His cause of death remains unknown, the whereabouts of his body is a mystery, the fate of his estate and children are uncertain and conspiracy theories abound.
Almost one month after Michael Jackson collapsed and died at his rented Los Angeles chateau on June 25, the tragic King of Pop s demise continues to raise more questions than answers.
In the clearest sign yet that authorities may be zeroing in on what caused the 50-year-old superstar s death, federal agents and police raided the Houston offices of Jackson s doctor Conrad Murray last week.
A lawyer for Murray, who has already been interviewed twice by police, said detectives executed a search warrant seeking evidence of the offense of manslaughter, indicating Jackson s death is now being treated as a crime.
Murray, hired by Jackson in May to help him prepare for his grueling series of comeback concerts, has been the subject of intense speculation as he was the last person to see the star alive.
Yet Murray s lawyers are adamant that the 51-year-old cardiologist is innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.
Based on Dr Murray s minute-by-minute and item-by-item description of Michael Jackson s last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges, attorney Ed Chernoff said in a statement Tuesday.
Investigators are reportedly focusing on the role of a powerful sedative, Diprivan, found at Jackson s home after his death.
Experts say the drug, used in hospitals to induce unconsciousness in patients before major surgery, should only be administered by an anesthesiologist and should never be used at home.
Whether Diprivan was present in Jackson s body at the time of his death has not been revealed. Investigators from the Los Angeles County Coroner s office say they are still awaiting the results of toxicology tests carried out at a post mortem on June 26. A cause of death has been deferred pending the results.
The absence of an official cause of death has only served to fuel the feverish speculation about what killed Jackson.
The singer s sister La Toya told a British newspaper – for an undisclosed sum – that she believed he had been killed by a shadowy conspiracy.
Michael was murdered. And we don t think just one person was involved … I feel it was all about money, she said.
A cause of death is just one of the several issues that remain shrouded in mystery, with fans still anxiously waiting to learn where their idol s final resting place may be.
A worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions tuned in to watch Jackson s poignant memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, where the singer s body lay in a golden casket swathed with bouquets of red roses.
No sooner had the curtain come down on the ceremony however than a guessing game broke out over what would happen to the singer s body.
Reports initially said the casket had been taken to the Forest Lawn funeral home in the Hollywood Hills.
To date no burial is confirmed to have taken place, raising the possibility that Jackson s body may yet be interred at his sprawling Neverland Ranch fantasy estate in accordance with the wishes of family and friends.
Meanwhile, a small army of lawyers has been mobilized to sort through the labyrinth of legal issues left behind by Jackson.
Two men named as co-executors of Jackson s estate in 2002 have been placed in temporary control of the singer s fortune pending a hearing on Aug. 3.
However attorneys for Jackson s 79-year-old mother Katherine are reportedly planning to mount a bid to have her installed as a co-executor. She deserves a seat at the table at a minimum, lawyer Londell McMillan told TMZ.com.
At stake is control of an estate that includes a 50 percent stake in a music publishing catalog featuring the rights to 251 Beatles songs, a prize that has been valued by some at up to $1 billion.
And the value of Jackson s own music has sky-rocketed since his death, with his solo album sales topping more than 2.3 million.
The heirs to Jackson s estate, his children Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and younger brother Prince Michael II, 7, are in the care of Katherine Jackson, named in the singer s will as their legal guardian.
However the biological mother of Prince and Paris, Jackson s ex-wife Debbie Rowe, is reportedly mulling whether to seek custody of the children.
Lawyers for Katherine Jackson and Rowe are due to appear in court Aug. 3 after postponing three earlier hearings.
