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Nancy Grace
Jackson`s Father Vows to Raise His Children
Aired July 10, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. The mystery in the sudden death of music icon Michael Jackson intensifies as questions mount on his sudden death, his half-a-billion-dollar empire, and more important, custody of the star`s three little children.
Bombshell tonight. Jackson`s family declares foul play in his sudden death. Well, doesn`t foul play plus a dead body equal murder? This as subpoenas go out demanding information leading up to Jackson`s collapse. After Jackson reveals physical abuse, beatings, at the hands of his own father, Joe Jackson, keeping his own three children far, far away, father Joe now announces he himself will raise Jackson`s children. It`s Jackson`s worst nightmare come true!
The location of Jackson`s embalmed body still shrouded in mystery. But tonight, we learn the body may be secretly held at the family crypt of Motown founder Berry Gordy. But why? And how -- how -- do you lose a gold-bedecked "Promethean" casket with 20 helicopters hovering and thousands watching the casket exit the arena? Was the body ever even in the casket, or was it smuggled out through the arena`s secret underground tunnels in an unmarked van while fans mobbed a black hearse seemingly bearing Jackson`s body? We confirm a portion of Jackson`s brain missing from the body, withheld for testing.
As the Jackson family infighting boils over, father Joe and the Jackson brothers push for burial in the back yard of Neverland, laying the groundwork for a Graceland-like Michael Jackson burial theme park. Sister Janet pleading for a family intervention to save Jackson`s life. Well, that never happened after Jackson ordered a fleet of bodyguards to keep the family out, even refusing phone calls from his 79-year-old mother.
Sources reveal needle marks in Jackson`s neck -- that`s right, his neck -- bearing signs of drug injections, his other veins riddled with track marks, many actually collapsing from IV use, confirming a report surfacing last week many branded an autopsy fake. And now comes reports needle marks discovered all over his body, including neck, ankles, legs, his skin paper white, white as a T-shirt, his bald head matching, his body emaciated, all in direct contrast to private video of his full dress rehearsal just hours before his death.
Multiple vials of drugs found in his home, drug banned for consumer use, only found behind locked doors in the OR. Jackson reportedly ingesting up to 10,000 pills in just six months, including a reported 40 Xanax a night -- 40 Xanax pills a night. The chief of LAPD mulls criminal charges. Who -- who -- drugged an addict who happened to be a superstar? As vultures circle Jackson`s dead body, the fate of his three children unknown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news in the Michael Jackson investigation, a source close to the Jackson family telling us they are aware it could turn into a criminal probe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have some concerns about the physicians and the people who were around him that during the last moments of his life?
JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON`S FATHER: Yes, I have. I have a lot of concerns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are your concerns about that?
JOE JACKSON: I can`t get into that, but I don`t like what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In fact, a picture coming into focus of a multi- doctor, multi-state, multi-faceted human conveyer belt used to provide Michael Jackson exactly what he wanted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And apparently, what he wanted in great quantities, powerful prescription drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a confidential police document. It is from 2004. It contains confidential interviews done with two of Michael Jackson`s former security guards. One of them told investigators Jackson was taking, quote, "10-plus Xanax pills" a night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very highly addictive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that he expressed concerns about that to other Jackson employees and was told by one, quote, "Jackson was doing better because he was down from 30 to 40 Xanax pills a night."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No matter how you cut it, this is an extremely high dose of Xanax.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five doctors are being investigated, two of whom, sources confirm to CNN, Dr. Arnold Klein, as well as Dr. Conrad Murray.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, breaking news in the case of a beautiful young mom and her two little sons found dead in their white-finished two-story home, strangled each in their own bedroom. Manner of death, ligature strangulation. A glove discarded, flung along I-55, minutes from the Coleman home, allegedly spattered with red spray paint, a possible link to a chilling message scrawled across the walls of the murder scene. Mother of two Sheri Coleman found left naked, face down in her own bed in the home -- airline boarding passes, a Home Depot receipt for red spray paint and latex gloves. Husband/daddy former Marine and preacher`s son, who worked for worldwide televangelist Joyce Meyer Ministries, keeps a secret PO box unknown to wife and family.
