Anesthetic, skin lightener found in Jackson home

LOS ANGELES -- Search warrants in the Michael Jackson case show large quantities of general anesthetic and dozens of tubes of skin-whitening creams were among items in the singer's home after his death.

Investigators went to Jackson's rented mansion June 29 after interviewing his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who told them he placed a medical bag in a closet.

Detectives found 11 containers of the powerful anesthetic propofol, some of them empty, as well as a range of sedatives and various medical items including a box of blood pressure cuffs, according to warrants unsealed Friday .

Jackson's June 25 death at age 50 was ruled a homicide caused by an overdose of propofol and other sedatives. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

In November, a judge unsealed a search warrant issued in Clark County in connection with Jackson's death. During searches of Murray's Las Vegas home and medical office in July, investigators found a receipt for propofol and other drugs from a Las Vegas pharmacy. Authorities hoped to search the pharmacy and find more paperwork linking Murray to the drug purchases as well as evidence that could lead to more purchases, the Clark County warrant said.

During their search in Los Angeles, detectives found 19 tubes of hydroquinone and 18 tubes of Benoquin, both commonly used in the treatment of a skin condition Jackson had called vitiligo. The disease creates patches of de-pigmented skin, and creams can be used to lighten skin that has retained its color to give a more even appearance.

The discovery of medical creams in Jackson's home dovetails with a remark Murray made after Jackson's death.

According to police statements, Jackson's personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, told detectives that in the hospital where Jackson was pronounced dead, Murray told him he wanted to return to Jackson's house "so that he could pick up some cream that Mr. Jackson has so that the world wouldn't find out about it."

Alberto Alvarez, Jackson's logistics director, who was summoned to the stricken star's side as he was dying, told police Murray interrupted CPR on the pop star to collect drug vials. He gave the vials and an IV line with a milky substance resembling propofol to Alvarez, according to the statement Alvarez gave police, and told him to put them in bags similar to those later found in the closet.

The skin cream was not listed as a factor in Jackson's death, nor was it detected in a toxicology report. What killed Jackson, according to the autopsy report, was an overdose of propofol, an anesthetic normally used for surgery. Murray told police he gave it to Jackson to help him sleep, a use anesthesiology experts have said is improper.

Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology department chairman at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, said he was surprised by the amount of propofol detectives found. Among 11 containers police said they found were three 100 ml vials, which Kain said could be used as general anesthesia for several hours.

"A doctor should not use propofol at home to start with," Kain said.

The warrants also show Murray shipped propofol and other medications to his girlfriend Nicole Alvarez's house in Santa Monica. It's unusual to send propofol to a private residence but not illegal.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal contributed to this report.