'I'm better off dead. I'm done'

WHATEVER the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Had he not been driven -
by a cabal of bankers, agents, doctors and advisers - to commit to the gruelling 50 concerts in Londons O2
Arena, I believe he would still be alive today.
During the last weeks and months of his life, Jackson made desperate attempts to prepare for the concert
series scheduled for next month - a series that would have earned millions for the singer and his entourage, but
which he could never have completed, not mentally, and not physically.
Michael knew it and his advisers knew it. Anyone who caught even a fleeting glimpse of the frail old man hiding
beneath the costumes and cosmetics would have understood that the London tour was madness. For Michael
Jackson, it was fatal.
I had more than a glimpse of the real Michael; as an award-winning freelance journalist and film-maker, I spent
more than five years inside his 'camp.
Many in his entourage spoke frankly to me - and that made it possible for me to write authoritatively last
December that Michael had six months to live, a claim that, at the time, his official spokesman, Dr Tohme
Tohme, called a 'complete fabrication. The singer, he told the world, was in 'fine health. Six months and one
day later, Jackson was dead.
Some liked to snigger at his public image, and it is true that flamboyant clothes and bizarre make-up made for a
comic grotesque; yet without them, his appearance was distressing; with skin blemishes, thinning hair and
discoloured fingernails.
Jackson could count on an array of doctors to write him prescriptions without asking too many questions if he
complained of 'pain. He was particularly fond of OxyContin, nicknamed 'Hillbilly heroin, which gave an instant
high, although he did not take it on a daily basis.
One of his former employees was particularly struck by Jacksons wording that day. 'The way he was talking, its
like hes not in control over his own life any more, she told me earlier this month. 'It sounds like somebody else
is pulling his strings and telling him what to do. Someone wants him dead.
'They keep feeding him pills like candy. They are trying to push him over the edge. He needs serious help. The
people around him will kill him.
As the London concerts approached, something was clearly wrong. Jackson had vowed to travel to England at
least eight weeks before his first shows, but he kept putting it off.
'To be honest, I never thought Michael would set foot on a concert stage ever again, said one aide, choking
back tears on the evening of his death.
'This was not only predictable, this was inevitable.
On June 21, Jackson told my contact that he wanted to die. He said that he didnt have what it would take to
perform any more because he had lost his voice and dance moves.
'Its not working out, Jackson said. 'Im better off dead. I dont have anywhere left to turn. Im done.
Michaels closest confidante told me just two hours after he died that 'Michael was tired of living. He was a
complete wreck for years and now he can finally be in a better place. People around him fed him drugs to keep
him on their side. They should be held accountable.
Michael Jackson was undoubtedly a deeply troubled and lonely man. Throughout my investigation, I was torn
between compassion and anger, sorrow and empathy.
Even his legacy is problematic. As I have already revealed, he has bequeathed up to 200 original songs to his
three children, Prince Michael, aged 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II (also known as Blanket),
seven. It is a wonderful gift.
Yet I can reveal that his will, not as yet made public, demands that the three of them remain with Jacksons
79-year-old mother Katherine in California. It promises an ugly row.
Ex-wife Deborah Rowe, the mother of the eldest two, has already made it clear to her legal team that she wants
her children in her custody, immediately. Daily Mail