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Michael Jackson’s killer doctor Conrad Murray says the star’s £280million of debt – not he – toppled the king of pop.
Jacko’s former physician wants the singer’s dire straits to be considered as he appeals against his involuntary manslaughter conviction.
In legal documents, Murray suggests a ‘desperate’ MJ self- administered a fatal dose of anaesthetic in June 2009 – and the doctor is innocent. Murray says Jackson was battling to roll back the years when he signed a deal to revive his career and save his estate.
‘Mr Jackson was in debt approximately $440million and desperately needed to fulfil a contractual commitment at the O2 Arena in London,’ Murray’s legal team wrote in documents obtained by TMZ.
‘He was on the verge of losing his entire estate to foreclosure. The pressure to fight through his insomnia, to rehearse and be the entertainer he was in his earlier years was overwhelming,’ the papers state.
‘His motivation and resulting desperation were relevant to show a likelihood or reason to act in a manner inconsistent with good judgment.’
Murray is unhappy the singer’s money woes were not taken into account by the judge.
The doctor is due in court today hoping to be released or put under house arrest during his appeal to overturn his four-year sentence.
But prosecutors want to keep him locked up, arguing he could flee and that he has shown no remorse.
Murray was jailed for criminal negligence after admitting he used to give the pop star propofol and sedatives so he could sleep.
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