Jackson Doctor "Boxed In" By Money Woes?
Money troubles may have led the physician who was caring for Michael Jackson when the King of Pop died to work for Jackson, a friend and business associate of Dr. Conrad Murray says.
Murray's Las Vegas home and office were searched by authorities Tuesday, and he is widely thought to be at the center of the investigation of Jackson's death.
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, John Lewis, who's had business dealings with Murray since 2004, said Murray is a "very nice" and 'really caring" person whose employees love him.
But Murray is said to have been having financial difficulties, and was reported to be making $150,000 a month to be Jackson's personal doctor.
"Dr. Murray always gave the image that things were fine, that he was doing very well," Lewis told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, and you "never got" the impression he was going through financial turmoil.
The pressure Murray may have been feeling to maintain the image that he was successful, and the on-going money problems, may have led to his going to work for Jackson and being boxed in once he did, Lewis speculated.
"Any doctor that was with Michael Jackson at the time would be in trouble," Lewis remarked. "I mean, it was common knowledge Michael Jackson was on prescription drugs. He was fighting that. And to be a doctor with a client that died because of drugs, I mean, it would be hard to fight that, I mean, against that. I mean, because all the evidence, you are the doctor. So, everybody's going to look at you first. How can a person die with the doctor there?"
Lewis spoke with Rodriguez after CBS News Correspondent Michelle Gielan profiled Murray:
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