'No smoking gun', but Jackson's doctor faces more police questions

A DOCTOR who treated Michael Jackson before the pop star's sudden death is likely to be called back for further questioning – despite detectives finding "no smoking gun" in answers he gave during a three-hour interview.

Cardiologist Conrad Murray, who was questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday, two days after the troubled singer's death, is not the subject of a criminal inquiry.

Detectives say they do not suspect foul play, and Edward Chernoff, the lawyer representing Jackson's personal physician, said his client answered "every and all questions" put to him.

An official police statement after the interview said: "Dr Murray was co-operative and provided information which will help the investigation."

But a source close to the LAPD's robbery-homicide division said Dr Murray – who performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation on Jackson after he collapsed at his rented Holmby Hills mansion and then accompanied him to hospital in an ambulance – was unable to provide them with any conclusive answer as to why the performer stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.

Last night, Dr Murray's lawyer said the physician found the entertainer in his bed with a faint pulse.

There was "no red flag" and "no smoking gun" that arose during the interview, the source added.

And a spokesman for Dr Murray announced last night that he was staying in town "out of the goodness of his heart" until the investigation by the LAPD was complete.

But sources close to Jackson's relatives, speaking to celebrity website tmz.com, said the family feels it is too soon to clear Dr Murray of any wrongdoing.

A private pathologist hired by the Jackson family completed the second autopsy on Saturday, it was reported last night.

The official autopsy conducted on Friday by the LA county coroner indicated no foul play, but a cause of death will not be known until after the results of toxicology tests, due in six to eight weeks' time.

Friends of Jackson's family, including the civil rights activist the Rev Jesse Jackson, have publicly questioned Dr Murray's "abnormal" actions before Michael Jackson collapsed last Thursday, including a suggestion that he might have administered an injection of the powerful painkilling drug Demerol.

Jackson was a long-time abuser of prescription drugs, according to his former lawyer and spokesman Brian Oxman, and had recently begun taking more to cope with the pressure of preparing for his comeback tour, which was to include 50 concerts in London.

Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman for Dr Murray, said he had always been available to detectives and that his answers had "helped identify the circumstances around the death of the pop icon and clarified some inconsistencies".

Jackson family members spent the weekend at their estate in Encino, a suburb of Los Angeles. Jackson's father, Joe said they were still struggling to come to terms with Michael's death, which he described as "one of the darkest moments of our lives". "We're going to miss the great superstar, the biggest known in the world," he said. He added that his son's three children, Michael Joseph jnr, 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, seven, were surrounded by their family and "doing fantastic, enjoying themselves with the other kids".

Jackson's father also said he did not believe stress over the intense series of London concerts the King of Pop planned for his comeback led to his death.

He added that he believed his son would be larger in death than he was in life.

According to sources, the Jackson family is determined the children remain with them and are brought up by their grandmother Katherine, Michael Jackson's mother.

Debbie Rowe, Jackson's wife from 1996 to 1999 and the biological mother of his two eldest children, will be allowed to see them if she wishes, a family friend said.

"It would be unfair for them to grow up not knowing her," he said. The youngest boy was born to a surrogate mother.

Details of custody arrangements were likely to be contained in Jackson's will, which has not been made public. Arrangements for Jackson's funeral are expected to be announced shortly, the family friend said.

Meanwhile, stars paid tribute to the singer at last night's Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards ceremony in Los Angeles, an annual event hastily rewritten over the weekend into a celebration of Jackson's life.

"It's a total overhaul, more geared towards Michael Jackson," said Debra Lee, chief executive of BET.

The show, hosted by actor Jamie Foxx, was extended to accommodate the extra material, including musical tributes by Beyoncé and Ne-Yo.

Ms Lee said that other artists, including Justin Timberlake and Usher, were attempting to find last-minute flights to Los Angeles to enable them to attend the event.

President Barack Obama has also sent a letter to Jackson's family expressing his sympathy, according to David Axelrod, a senior White House adviser.

Mr Axelrod said that the president considered Jackson to be a spectacular performer whose life had sad and tragic aspects.