Kriti Mehrotra
Hulu’s ‘TMZ Presents: Michael Jackson 30 Fatal Seconds’ delves deep into how an accident during the shooting of a Pepsi commercial turned the titular singer’s world upside down. Apart from never-before-seen footage of the incident – of the pyrotechnics that burned his scalp – it highlights how the singer quickly became addicted to the painkillers prescribed to him. The same addiction allegedly played a role in his death, as a result of which his doctor, Conrad Robert Murrey, was eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
Conrad Murray Worked Hard to Establish a Name For Himself in the Medical Field
Although Conrad Murray was born to Milta Murray and Rawle Murray Sr., in Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada, in the West Indies, he was primarily raised by his maternal grandparents throughout his formative years. According to records, he only joined his mother in Trinidad and Tobago when he was 7 years old, following which he dedicated most of his time to the community despite financial constraints. He helped those in need whenever possible and, after high school, evolved into a volunteer elementary school teacher. He then worked in insurance to save money for further education.
It was in 1973 when Conrad managed to move to Houston, Texas, and enroll at Texas Southern University for a pre-med and biological sciences degree. He graduated magna cum laude before continuing his education at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, which was the same institution his father had attended. It’s imperative to note that although Conrad was following in his father’s footsteps to become a physician, he didn’t meet him until he was 25 years old, despite Rawle having worked in Texas all throughout.
Conrad’s motivation was to help people above all else, so he subsequently did his internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He then trained at Loma Linda University Medical Center in the Inland Empire, California, before finishing his cardiology fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It was after all this that the medical professional really started making a name for himself, which culminated in him being named the Associate Director of the Cardiology Fellowship Training Program at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California. He served there until he started his private practice in 1990.
Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson Were Reportedly Once Very Close
Conrad’s private practice as a physician was based in Las Vegas, Nevada, yet he traveled across the nation to hone his skills, treat patients, and continue evolving. Therefore, in 2006, he founded the Acres Homes Heart & Vascular Institute in Houston, Texas, which happened to be the same year he first came across the King of Pop. He was at his base in Las Vegas when Michael Jackson’s daughter fell terribly ill in 2006, so he treated her and inadvertently ended up becoming the family’s exclusive personal physician. They had reportedly liked his way of working and treatment of them as normal patients, so they believed he could be trusted.
Therefore, Conrad became Michael’s exclusive doctor, especially prior to his ‘This Is It’ concert residency in London, England, from July 2009 to March 201o. According to records, the singer insisted that he be employed by his show promoter, AEG Live, for $150,000 monthly, but he was never paid as the residence never came to be owing to the former’s death. Conrad has since stated that he and Michael had become friends over the years, so it wasn’t strange for him to be there for the singer at all hours of the day and night. However, he was a professional, so he himself often administered various medications to the singer to help him sleep.
Conrad had done the same on June 25, 2009, at Michael’s rented mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, but it became too much for the latter’s body to handle, as he died shortly after. As per records, his cause of death was ruled to be from cardiac arrest caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose, which were drugs the medical professional had administered. Therefore, the Los Angeles County Coroner ascertained his death was a homicide in August 2009, which resulted in Conrad’s arrest on the charge of involuntary manslaughter not long after. He was found guilty as charged in late 2011, as a result of which he was sentenced to 4 years in prison and his medical licenses were suspended.
Conrad Murray Continues to be a Key Figure in the Medical Field
Although Conrad was handed down a prison term of 4 years in 2011, he was paroled in 2013 after serving a total of one year and 11 months in prison. According to records, he subsequently relocated to Florida to be near his parents and family, especially as his wife, Nicole Alvarez, had left in 2011 after nearly 5 years of marriage. The father of 7’s legal team subsequently petitioned to have his medical license reinstated across several states, especially as Texas and California had officially revoked it, and Nevada had kept it suspended. It’s unclear if his team was successful, but he did manage to continue being a part of the medical field in Florida by establishing a private consultancy business.
In 2016, around the time Conrad released his memoir ‘This Is It!,’ he revealed he sees patients but does not charge them anything for his services. So, he is technically only “providing a consultation” without prescribing medication and not “breaking the law.” Since then, from what we can tell, he has continued to work in Florida and was over the moon when he was allowed to retain his license after a 2022 review by the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners. However, today, at the age of 73, the father of 7 often even spends his time in Trinidad and Tobago as he managed to open his own medical institute in El Socorro, San Juan in 2023. DCM Medical Institute was launched in May 2023, almost 12 years after Michael Jackson’s death and a decade after his release from prison.
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