LOS ANGELES — The mystery surrounding Michael Jackson's death took another twist Sunday when LaToya Jackson said her younger brother was the victim of foul play.
"I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start," revealed the 53-year-old LaToya in an interview with London's News of the World newspaper. "Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle. Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who weren't always on his side."
LaToya said she feared something horrible might happen to her brother as he prepared for his comeback concerts in London.
"Less than a month ago, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he was surrounded by people who didn't have his best interests at heart," she said. "Michael was worth more than a billion dollars. When anyone is worth that much money, there are always greedy people around them."
"He was worth more dead than alive," she added.
LaToya lived just minutes from her brother and she recalled the frantic race to the hospital on June 25 when Jackson was found unconscious at his rented home in Holmby Hills. While en route to the UCLA Medical Center, she dialed her mother Katherine, who delivered the fateful news that Jackson had died.
"I nearly crashed my car. My legs went weak," recalled LeToya. "I couldn't press down on the gas pedal. I got to the wrong entrance at the hospital and was begging the security guys to help me and take my car because I was so weak and faint. They took me up to the area where Michael had been taken. Mother was crying and Michael's kids were crying."
LaToya said Jackson's daughter, Paris Katherine, 11, wanted to say goodbye to her father at the hospital. So LaToya went with Paris and Jackson's two other children, Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II (Blanket), 7, into her brother's room.
"There was a towel over his face and I lifted it and the kids saw him and Paris said, 'Oh Daddy, I love you,' " remembered LaToya. "We hugged and kissed him and the children lifted up his hands. He didn't look like he was gone. His eyes were half open and he looked like he was sleeping."
"The kids had been screaming and crying but once they were in that room and saw Michael they stopped and became calm," she added.
The group was later joined in the room by Kathy Hilton, a longtime family friend.
It was at the hospital that LaToya said she first became suspicious about her brother's death. She attempted to have a conversation with Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who was at the Holmby house and attempted to revive the music icon on the day of his death. LaToya said the conversation "felt weird" and that the doctor later "disappeared."
Many have speculated that Jackson's death was tied to prescription drugs, but officials are still awaiting toxicology reports. Shortly after the entertainer's death, investigators removed at least two bags of medication from the Holmby home. One of those drugs is believed to be Propofol, an extremely powerful drug also known as Diprivan. The drug is administered intravenously as a general anesthetic used to sedate patients for surgery and is only available to medical personnel. Jackson is believed to have used it in order to sleep.
"It will all come out. You will be shocked," LaToya said of the circumstances surrounding her brother's death.
"He had needle marks on his neck and on his arms and more about those will emerge in the next few weeks," she continued. "I cannot discuss that any further as I may jeopardize the investigation. I can, however, say that I have not changed my mind about my feeling that Michael was murdered."
LaToya said that shortly after the family arrived home from the hospital, they received a call from Jackson's longtime assistant, Michael Amin. The devout Muslim was calling to alert them that Jackson's manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme, had fired the entire staff at the singer's Holmby Hills residence and a second rental in Las Vegas.
"That raised my suspicions," said LaToya, who later returned to the nearby home and discovered new security already in place.
LaToya also clarified that Jackson was found unconscious in Dr. Murray's room and not in his own room.
"There were oxygen tanks along the wall next to the dresser," she said of the scene. "There was a metal stand with a cord hanging down. The police had already been in the house and had removed all the drugs and whatever bag was hanging there."
While she admits that the King of Pop had a prescription drug problem, LaToya said her brother had been detoxing in preparation for his comeback shows.
"He had just been to England on a cleanse and he was drinking juices and being pure," she said. "He had cleaned everything out of his system ready to do the concerts in London."
But LaToya said Jackson felt pressured when AEG, the concert group behind the London shows, increased the O2 Arena run from 10 dates to 50.
"He always wanted to believe the best of people. But he was meek," she said. "In the last few months, he became isolated. I believe the staff were given strict instructions that if any of the family called, not to tell him. And if any of the family came by, not to let them in."
"Those people around him didn't care about Michael the man. They were interested in Michael the cash cow," continued LaToya. "As a family, we tried to get involved. We wanted to stage an intervention. But we couldn't get near Michael. I knew something terrible was going to happen. I believe he was cut off from the real world and the drugs were a way [for his hangers-on] to get in there. They got him hooked on drugs. He was pure and clean and then drugs came back into his system. I think it shocked his system so much it killed him."
LaToya said she is determined to get to the bottom of her brother's death and that the Jackson family won't rest until they have all the answers.
"If he died of a drug overdose, then I want to find who supplied him the drugs and who first introduced him to them," she said. We've still not had a chance to speak to Dr. Murray about Michael's final days. I need to know what he may have seen or heard.
"Michael didn't have to die. We are all mourning his loss, more than anyone can ever know. But we are also determined to get to the bottom of what happened to him."
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