Michael Jackson’s fatal heart

Michael Jackson’s fatal heart attack was kept secret for three hours in a bid to cover-up the real cause of his death, it was claimed yesterday.

It is also believed the King of Pop’s dead body was then moved to his bedroom so police would think he killed himself with a fatal dose of the drug Propofol.

The coroner has ruled Jackson was a victim of homicide after the strong sedative caused his cardiac arrest.

And police are investigating whether his private doctor Conrad Murray is to blame for the death.

Dr Steven Hoefflin, a friend of the singer, revealed the latest twist after speaking to medics involved in Jackson’s case.

He confirmed: “They say he had lividity, which means his blood had already sunk to the back of his body.

“This indicates Michael’s heart had stopped hours earlier.”

Experts at the coroner’s office also reportedly believe Jackson was moved after his heart attack as they discovered disruptions in the pattern of “livor mortis” on his body.

Purple marks show where blood has settled in a lifeless body, which usually takes at least five hours to become apparent. Forensic pathologist Dr Cyril Wecht, not involved in the Jackson case, said: “If someone carried the body from one room to another, the livor would be ‘broken’ where contact with the body was made.

“If one person held his ankles and the other held him under his arms, there would be corresponding white interruptions of livor mortis in those spots.”

Retired FBI special agent Ted Gunderson, who has independently monitored the case, said the new evidence pointed to a “massive cover-up” by Murray.

He asked: “Did Murray try to fool people into thinking Jackson died on the way to hospital in the hope an autopsy could be avoided? If so, it didn’t work, which is why he had to confess to administering Propofol.” Murray, 56, denies mistreating Jackson.

He admitted dosing him with the anaesthetic to help him sleep but has said he did nothing wrong.

Sources said his legal team fear he is being made the scapegoat and insist Jackson himself was responsible for the drugs in his body.

It is thought Murray will claim that Jackson killed himself with an accidental overdose by tampering with the machine controlling his drip, which was set to 25milligrams.