jackson's Father Drops Wrongful Death Suit Against Conrad Murray. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/michael-jacksons-father-drops-wrongful-death-suit-against-conrad-murray-20120816 RollingStone.com]. Retrieved June 24, 2016. Also in 2010, Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and three children, filed a separate wrongful death suit against concert promoter AEG, claiming that the company was negligent in hiring Murray; the jury decided in favor of AEG in 2013.{{cite web | last = Mohney | first = G. | date = October 18, 2013 | title = Michael Jackson's Former Doctor Conrad Murray Released From Jail | url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/conrad-murray-released-jail/story?id=20699882 | website = ABCNews.com | access-date = June 24, 2016 | url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190121/http://abcnews.go.com/US/conrad-murray-released-jail/story?id=20699882 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 }}

In 2016, Inside Edition reported that Murray was "still visiting patients", although Murray claimed that he does not charge patients anything for his services, that he is only "providing a consultation" without prescribing medication, and that therefore he "is not breaking the law".{{cite news |author= |title=Michael Jackson's Doctor Conrad Murray Is Still Visiting Patients After Losing Medical License|url=https://www.insideedition.com/headlines/16522-michael-jacksons-doctor-conrad-murray-is-still-visiting-patients-after-losing-medical-license|work=Inside Edition |date=May 20, 2016|access-date=February 22, 2019}}

{{reflist}}

{{Michael Jackson}}

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Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American criminals

Category:American cardiologists

Category:American male criminals

Category:American people convicted of manslaughter

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Category:Grenadian criminals

Category:Grenadian emigrants to the United States

Category:Medical malpractice

Category:Meharry Medical College alumni

Category:People from Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada

Category:Prisoners and detainees of California

Category:Texas Southern University alumni

Category:Michael Jackson