Shocking details emerge. Not only were the home`s walls spray painted with ominous messages, little Gavin`s bed spray painted with profanity, as well, with the 9-year-old lying there in the bed!
As we go to air, a coroner`s jury hands down the cause of death. And video of Daddy`s mistress surfaces. We have the video!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris, did you kill your wife? Chris? Chris, do you have any comment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murderer! Baby killer! Murderer! Baby killer!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... some breaking news. We have made an arrest in the homicide of Sheri, Gavin and Garret Coleman. We have a Christopher Coleman in custody. He was charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his wife and his two small children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christopher Coleman was cheating on his wife with this woman, a cocktail waitress named Tara Lintz (ph), a friend and former classmate of Sheri Coleman. Both attended high school in a Tampa suburb, graduating a year apart but maintaining a friendship through the years. If Chris Coleman had gone to the MySpace page of his wife`s friend, he would have seen this photo of Tara Lintz. After the murders, he admitted to police to having marital problems and exchanging e-mails with Lintz. Columbia police chief Joe Edwards interviewed Coleman after the murders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you testify in court that Chris and Tara had exchanged explicit e-mails, including photos of body parts?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An attorney representing Sheri Coleman`s mother and brother was in that location, in the crime scene. And he said he saw the downstairs living room, the words, "F you (DELETED)." Below it, the word "punished."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think about this manner of death, ligature strangulation. Who does that? Somebody who wants low noise, low mess, no blood, gunshot residue or anything like that. Imagine how cold and calculated that father would have to be to do that to his kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. The mystery surrounding the sudden death of music superstar Michael Jackson intensifies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigation into Michael Jackson`s death might turn into a criminal case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The L.A. police chief confirms that Jackson`s doctors are being investigated and that criminal charges could result from the police probe. Doctors not cooperating were issued subpoenas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The coroner`s office here in L.A. County has a list of doctors that investigators have already begun interviewing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN has confirmed from a source that Dr. Klein is on that list, as well as Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with Michael when he collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also have new claims from some of Michael Jackson`s former employees about his alleged drug use. They told police back in 2004 that Jackson took more than 10 Xanax pills each night, and at one point, used as many as 30 to 40 pills.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to this document that we have, one of the security guards told investigators that he would get Xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for Jackson under, quote, "fictitious names." One of the security guards actually named five doctors that he said were writing prescriptions for Michael Jackson. This security guard said in several states across the country, he personally drove Jackson to different doctor`s offices, which really paints a picture of doctor shopping.
One of the security guards described Jackson as sharp and, quote, "in tune" before the doctors` visits, and then afterward, he said, he would be, quote, "out of it" and sedated.
There is plenty right here that really paints a very dark picture of Jackson`s apparent drug habit and the sophisticated operation that was in place to apparently help him get the drugs and the doctors he may have been getting those drugs from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. What can you tell me about the reports that Jackson`s body may be hidden right now in the family crypt of Motown founder Berry Gordy?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right. Well, Berry Gordy very involved in the Jackson 5 career, as well as Michael Jackson. Apparently, Michael Jackson`s casket is in this crypt that Berry Gordy bought for his family. It`s at Forest Lawn cemetery. And the casket is just sitting there right now while the Jackson family is fighting amongst themselves about where to eventually bury Michael Jackson.
GRACE: OK, let me get something straight. I am also understanding that at the get-go, we were told you can`t just dig a hole in the back yard and bury a body, all right? Start your own cemetery. But it seems as if that`s exactly what`s going to happen. The state, while it says it hasn`t been contacted yet, says it`s OK to go forward with burying Michael Jackson`s body there at Neverland to make kind of a Graceland theme part, a burial theme park? What`s happening, Ellie?
