Shocking photos have emerged showing how drugs ravaged Michael Jackson’s legs as it was revealed that detectives are treating his death as homicide.
Bruises, needle marks and a gruesome black wound can be seen in the previously unseen images which were broadcast to millions by U.S. TV network ABC.
They had been released by the singer’s father Joe to show his son had vitiligo, the skin-whitening disease, which Jackson had always claimed he’d had.
However their release has raised more questions about the star’s drug use.
The black wound appears to have been caused where an intravenous line, fed into his leg, was removed and fluids dripped into his lower leg.
Normally, IV tubes go into the arms.
There are also puncture marks (circled in a picture below) peppering the skin on his legs which appear to have been caused by needlemarks.
Dr Debra Jaliman, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology, told the ABC network: ‘It looks like there are multiple punctures from intravenous placement.
‘If the IV fluid went into his skin it may have destroyed it.’
The specialist said of the 2002 pictures it was ‘unusual’ to inject drugs into the legs, but that the measure would be taken if no veins in the upper body were accessible.
The blackness of the wound is believed to be the result of necrosis, the death of most or all the cells in tissue due to disease.
The website TMZ, which broke the news of Jackson’s death, reports that the initial investigation has pinpointed the anaesthesic Propofol as the primary cause of his death. Vials of Propofol were found in Jackson’s home after he died.
The site stated: ‘The evidence includes various items found in Jackson’s house, including the Propofol, an IV stand and oxygen tank.’
It also reported that the Los Angeles Police Department has had ‘multiple conversations’ with the L.A. County District Attorney’s office, although the case has not been formally presented to the district attorney who would decide on any prosecution.
The developments come as a Los Angeles coroner’s official visited the office of Jackson’s dermatologist to serve a subpoena seeking additional medical records.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter went to Arnold Klein’s Beverly Hills office and spoke afterwards to reporters.
He said Klein had been co-operating in the investigation. Craig Harvey, the coroner’s chief of operations, says it’s the second time coroner’s investigators have served Klein a subpoena.
They are focusing on the role drugs played in causing Jackson’s death.
Klein has recently given TV interviews saying he sedated Jackson for medical procedures. He denied ever giving the pop star an unnecessary dose of drugs.
Jackson was taking a combination of painkillers when he died on June 25 and had been regularly using the drugs since he burned his hair during the filming of a Pepsi advert in 1984.
Video footage of the star’s hair catching on fire, which it has never been seen before, has been obtained by magazine US Weekly, it claims.
The incident happened during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984.
Jackson suffered severe burns after the pyrotechnics mishap.
Still photos of the accident have appeared, but the new video on the magazine’s website shows the moment Jackson’s hair caught on fire and the top of his head became engulfed in flames.
Jackson doesn’t appear to know his hair is on fire. In the video, he’s still dancing as the flames are on his head. When he spins, the flames go out. People on the set then tackle him to extinguish the fire. When Jackson emerges, the top of his head is bald.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s older brother Tito, 55, said the family once raided the singer’s former home Neverland looking for drugs.
Tito said his younger brother had ordered his bodyguards to prevent the family from visiting his California ranch without permission.
Tito told the Daily Mirror: ‘I never saw him on drugs. Not once. He deliberately did it away from us. He didn’t want his family to know anything about that part of him.
‘He did almost everything in his power to make sure we didn’t know.
‘We had to act. It was me, my sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and my brothers, Jackie and Randy.
‘We bust right into the house and he was surprised to see us to say the least.
‘We kept asking him if it was true what we had heard that he was using drugs.
‘He kept denying it. He said we were over-reacting. We also spoke to a doctor and he assured us it was not the situation. He said he was there to make sure Michael was healthy.’
In a further development, the lawyer of Jackson’s former wife Debbie Rowe angrily denied claims she’d accepted $4million from the Jackson family in return for giving up custody claims for her and Michael’s children, Paris and Prince Michael.
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