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Los Angeles • As Michael Jackson's lifeless body lay on a bed in his palatial mansion, a bodyguard obeyed a frantic doctor's instructions to bag up medicine bottles and intravenous bags and shield the Jackson children from seeing their father all before being told to call 911, court testimony revealed Wednesday.
Alberto Alvarez said he was the first security guard to reach Jackson's room after word came that something was wrong.
The King of Pop was on his bed connected to an IV tube and a urinary catheter. His eyes and mouth were open, and physician Conrad Murray was leaning over him doing one-handed chest compressions to try to revive him.
Alvarez said he was "frozen" at the sight. "I said, 'Dr. Murray, what happened?' And he said, 'He had a reaction. He had a bad reaction,' " Alvarez recalled.
The testimony came in a preliminary hearing to determine if Murray, the singer's personal doctor, will be tried on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Murray is accused of giving Jackson a lethal dose of propofol, an anesthetic used in hospitals.
Later in the day, a paramedic who responded to Jackson's mansion said Murray never mentioned he had given the singer propofol.
Richard Senneff testified that Murray's responses to his questions didn't add up, and the paramedic noticed an IV stand in the room.