JOSTAD: Right. Well, the state says that they have been contacted by one of Jackson`s lawyers, or an emissary for Jackson, but that the county...
GRACE: Oh, they have been contacted?
JOSTAD: They have been contacted.
GRACE: Have been contacted?
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: OK.
JOSTAD: Right. But the state -- or rather, the county of -- Santa Barbara County would have to give the OK, and that could be a long, drawn- out process.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New claims this morning that Michael Jackson may have taken more than 10 Xanax pills a day. Now, a 2004 police document says Jackson asked some employees to get the prescription sedative Xanax under their names. It also says Jackson traveled to doctors` offices in other states to get the drug himself. This document contains interviews with two of Jackson former security guards, one guard saying in there he was concerned about Jackson taking 10 or more pills a day, but was told by his colleague Jackson was actually doing better because he was down from 30 to 40 pills a night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People start off taking a few, and they take more and more and they build up tolerance. If you stop taking it, the withdrawal is just awful. People can have tremors. They can even have seizures. They get the shakes. They can have sweats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication, but it`s also commonly used to treat sleep disorders because it causes drowsiness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another source was telling us the family concerned for a long time, but it was Janet now who tried to force the issue two years ago, and Michael Jackson simply stopped seeing him. Back in 2007, "People" magazine did report about an alleged Jackson family intervention. The Jackson family denied it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, Michael Jackson`s father, Joe, is speaking out for the first time since his son`s memorial service. He told ABC`s "Nightline" he does not think his son`s death was an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The inquiry into the death of Mr. Jackson is continuing. Are we dealing with homicide? Are we dealing with an accidental overdose? Or what are we dealing with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to go straight to Mary Margaret, news editor of Radaronline.com. All right, we still don`t know where the body is. What can you tell me about a portion of Michael Jackson`s brain still missing?
MARY MARGARET, RADARONLINE.COM: Well, the portion of the brain that was missing is supposed to have been taken for medical reasons. They wanted to do further investigation and...
GRACE: Testing?
MARGARET: Further testing, yes, in terms of what he ingested, what was in his system, et cetera.
GRACE: OK, straight out to Howard Oliver, former deputy medical examiner and forensic pathologist. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Don`t they have tissue samples? I`m sure they took blood from his body. Why do they need his brain, Doctor?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: They really don`t need his brain for toxicology studies. Soft tissues, like, from the liver and kidney would be better than examining brain tissue.
GRACE: So why? Why? Can you think of any legitimate reason to keep Michael Jackson`s brain out of his body?
OLIVER: Well, had I done the autopsy, I would have kept the entire brain and had a neuropathologist to examine it to alleviate any possibility of any other cause of death, rather than toxicological study.
GRACE: But -- Dr. Howard Oliver, everyone, joining us from L.A. Dr. Oliver, what do you mean? What could the brain reveal as to cause of death? I mean, it seems to me that they`re zeroing in on cardiac arrest following overuse of prescription drugs. So what else could the brain reveal that tissue could not?
OLIVER: Well, it could have been some type of disease that`s specific to the brain, rather than looking at toxicological studies.
GRACE: Like what?
OLIVER: Well, for an example, like in an older person, say, Alzheimer`s disease could cause a person`s death.
GRACE: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, come on! I have great respect for you, Doctor. I`ve checked you out thoroughly. Everybody, Dr. Oliver joining us from L.A. Michael Jackson is not an older person. He did not have Alzheimer`s, all right? So I`ve got a problem with the brain being withheld from the body. It`s just not sitting right, Doctor. So let`s forget about the Alzheimer`s. What other reason could they have kept his brain?
OLIVER: OK, I used Alzheimer`s as an example. He could have...
GRACE: True.
OLIVER: ... had some sort of seizure disorder, like epilepsy or that sort of thing.
GRACE: Which leads me to my next question, Doctor. There are reports that Michael Jackson suffered from lupus. What is it? And how could it have impacted his death?
