TVSpy
Michael Jackson‘s body is set to be laid to rest on August 29th at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. The Michael Jackson news story, however, will not be laid to rest anytime soon as word came out on Monday that the Los Angeles County coroner officially ruled Jackson’s death a homicide.
According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed on Monday in Houston, the coroner’s office concluded that Michael Jackson died of “lethal levels” of the powerful anesthetic propofol. Attention now turns to Jackson’s personal doctor Conrad Murray who had been treating Jackson for insomnia. Murray’s attorney released a statement following the affidavit announcement, calling much of the information in the search warrant “theory.” According to the Associated Press, Murray is now the center of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. The Jackson family released a statement saying it has “full confidence in the legal process.”
As a trial looms for Murray, it is evident that the death of Michael Jackson will remain a fixture in the news cycle. Saturday’s funeral has inspired several memorial celebrations around the world, including a Brooklyn block party hosted by the filmmaker Spike Lee and a tribute show to be held in Vienna, Austria. As well, Jackson’s sister LaToya has scheduled a one-on-one interview with Barbara Walters to be aired on September 11.
The death of Michael Jackson has dominated the news over the summer and has now, as President Obama takes a week-long vacation, supplanted the healthcare debate as cable news’ lead story. As media critic Rich Lieberman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote on Monday, “CNN is elated. MSNBC is thrilled. Fox News can’t contain itself. Greta Van Susteren may have a new contract extension and Larry King might just have to have Jermaine do another exclusive.”