Michael Jackson's death caused by powerful sedatives

The Los Angeles county coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death was caused by a lethal combination of powerful sedative drugs.

Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who treated Jackson for insomnia, told a Los Angeles police official that he had injected Jackson with propofol in the hours before his death on 25 June in a rented mansion in Los Angeles. The drug is an anaesthetic used during surgery, and is typically administered intravenously in a hospital setting.

In a sworn affidavit, Los Angeles detective Orlando Martinez said that Murray admitted to giving the 50-year-old singer a veritable cocktail of drugs to help him sleep the night before he died.

Murray had been Jackson's personal physician for about six weeks, and told investigators that another doctor had introduced Jackson to propofol, which investigators said the pop star obtained using several aliases.

Martinez said that the Los Angeles County chief coroner Dr Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reported Jackson had a lethal level of propofol in his blood.

Murray told police he used it to help Jackson sleep, and that he worried Jackson had become addicted to it. He said he tried to wean Jackson off the drug, which Jackson called his "milk". Murray said Jackson had injection marks on his hands and feet.

Murray said he was monitoring Jackson's pulse and oxygen levels as he administered the sedatives during the night, and that Jackson remained awake despite several injections of drugs. Jackson requested and demanded an injection of propofol, Murray said.

Murray told investigators that about 10:30am on 25 June, Murray left Jackson for less than two minutes to use the restroom, and that Jackson was not breathing when he returned. Murray began CPR, injected more drugs, and another aide summoned help.

Federal drug enforcement agents were unable to find records of Murray's purchase of propofol and have sought medical records from a handful of other physicians who had treated the singer.

Martinez also stated that in April, Jackson offered to pay another physician any price to obtain propofol. The physician declined. Murray has gone into virtual hiding since Jackson's death. In his only public statement, he said in a video posted on YouTube that he had told the truth and "the truth will prevail".