OLIVER: Lupus is an autoimmune disease. It`s the immune system attacking different organs of the body. Usually, the worst organ attacked is the kidney, which can lead to death. You can have lupus disease in the skin...
GRACE: Got it.
OLIVER: ... and other organs of the body.
GRACE: And back to you, Ellie. What`s this we are learning? After Jackson admits publicly to physical beatings over his entire childhood and 10 years at the hands of his father, now Joe Jackson announces not only does he believe a murder has taken place, announcing foul play, but that he himself is going to raise the three children to be, quote, "strong Jacksons."
JOSTAD: Right. Joe Jackson told ABC that he and Katherine Jackson are best equipped to raise these kids, that they`ll feed them, they`ll give them a nice home. They`ll get plenty of rest, plenty of sleep. They`ll grow up to be strong Jacksons. And this is against what everybody else says Michael Jackson would have wanted.
GRACE: To the lawyers. Let`s unleash them. Joining me tonight, famed attorney out of San Francisco John Burris, Carmen St. George, defense attorney out of New York, Lewis Levenson (ph), estate attorney. He represented James Brown`s children in an estate battle, and that was a battle royale.
OK, Burris, you`re out there on the scene in California. We know Michael Jackson kept his three children as far away from Joe Jackson as possible. Reality? He`s the one that left his kids to the mother. Did he forget about the husband, Joe Jackson?
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, he didn`t forget about the father. He knew exactly he did not want his children to be associated with the dad in any kind of custody way. So that was a right (ph). So it`s surprising the father thinks he can assert himself now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Take a listen to what Michael Jackson said, what he revealed to Oprah Winfrey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON: There`s a lot of sadness about my past life, and you know, (INAUDIBLE) lessons and my father and all of those things. It just made me very, very, very sad.
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: So he would tease you, make fun of you?
MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes.
WINFREY: Would he -- did he ever beat you?
MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes, he did. Yes.
WINFREY: And that was difficult to take, getting beaten and going on stage and performing.
MICHAEL JACKSON: Yes.
WINFREY: And why would he beat you?
MICHAEL JACKSON: Because he saw me -- he wanted me to -- I guess maybe -- I don`t know if I was his golden child or whatever it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Michael Jackson`s interview with Oprah. It was in 1993, and we got that from Harpo Productions. Tonight, we learn that grandfather Joe Jackson has not only publicly announced that he and the Jackson family believe foul play resulted in Michael Jackson`s death -- dead body, foul play, that equals murder -- but that he himself will take a hand in raising Jackson`s three children, Jackson`s worst nightmares now coming true.
We also learn that the Jackson family has made the first moves in having Jackson`s body buried there at Neverland, a place he grew to hate. We learn it will be a burial theme park, something like Elvis`s Graceland, which rakes in, believe it or not, $35 million a year.
Out to Natisha Lance, our producer, joining us from L.A. What can you tell me about ABC network paying nearly a quarter million dollars for photos, or really for an interview, but they said for photos of Michael Jackson? What happened?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. This was this interview where Joe Jackson said that he and Katherine Jackson would be best equipped to raise the children. Apparently, ABC News reportedly paid $200,000 for video of the Jackson family to be used on a special that`s coming up -- $200,000 when Joe Jackson sat down for this interview.
GRACE: To Carmen St. George joining us out of New York. Carmen, as a parent, this must strike a chord with you. He specifically did not want his children at the hands of Joe Jackson, and we see it happening before our very eyes. Because of what he said in his will, giving guardianship to his mother, who`s married to his father, has he unwittingly engineered this fiasco?
CARMEN ST. GEORGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I hope that the courts take this into their hands considering the best interests of the child. Even though Joe Jackson has another residence primarily in Vegas, since they are married, he technically can be in the home and have some influence over the children. So I think it`s going to be very important for the court to really assess how much contact a prior abuser and somebody who Michael Jackson himself didn`t want around his kids will eventually have.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a gentleman here that needs help and he`s not breathing. He`s not breathing, and we`re trying to pump him, but he`s not --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK.
