Before Michael Jackson’s death, the singer told his mother that he feared someone wanted to kill him, Katherine Jackson told “Dateline NBC.”
“He told me several times that he felt that people wanted him gone, wanted him dead,” Katherine Jackson said in an interview airing Friday at 9 p.m. ET. “It's just some of the mean, evil, vicious people didn't want him around for some reason. They're greedy.”
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Katherine Jackson’s only television interview regarding her son’s death will be seen as part of the “Dateline NBC” special “Michael Jackson: A Mother’s Story,” televised on the one-year anniversary of the singer’s death. In a candid conversation with Sonia Lowe, Jackson discusses the many rumors surrounding the King of Pop, ranging from her son’s death to the allegations of child molestation in his past.
Jackson, who has custody of her son's three children, also discusses her grandchildren’s lives and their plans for the future. She denied the claims that Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of Jackson’s children, was ever going to take the children away, calling Rowe a “very friendly, kind, nice person.” Though she never agreed with the veils the children wore or other protective techniques that Michael Jackson strictly adhered to, Katherine Jackson said she knew the pop singer loved his kids.
“Out of all the people in Michael’s life I think Michael adored his children more than anything else,” his mother said. “And they adored him.”
Katherine Jackson’s pride in her grandchildren showed when she briefly described each of them for “Dateline NBC.”
“Paris loves the piano and she also wants to be an actress. She can pick out any song that she wants to, and especially her daddy’s songs,” Jackson said of the 12-year-old who is Michael Jackson’s second child and only daughter.
The oldest is Prince Michael, 13.
“Prince has a lot of talent also,” the 80-year-old matriarch said. “His talent is with the camera and with electronics. He wants to be a cameraman, and he wants to write movies.”
Blanket is 8 and, according to his grandmother, a born performer, just like his dad. “Blanket, he loves to sing,” she said. “He’s very young yet. he carries a tune very well and he has rhythm. And — he can dance.”
Jackson refused to look at her son's body in order to preserve the “fond memories” she had of him. She said she has happy memories of seeing Michael a week and a half before he passed away, and wanted to preserve those as her final mental images.
Jackson said the varied stories that have surfaced since Michael's death have left her wondering about the truth. In fact, it's the one thing she'd ask him about if she could see him again, she told "Dateline NBC."
“My goodness I’d have so much to (say to Michael) but the main thing I’d want to know is what really happened?” Jackson said.
Jackson's death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles county coroner despite initial reports claiming there was no evidence of foul play or trauma. The evidence led prosecutors to believe that Jackson's cardiac arrest was due to a mix of prescription drugs that included the anesthetic propofol, which the singer had been using as a sleep-inducing agent.
Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic. Murray has pled not guilty to all charges in February, but the California Medical Board later issued an order banning him from administering heavy sedatives anywhere he was licensed in the U.S.
"I don't want you sedating people," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz told Murray at the court hearing.