Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted as being responsible for Michael Jackson’s death after filling the pop icon’s request for prescription drugs, said Jackson was responsible for his own death in his first comments to the Daily Mail since being released from prison.
Murray, released from prison three weeks ago after serving two years of a four-year sentence, painted a graphic picture of how close he was to Jackson, who died June 25, 2009. “You want to know how close we were?” he said to the United Kingdom newspaper. “I held his penis every night to fit a catheter because he was incontinent at night.”
Murray reiterated as he has all along: He was not responsible for Jackson’s death.
“I did not kill Michael Jackson,” he said. “He was a drug addict. Michael Jackson accidentally killed Michael Jackson.”
Murray also painted a sad portrait of Jackson’s life.
“He was in crisis at the end of his life, filled with panic and misery,” Murray said. “By the end, Michael Jackson was a broken man. I tried to protect him, but instead I was brought down with him.”
A life of fame and a cult-like following also caused Jackson to have extremely bizarre paranoia, Murray said to The Mail. He said the “Thriller” singer wouldn’t let his underwear be cleaned because he was afraid the maids would try to sell it.
He added that Jackson already had his own stash of potentially lethal drugs before Murray began working with him.
“He told me there were doctors in Germany that gave [propofol] to him,” Murray said. “I didn’t agree with this at all, but Michael wasn’t the kind of man you can say no to. He would always find a way.”
Murray claims that he did his best to wean M.J. off of the drug that he used to help him sleep, but only a few days before his death he began begging for doses of propofol again and claiming he couldn’t sleep without it.
While that wasn’t necessarily his addiction, it was the first sign to Murray had that the problem was much worse than he anticipated, he said. The doctor said Jackson’s 5-foot-11 frame had wasted to wasted away and that he was suffering from chills, insomnia and mood swings and he was dependent on the prescription drug propofol to help him sleep.
“Michael was not addicted to propofol, but I’ve since discovered he was addicted to other drugs, given to him by other doctors and which I was not aware of,” Murray claimed.
He also said the singer had told him shortly before his death that their names would become ‘inseparable.’ When Murray asked him what he meant, he said Jackson “smiled and said: ‘I am clairvoyant.’ “
Through it all, Murray insisted that all he wanted to do was “help [his] friend” and that his passing was just as hard for him as it was for anyone else.