NANCY GRACE, CCNHN HOST: A growing mountain of claims tying Jackson to prescription drugs in recent years. One claim, for instance, from Jackson`s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein telling CNN that Jackson had a drug addiction at one point, but had kicked it.
And we`re also hearing from a person who worked with Jackson in Las Vegas in 2006. Jack Wishna claims that Jackson would appear drugged up and incoherent and was often so weak and thin, he would use a wheelchair to get around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two sources close to the family say Janet Jackson, who had seen little of her brother in recent years, visited him at that house and was shocked. We`re told the house was nearly barren of furniture, "creepy-looking," according to once source.
But it was the sight of an extremely thin, disheveled Michael Jackson that actually frightened Janet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking at his prescription drug history, the doctors he dealt with over the years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know for a fact form the attorney general`s office that they have a list of doctors that they are working from. There are reports that police department here in Los Angeles has list. It is really unclear if this is all the same list. B
But certainly the investigation seems to have a very narrow focus right now, focusing on prescription drugs and whether or not they contributed to Jackson`s death, and, of course, which doctors supplied them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE:: Straight out to Louis Levenson, estate attorney. He represented James Brown children and grandchildren and devastate battle. I thought everybody was going to jump into that casket and tear the body apart. That was a vicious estate fight.
Welcome, Louis. Louis, take a listen again to Jackson on Oprah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON: There`s a lot of sadness about my past life and, you know, adolescence, and my father, and all of those things. It just made me very, very, very sad.
OPRAH WINFREY: He would tease you and make fun of you?
JACKSON: Yes.
WINFREY: Did he ever beat you?
JACKSON: Yes, he did. Yes.
WINFREY: And that was difficult to take, getting beaten and going on stage and performing?
JACKSON: Yes.
WINFREY: And why would he beat you?
JACKSON: Because he saw me -- he wanted me to -- I guess, maybe, I don`t know if I was his golden child, or whatever it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That was Jackson`s interview with Oprah Winfrey back `93 from Harpo Productions.
Louis Levenson, again, joining us from New York. We know the father, Joe Jackson, beat him viciously. We know that he mocked the little boy, making fun of his face, his nose.
And all these years, people make fun of Jackson for all of his plastic surgery, but this all started way back when with his father belittling him for the way he looked.
I`m not saying it`s not weird. I`m saying it`s understandable in a certain, twisted way.
Bottom line, with Jackson`s own attempt to keep his children safe in the hands of his own mother, he is unwittingly, seemingly set up a catch 22. They will go right back to his father if his will is followed.
LOUIS LEVENSON, ESTATE ATTORNEY: I think you make a good point. There`s a possibility that this internal strife could be played out in the court under the idea that the children`s interest are not being cared for, would open the door to other contestants to custody of the children.
Note that the will provides for a guardian, Diana Ross. I don`t know how that would play into this. Obviously, there`s a possibility that the ex-wife could have a say in that as well.
GRACE: Oh, lord. Now Rowe is in the mix.
Dr. Lisa Weinstock is a psychiatrist joining us out of New York. We heard Jackson say that maybe he was the golden child. And "golden" is the literal term, because he brought in so much money, millions to that family.
But have you seen in your practice, I did as a prosecutor, very often parents pick one child out of many and they basically beat the hell out of it. They choose one child out of all the children to mistreat the most.
DR. LISA WEINSTEIN M.D., PSYCHIATRIST: Absolutely, it happens all the time that you will see in a family that one child is identified as the bad child or the one that the parents take the anger out on or the hostility out on.
And, you know, obviously Michael Jackson`s relationship with his father was extremely complex. And while he talks about having been beaten by him, you know, he did make this choice to put in his will that the children could go to his mother knowing full well that his parents were still married and his father would have contact with him.
So I think, again, it talks to the complexity of the relationship and the fact that even when children are abused, they still have ambivalence and mixed feelings towards the parents who abuse them.
