A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that Jackson was ''heavily addicted'' to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol.
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Jackson items up for sale
June 27, 2009, 8:34pm
LAS VEGAS (AP) A collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia is up for auction in Las Vegas - a potentially lucrative coincidence a day after the singer's death.
A celebrity auction Friday at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino has been planned for months, and was promoted mostly as featuring Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe items.
Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the coroner's office, Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman
Craig Harvey said, ''There was no indication of any external trauma or indication of foul play to the body of Mr. Jackson.''
Police said they were seeking to question Jackson's personal physician, identified by news media as Houston-based cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray.
Jackson's body was moved to a mortuary at the family's request on Friday night, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter told reporters. He did not disclose the location and there was no immediate word on when Jackson would be laid to rest.
Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with an unidentified ''close member'' of the Jackson family, reported the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest.
TMZ, citing family members, said Jackson received a daily shot of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, and that the family believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug.
Detectives searched Jackson's home and impounded Murray's Mercedes from the driveway, saying it might contain evidence.
An unidentified man called a 911 emergency phone line from the mansion at 12:21 p.m. local time, saying Jackson was unconscious and not breathing.
In excerpts from the call released by authorities, the caller said the physician was the only other person present and was frantically performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the unconscious Jackson without results.
''He's pumping, he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything, sir, please,'' the man said.
A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that Jackson was ''heavily addicted'' to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol.
Lawyer Brian Oxman, a Jackson family spokesman, told CBS' ''The Early Show'' he had been concerned about the prescription drugs Jackson took due to injuries suffered while performing.
''I do not want to point fingers at anyone because I want to hear what the toxicology report says and the coroner says but the plain fact of the matter is that Michael Jackson had prescription drugs at his disposal at all times,'' Oxman said.
Fans and fellow pop stars revived memories of Jackson's musical genius, tarnished over the past decade by accusations of child molestation and eccentric behavior.
US President Barack Obama called Jackson a ''spectacular performer'' but said he believed aspects of his life were ''sad and tragic,'' the White House said.
Jackson's death was front-page news around the world as airwaves filled with his greatest hits from ''Thriller'' to ''Billie Jean'' and social networking sites were bombarded with messages and tributes.
''My heart, my mind are broken,'' actress Elizabeth Taylor, long a close friend of Jackson, said in a statement.
''He will be in my heart forever but it's not enough,'' Taylor said. ''My life feels so empty. I don't think anyone knew how much we loved each other.''
On Hollywood Boulevard, police put up barricades to control thousands of fans who filed past Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame to honor the child prodigy who became one of the top singers of all time with an estimated 750 million albums sold.
About 50 people danced to such Jackson hits as ''Rock with You'' and ''Beat It'' in New York's Washington Square. When ''Thriller'' played, the crowd formed into lines to imitate the moves from Jackson's ground-breaking video for the song.
Facing a battered reputation and a mountain of debt that The Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, Jackson spent the last two months rehearsing for a series of London concerts, including Wednesday in Los Angeles."
