Conrad Murray planned to blackmail MJ with a tape recording a judge has said
Australian MJ BeLIEver
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/conrad-murray-planned-to-blackmail-michael-jackson-with-a-tape-recording-a-judge-has-said/story-e6frg6so-1226210025469<br /><br /><br />THE doctor who killed Michael Jackson was preparing to blackmail the singer, a judge said last night as he gave the disgraced physician a four-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. <br /><br />Judge Michael Pastor said that Conrad Murray had committed "medicine madness" to gain "money, fame, prestige". Jackson died on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of powerful drugs that should never have been administered outside a hospital, but which Murray regularly gave the singer at home to combat his chronic insomnia.<br /> <br />The judge said that one piece of evidence had stood out during Murray's six-week trial: a recording of Jackson that the doctor surreptitiously made on his iPhone weeks before the singer's death. Jackson could be heard mumbling almost incoherently, apparently heavily under the influence of drugs.<br /> <br />"That tape recording was Dr Murray's insurance policy," the judge said. Should Murray and Jackson have fallen out, the doctor would have threatened to give it to the media, he added.<br /><br />That the recording was ever made was evidence of a "horrific violation of trust", the judge said. Murray had told a string of "unconscionable lies" to the paramedics and doctors who fought to save the singer, misleading them as to what drugs he had given Jackson, he added.<br /> <br />Murray, 58, showed no emotion as he was given a maximum four-year sentence. A decision on the prosecution's demand for dollars $A100 million in restitution to be paid by Murray to Jackson's estate and three children was deferred. The defence has said there is no way that Murray, who is set to be stripped of his medical licences, could comply with such a request.<br /> <br />Murray, who has a history of money problems, had been poised to earn $A150,000 a month for caring for Jackson during a planned series of 50 comeback concerts in London.<br /> <br />The doctor committed an "egregious violation" of medical standards, the court heard during his trial. He lacked proper monitoring equipment and had been speaking to a string of women friends on his phone when he should have been looking after Jackson.<br /> <br />Murray declined to testify during the trial, but did participate in a reality TV show that was broadcast after he was convicted. In it he said that he did not feel guilty as he felt he had done nothing wrong. The judge said that the comments were evidence that he showed "absolutely no sense of remorse".<br /> <br />The court also heard a statement from the Jackson family. "As Michael's parents we could never have imagined that we would live to witness his passing. It is simply against the natural order of things," it said. "As his brothers and sisters we will never be able to hold, laugh or perform again with our brother Michael. And as his children we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our playmate and our dad."<br /> <br />Murray's lawyers claimed in a filing presented to the court last week that Jackson's "self-destructive tendencies" were partly responsible for his death.<br />
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