GRACE: Back to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, reports are surfacing that 10,000 pills in six months leading up to his death that he ingested, including up to 40 Xanax a night?
ELLIE JOSTAD, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right. What this is coming from is some security guards that used to work for Michael Jackson. They were interviewed as part of the probe into those molestation allegations back in 2003, 2004, 2005.
These security guards said that not only was Jackson taking 30 to 40 pill a night, according to another staffer, but that he was making them get prescriptions for them in their names that he intended to take himself.
GRACE: And Brad Lamm, board registered interventionist at changesomeoneyoulove.com.
BRAD LAMM, BOARD REGISTERED INTERVENTIONIST, CHANGESOMEONEYOULOVE.COM: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear. This on the heels of learning just today that there were track marks, needle marks in his neck. How do you shoot yourself up in the neck? How does that happen? How do you do that?
LAMM: I would be surprised if he did it himself.
My history is that I was addicted for many years, too. And Xanax is one of the panoply of drugs that I had a real strong relationship with. So I can testify firsthand it`s a really hard drug to kick. I can also testify that you can detoxify yourself down.
GRACE: What is Xanax?
LAMM: Xanax is a class of drugs, it`s called benzodiazapines. It`s, in this case, used to treat anxiety disorder, I think.
GRACE: OK.
LAMM: Yes. And it does help you sleep, but one of the side effects is it will cause sleeplessness. So it may help you sleep at a certain moment, but quickly builds up in the system.
GRACE: Brad, brad, brad --
LAMM: Yes.
GRACE: Track marks to the neck. How do you do that?
LAMM: I think you would need somebody to help you do that.
GRACE: This brings up quite the specter Bill Majeski, former NYPD. Bill, picture it. A doctor, a certified doctor, an M.D. hovering over Jackson, not only keeping an IV in him in a van that`s a mobile unit overnight, but injecting him in the neck?
This, as chief of police Bratton, who is really no nonsense says, he`s mulling a criminal investigation. What do you make of it, Majeski?
BILL MAJESKI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: I think that criminal investigation is ongoing as we speak. There`s an awful lot of suspicious behavior, and a awful lot of behavior that one would believe leads to possible criminal action on the part of a number of people.
So I think that the police right now are doing an investigation, talking to a lot of people, creating timelines, gathering evidence, and hopefully, in short order, they`ll be turning it over to the prosecutor`s office, who will then be investigating it, and hopefully indictments will be coming down on all of those that may have been involved in any kind of criminal activity that may have taken place.
GRACE: To Mary Margaret, news editor of radaronline.com, now reports for servicing. Remember when he had to go to court and he showed up with crutches and said he had a spider bite on his leg? Reports surfacing that may have not have been a spider bite but the results of an injury from a broken needle injection.
MARY MARGARET, NEWS EDITOR, RADARONLINE.COM: Yes. I mean, one of the things, and the reason the DEA is involved, is the fact that there are these five doctors that have been central to Michael`s possible addiction. And they need to know exactly how they were involved, how long were they involved, and exactly what they did to him.
GRACE: Remember, Mary Margaret, awhile back, we learned that he had over a $100,000 debt to just the local pharmacy down the street. And the pharmacy basically had to threaten to sue to get the $100,000 back.
How do you run up over $100,000 in prescription drugs? We`ll all be right back.
But as we go to break, happy birthday. Happy 60th to a friend of the show, Michael. Isn`t he handsome? He loves his boat and NG (ph), he says. He comforts people for a living at a funeral home. One of the biggest ones in Manhattan.
Michael, happy birthday, friend. You`ve touched so many lives, including ours here at the show.
And happy birthday to friend of the show, veteran Atlanta defense attorney Raymond Giudice. He may not admit it, but he has practiced law over 20 years. Newly married with two daughters and his blended family, takes time-out of a busy courtroom schedule to join us.
