There was no immediate indication of where Jackson's body was being moved to. --PHOTO: AP
LOS ANGELES - MOST of Michael Jackson's family members have gathered in their Encino compound where they are contemplating funeral arrangements, caring for his three children and feeling confused, upset and angry by the lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days, a person close to the family told The Associated Press.
MANAMA (Bahrain) - A BAHRAINI royal who had a legal dispute with Michael Jackson over a music project says he was saddened by the singer's death.
Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Isa Al Khalifa, a son of Bahrain's king, had befriended Jackson after the singer's trial on child molestation charges in 2005. He invited him to live in Bahrain and showered him with money.
Jackson's family wants to know more specifics about what role AEG, the concert promoter that was staging his 50-date concert series at London's 02 Arena, was playing in his life, said the person, who requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation. They also want to know more about the role of his advisers and representatives, who they believe were put in place by the promoter.
Randy Phillips, AEG Live president and chief executive, said earlier Friday that it was Jackson who insisted that Dr Conrad Murray, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed Thursday, be put on the tour payroll.
'As a company, we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired,' Phillips said. 'Michael said he had a rapport with him.' Jackson collapsed Thursday at his rented home in Los Angeles.
Police seized Murray's car in search of evidence, but have insisted that the doctor has been cooperative and do not consider him a criminal suspect.
Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray, who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas; his Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, was slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments, and he faces at least two other pending cases and several tax liens.
Jackson never communicated to his family who he had in place to handle his business affairs, the person close to the family said, adding that they were told by the singer's phalanx of advisers that the singer likely had a will, but it may be many years old. The family is distrustful of what they are being told - but they are determined to find out more, the person said.
'There are decisions going down without the family being in the loop; it's becoming an issue,' the person said.
The person said that while there were reports that the singer was distant from his family, he spoke with his mother Katherine quite regularly and his father, Joe, had seen his son shortly before his death. His other eight siblings, including fellow superstar Janet, may not have talked to him recently but were not estranged.
Much of the family was holed up Friday inside the Jackson family's Encino compound, including his three children, according to the person, who described them as doing 'pretty good.' 'I don't think it's fully set in yet,' the person said. -- AP
