| MEGA POP STAR MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD AT 50 |
Paramedics arrived at his Bel-Air home today and found the singer in full cardiac arrest. A doctor was in the home
performing CPR on him. LAPD has opened an inquiry. By Andrew Blankstein, Phil Willon and Harriet Ryan
June 26, 2009 Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his
Bel-Air mansion, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told The Times that paramedics responded to a 911 call from the
home. When they arrived, Jackson was not breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA
Medical Center, Ruda said.
Hundreds of reporters gathered at the hospital awaiting word on his condition. The sources, who spoke on the
condition that they not be named, said family members rushed to Jackson's bedside, where he was in a deep
coma.
The circumstances of Jackson's death remain unclear. Law enforcement sources said that Los Angeles Police
Department robbery-homicide detectives have opened an investigation into the death, though they stressed there
is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The detectives plan to interview relatives, friends and Jackson's doctors to
try to figure out what happened. The L.A. County coroner's office will determine a cause of death.
A Los Angeles Fire Department source told The Times that Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when rescue units
arrived on scene. A doctor was in the house performing CPR on him, said the source, who asked not to be named
because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Paramedics were called to a home on the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson rented the
Bel-Air home -- described as a French chateau built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces
and a theater -- for $100,000 a month.
The home is about a six-minute drive from UCLA Medical Center.
Jackson has three children -- sons Prince Michael 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris
Michael Katherine, 11.
The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his
trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.
In May, The Times reported that Jackson was living in a Bel-Air mansion and rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out
shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called King of Pop
back on stage.
The concerts had been scheduled to kick off July 13.
Johnny Caswell, a principal at Centerstaging, the Burbank soundstage where Jackson rehearsed for his London
concerts, watched many of the run-throughs and said he was "absolutely shocked" by the performer's death.
Jackson, he said, was "very frail" but approached the rehearsals with boundless energy.
"He was working hard. Putting four days a week in here. Six hours a day. Working hard. Dancing," Caswell said.
"We're in shock over here."
The performer moved from the Burbank facility to the Forum at the beginning of June, Caswell said.
Rand Phillips, the chief executive officer of promoter AEG Live, said in an interview last month that a medical
screening of Jackson uncovered "no issues whatsoever."
Screeners "declared him healthy," Phillips said. "His cholesterol level is better than mine."
But a physical may not have revealed a looming heart attack, said Dr. John Harold, a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
cardiologist.
"This is the type of patient who could have a stress test the day before and it could be completely normal, and the
next day could have a plaque rupture and a fatal heart attack," said Harold, who did not treat Jackson.
His backers envisioned the London shows as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a
three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau,
and even a Thriller casino.
Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt, estimated at $400 million.
Jackson needed a comeback to reverse the damage done by years of excessive spending and little work. He has
not toured since 1997 or released a new album since 2001, but he has continued to live like a megastar.
To finance his opulent lifestyle, he borrowed heavily against his three main assets: his Neverland Ranch, his music
catalog and a second catalog that includes the music of the Beatles that he co-owns with Sony Corp. By the time
of his 2005 criminal trial, he was nearly $300 million in debt and, according to testimony, spending $30 million
more annually than he was taking in.
Compounding his money difficulties were a revolving door of litigious advisors and hangers-on. Jackson has run
through 11 managers since 1990, according to Frank DiLeo, his manager and friend of three decades.
Outside the white walls of the UCLA emergency center, the valets stand idle as dark-suited men move back and
forth between the entrance and a number of parked black SUVs.
In the circle driveway a woman, who identifies herself as Jackson's cousin, waits with a friend. A harried man in a
suit gets out of his car and barks into his cellphone, "Did Latoya come in?"
Suddenly the sound of Jackson's music blares from speakers on the balcony of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity
house across the street.
"Oh, now they're playing Michael Jackson," the man in the suit declared in exasperation into his phone.
As the music played, a gaggle of crying young girls gathered in the emergency room driveway until police moved
them and all other bystanders back onto the sidewalk.