Happy birthday, Ray Giudice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family said to be divided over burial at Neverland Ranch. Michael Jackson could be buried there if Santa Barbara County OKs it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to the state, an attorney for the Jackson family has inquired about burying Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch, something Jermaine Jackson told CNN he would like to see it happen.
JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: I would love to see him here. There`s a special place right over near the train station right over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s unclear is if everyone in the family wants Neverland to be Jackson`s final resting place. Joe Jackson seemed to shoot it down when asked in the days after Jackson`s death.
JOE JACKSON, FATHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: That`s not true. That`s not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Ellie. Ellie, what can you tell me? It seems like the whole kit and caboodle are showing up in court Monday regarding guardianship. Does that include Debbie Rowe?
JOSTAD: We don`t know if Debbie Rowe is going to show up. Her attorneys say they will be there. Debbie hasn`t filed anything officially with the court indicating her intentions, but she said a local L.A. station that she plans to fight for her kids.
GRACE: And to you, Louis Levenson, a state attorney joining us from New York, what will happen on Monday?
LEVENSON: Well, it`s fair to say that the judge is going to follow the recommendation of the will unless there`s some real compelling evidence to do otherwise. And the will appoints Katherine Jackson as the guardian.
GRACE: And to you Carmen St. George, even though we know going into that home is going to be in direct opposition to what he wanted, to keep his children away from his father that beat him.
CARMEN ST. GEORGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think, Nancy, it`s got to be a consideration by the court to the best interests. It`s what`s in the letter of intention that Michael Jackson wrote.
This was a will. This wasn`t something he just mentioned to somebody. He wrote it down. He intentionally left his biological father out of the will. He didn`t say "My mother Katherine and my father Joe, I would like them to have custody." So I really think that has to be considered by the courts.
And these are minor children going to an 80-year-old woman. So that`s another consideration, who is going to be best able to take care of the children?
GRACE: And quickly, Ellie, on Monday, what is the likelihood that Rowe is going to jump up in court and make a claim?
JOSTAD: Well, we just don`t know at this point. She surrendered her parental rights back in 2000. She later regained them in about 2006. So we don`t know. She could try to ask for custody or more visitation rights.
GRACE: Well, there`s blood in the water. I`m sure that money will be an issue. She could be paid millions just to go away.
Very quickly, I want to switch gears and take to Illinois and the story of Sherry Coleman and her two young boys, ages 9 and 11, all three found dead in their own beds. A coroner`s jury has handed down a cause of death. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sherry Coleman was only 31. Her son Garrett 11 and Gavin 9.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al three murdered in the early morning hours apparently as they slept in their own beds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that this was not a random act.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police said that they do have a person of interest, and they do have enough evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point is Chris Coleman considered a suspect in this case?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not prepared to say anybody is keyed in on the suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He reportedly left his house at around 5:45 a.m. to go work out at the gym about five miles from the house. When he returned after calling the police to check on his family, they found the victims inside their bedrooms all dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He returned to the police department on Monday under court order to be fingerprinted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say a written threat was left on a wall inside the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do know that there were words written on the wall, and the words say, "I told you this was going to happen."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m here today to announce the filing of a wrongful death suit against Mr. Coleman, Christopher Coleman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Marlaina Schiavo on the story from the very beginning. A coroner`s jury hands down a cause of death. What happened?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER: The cause of death today, Nancy, at the coroner`s inquest was determined that it was a homicide by ligature strangulation. The coroner testified today, and she said there were no drugs found in the system. The toxicology report finally came back.
Originally they said they were not going to do an inquest, but then they decided to. And there were no drugs in the system, Nancy, which is kind of huge.
GRACE: And video of the mistress, the alleged mistress emerges. We have the video. Here she is. Here`s the high school friend of Coleman`s wife.
And apparently out to the cousin of Sherry Coleman Enrico Mirabella, an attorney that filed the wrongful death lawsuit. Apparently was one of her friends, one of her friends, Enrico. Here is the video. All this over that?
