Michael Jackson's death officially ruled a homicide

The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, finding that he was poisoned by an overdose of surgical anaesthetic propofol.

In a brief statement to news media today, the coroner's office said Jackson died of "acute propofol intoxication". Also contributing to his death were lorazepam and Valium.

The widely anticipated finding could lead to criminal prosecution of one or more of the several physicians who treated Jackson toward the end of his life and who investigators believe provided Jackson with drugs.

The coroner also found in his body the stimulant ephedrine and local anaesthetic lidocaine, reportedly used to mask the pain of the propofol injections. In the US, homicide can refer to murder or to negligent or accidental manslaughter, but the finding need not trigger criminal charges.

In an affidavit filed in the death investigation, a Los Angeles detective said that Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray admitted to giving the 50-year-old singer a veritable cocktail of drugs to help him sleep the night and morning before he died. Those included propofol, which Jackson referred to as his "milk", and lorazepam.

Jackson reportedly begged for an injection of propofol in the hours before his death, and Murray told police he feared Jackson was addicted. Murray has not been named as an official suspect but court records have identified the 51-year-old physician as the subject of a manslaughter investigation.

In addition to Murray, Los Angeles investigators have subpoenaed medical records from Jackson's dermatologist Arnold Klein, plastic surgeon Larry Koplin, anaesthesiologists David Adams and Randy Rosen, and general practitioner Alan Metzger, who had all recently treated Jackson.

The final coroner's report was withheld by request of the Los Angeles police. Police say Jackson obtained drugs through a variety of sources using several aliases including Omar Arnold, Josephine Baker and Jack London.

Murray has spoken with investigators, but has been in hiding since Jackson's death on 25 June. In his only public statement, he said in a video posted on YouTube that he had told the truth and "the truth will prevail".