Times staff writers Richard Winton, Raja Abdulrahim, Garreck Kennedy, Chris Lee, Carla Hall, Ari B. Bloomekatz,
Anna Gorman and Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report.
performing CPR on him. LAPD has opened an inquiry. By Andrew Blankstein, Phil Willon and Harriet Ryan
June 26, 2009 Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his
Bel-Air mansion, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told The Times that paramedics responded to a 911 call from the
home. When they arrived, Jackson was not breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA
Medical Center, Ruda said.
Hundreds of reporters gathered at the hospital awaiting word on his condition. The sources, who spoke on the
condition that they not be named, said family members rushed to Jackson's bedside, where he was in a deep
coma.
The circumstances of Jackson's death remain unclear. Law enforcement sources said that Los Angeles Police
Department robbery-homicide detectives have opened an investigation into the death, though they stressed there
is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The detectives plan to interview relatives, friends and Jackson's doctors to
try to figure out what happened. The L.A. County coroner's office will determine a cause of death.
A Los Angeles Fire Department source told The Times that Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when rescue units
arrived on scene. A doctor was in the house performing CPR on him, said the source, who asked not to be named
because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Paramedics were called to a home on the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson rented the
Bel-Air home -- described as a French chateau built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces
and a theater -- for $100,000 a month.
The home is about a six-minute drive from UCLA Medical Center.
Jackson has three children -- sons Prince Michael 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris
Michael Katherine, 11.
The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his
trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.
In May, The Times reported that Jackson was living in a Bel-Air mansion and rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out
shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called King of Pop
back on stage.
The concerts had been scheduled to kick off July 13.
Johnny Caswell, a principal at Centerstaging, the Burbank soundstage where Jackson rehearsed for his London
concerts, watched many of the run-throughs and said he was "absolutely shocked" by the performer's death.
Jackson, he said, was "very frail" but approached the rehearsals with boundless energy.
"He was working hard. Putting four days a week in here. Six hours a day. Working hard. Dancing," Caswell said.
"We're in shock over here."
The performer moved from the Burbank facility to the Forum at the beginning of June, Caswell said.
Rand Phillips, the chief executive officer of promoter AEG Live, said in an interview last month that a medical
screening of Jackson uncovered "no issues whatsoever."
Screeners "declared him healthy," Phillips said. "His cholesterol level is better than mine."
But a physical may not have revealed a looming heart attack, said Dr. John Harold, a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
cardiologist.
"This is the type of patient who could have a stress test the day before and it could be completely normal, and the
next day could have a plaque rupture and a fatal heart attack," said Harold, who did not treat Jackson.
His backers envisioned the London shows as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a
three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau,
and even a Thriller casino.
Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt, estimated at $400 million.
Jackson needed a comeback to reverse the damage done by years of excessive spending and little work. He has
not toured since 1997 or released a new album since 2001, but he has continued to live like a megastar.
To finance his opulent lifestyle, he borrowed heavily against his three main assets: his Neverland Ranch, his music
catalog and a second catalog that includes the music of the Beatles that he co-owns with Sony Corp. By the time
of his 2005 criminal trial, he was nearly $300 million in debt and, according to testimony, spending $30 million
more annually than he was taking in.
Compounding his money difficulties were a revolving door of litigious advisors and hangers-on. Jackson has run
through 11 managers since 1990, according to Frank DiLeo, his manager and friend of three decades.
Outside the white walls of the UCLA emergency center, the valets stand idle as dark-suited men move back and
forth between the entrance and a number of parked black SUVs.
In the circle driveway a woman, who identifies herself as Jackson's cousin, waits with a friend. A harried man in a
suit gets out of his car and barks into his cellphone, "Did Latoya come in?"
Suddenly the sound of Jackson's music blares from speakers on the balcony of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity
house across the street.
"Oh, now they're playing Michael Jackson," the man in the suit declared in exasperation into his phone.
As the music played, a gaggle of crying young girls gathered in the emergency room driveway until police moved
them and all other bystanders back onto the sidewalk.
Times staff writers Richard Winton, Raja Abdulrahim, Garreck Kennedy, Chris Lee, Carla Hall, Ari B. Bloomekatz,
Anna Gorman and Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report.
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