ENRICO MIRABELLA, SHERRI COLEMAN`S COUSIN: I hope you`re not expecting me to comment on that. I can`t explain it, Nancy.
GRACE: You know what, you`re right. There is no way to explain it. But I can ask you this. Not only are you her cousin, and a very, very close cousin to Sherry and very close to the two little boys, 9 and 11 years old, all dead at home in their own bed.
What does this ruling today from a coroner`s jury mean to the case, not only the criminal case, but the wrongful death case you filed?
MIRABELLA: It`s not going to have any effect on a wrongful death case because our burden of proof is still a preponderance of the evidence. The fact they ruled it a homicide, I think it was clear all along it was a homicide.
And it doesn`t point the finger away from Chris Coleman, it doesn`t point it at him. Our suit will go forward, and we`ll make our own independent finding against Chris Coleman. We are very confident about that.
GRACE: And what do you make, Enrico, of the discovery today that there was no drugging of any of the victims before their death, which means they suffered?
MIRABELLA: This is terrible. We had hoped, and we thought there might be drugs in the system that maybe it was -- and I don`t know how to say it any other way, maybe a more painless death. And knowing that they weren`t drugged and there was probably a violent ending affects all of us in the family. We are very sad to hear that.
GRACE: Enrico Mirabella, well known attorney in the Chicago area and first cousin to Sherry Coleman. Enrico, thank you.
Right now, CNN heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My life was not that great. It was not easy to carry around this weight. I want to be healthy and fit.
PAMELA GREEN JACKSON, MEDICAL MARVEL: Where did we go wrong as a country where PE in schools is no longer a priority? Our children`s health is no longer a priority? Something had to be done, and I just decided to be the one to do it.
My name is Pamela Greene Jackson, and my organization is the physical fitness and nutrition education program for elementary and middle school youth in my community.
My brother Bernard died at age 43 at the weight of 427 pounds. He didn`t have to die. And so I promised myself that I would do whatever I could to make sure that another child didn`t suffer like he did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got about another ten seconds.
JACKSON: What we`ve done is converted vacant classrooms and turned them into health clubs. It`s a free program. We have personal trainers, dieticians that work with them. We allow each individual child to set their own goals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pamela is my hero because she always helped me to do things that I never thought I could do.
JACKSON: If we instill these habits in them early, then they will grow up and become healthier adults. That`s really what this is all about is saving the lives of children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: The mystery surrounding the sudden death of music superstar Michael Jackson intensifies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody touched you here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just did. Don`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready to fight for your children?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready to get your butt kicked? Don`t [ bleep ] touch me.
GRACE: Not a good look, mommy. That`s the bio mom, the alleged bio mom, Debbie Rowe, who is apparently set to throw her hat into the ring, claiming she should get guardianship of all three of Jackson`s children.
I still don`t understand how a 14 karat gold bedecked promethean casket can get lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not sure that there was even the body in the casket at that memorial.
GRACE: Now that we are hearing about his veins collapsed from IV use. Is that particular drug, you apparently have to have oxygen on standby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s right, Nancy. This could be a smoking gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smile though your heart is aching
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I just wanted to say I love him so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Amongst all the hangers on, the vultures, the star suckers, that moment of clarity and truth rang out as Michael Jackson`s 11-year-old girl, voiced her grief in a heartbreaking tribute to her father.
Tonight, let`s stop and remember army chief warrant officer Jonathan Brides Millward, 28, Chubbuck, Idaho. Attended Idaho State and did mission work in Brazil, fluent in Portuguese. Loved kayaking, snowboarding, surfing. Composed his own music and lyrics. One of his true loves, his guitar, Pauline.
He leaves behind a wonderful family, grieving parents, Joseph and Lanae, 11 siblings. Jonathan Brides Millward, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but our biggest thank you to you for being with us. And a special goodnight to the New York control room. Goodnight, Liz, Brett. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern, and until then, good night friend.
END
