911 call in Jackson death released

By Bloomberg News

Photo by Associated Press

Danielle Walsh of Los Angeles, right, joins fellow Michael Jackson fans in singing his song "Man in the Mirror" near Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, early Friday morning.

ADVERSTISMENT

LOS ANGELES — Police investigating Michael Jackson's death looked into his medical treatment Friday, seeking to interview one of the pop king's doctors and seizing a car that they said may contain drugs or other evidence.

As medical examiners began an autopsy for Jackson, police towed a BMW from rented home "because it may contain medications or other evidence that may assist the coroner in determining the cause of death," police spokesman Karen Rayner said.

She said the car belongs to one of Jackson's doctors whom police wanted to interview. Rayner said she did not know the doctor's identity and stressed the doctor was not under criminal investigation.

The autopsy began Friday morning and was expected to last several hours. An official determination on cause of death was not expected for weeks or longer, until more sophisticated tests are completed.

In a 911 call released by fire officials, a caller reports Jackson was on a bed and not breathing or responding to CPR. The unidentified caller said Jackson only was with his personal doctor at the time. The pop star died later Thursday afternoon at UCLA Medical Center.

Jackson died after being stricken at his rented home in the posh Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him for three-quarter of an hours there before rushing him to the hospital.

His brother Jermaine said Jackson apparently suffered cardiac arrest, an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems.

A handful of bleary-eyed fans camped out throughout the night with media outside the Jackson family house in the San Fernando Valley and near his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. People heading to work in New York stopped to pay respects outside Harlem's Apollo Theater, where Jackson performed as a child.

"When the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose, so thank God we're celebrating him now," Liza Minnelli told CBS' "The Early Show" by telephone.

A producer said Sunday's BET Awards would be dedicated to Jackson because of his influence on music and pop culture. And a screening of Universal Pictures' "Bruno" in Los Angeles on Thursday night cut a scene involving Jackson's sister La Toya.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer. His 1982 album "Thriller" - which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" - is the best-selling album of all time worldwide.

Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, Jackson died reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.

After the enormous success of "Thriller," Jackson had strong follow-up albums with 1987's "Bad" and 1991's "Dangerous," but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home.

The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy's family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children.

The case followed years of rumors about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

Despite the acquittal, the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, now 12; and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.

Jackson also had a third child, Prince Michael II, now 7. Jackson said the boy, nicknamed Blanket as a baby, was his biological child born from a surrogate mother.