What is Conrad Murray's Net Worth?
Conrad Murray is an American physician who has a net worth of -$500 thousand. Conrad Murray's was the cardiologist and personal physician for Michael Jackson at the time of the singer's death in 2009. Doctor Murray moved to the US in 1980, from his native country Grenada. He obtained a degree in pre-medicine and bio science at Southern Texas University. Coming from an underprivileged background, Murray made the most of every opportunity that came his way. Years later, Murray became an associate director of the interventional cardiology fellowship-training program for Sharp Memorial Hospital. By 1999, Murray opened a private practice in Las Vegas.
Conrad became a personal physician for Michael Jackson for his 2009 tour. Murray was paid $150,000 a month for his services. Two first met in 2006 and soon became friends. This was the beginning of Murray's demise: during the six weeks he worked with Jackson, it was revealed that Murray administrated a daily drip of propofol to the singer. On June 25, 2009, Murray administered the daily dose of the propofol, along with other drugs including muscle relaxant, causing the death Michael Jackson. The case went to trial, starting in September 2011. In November 2011, Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. He was sentenced to four years in prison at Los Angeles County Jail.
Early Life and Education
Conrad Murray was born on February 19, 1953 in Saint Andrew's Parish, Grenada, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents, both farmers. When he was seven, he moved to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago to live with his mother Milta. Murray grew up poor, and didn't know his father Andrew until later in life. A physician, Andrew passed away in 2001.
After graduating from high school, Murray volunteered as an elementary school teacher in Trinidad. He then worked as a customs clerk and insurance underwriter in order to save up money for college. Murray went on to relocate to the United States to attend Texas Southern University in Houston, from which he graduated magna cum laude with a pre-med degree. He then enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, the same school his father went to. After graduating from that institution, Murray started his internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and finished it at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. Subsequently, he did a cardiology fellowship at the University of Arizona.
Career Beginnings
Following his residencies and fellowship, Murray joined the Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California as an associate director of the hospital's cardiology fellowship training program. Later, in 1990, he opened his own private practice in Las Vegas, Nevada. Murray would eventually found the Acres Homes Heart and Vascular Institute in Houston in 2006.
Physician of Michael Jackson
Murray first met pop singer Michael Jackson in 2006 in Las Vegas. When Jackson's daughter Paris was sick, Murray treated her. Partly due to this incident, in 2009, Jackson hired Murray to become his personal physician ahead of Jackson's concert tour in July. Jackson insisted that Murray be employed by the tour's promoter AEG Live, but AEG never offered a contract and Murray was never paid.
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Michael Jackson's Death
In late June of 2009, only a few weeks after he was hired, Murray administered a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Jackson, who was at his home in Los Angeles. Murray claimed that he found the singer not breathing and gave him CPR, to no avail. In August, the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner concluded that Jackson's death was a homicide caused by acute propofol intoxication combined with benzodiazepines. Murray admitted to administering 25 mg of propofol to help with Jackson's insomnia, despite the fact the drug was not approved as a sleep aid and was to be administered only by those with proper training, which Murray did not have. In early 2011, Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the incident.
People v. Murray
Murray's criminal trial, People v. Murray, commenced in late September in 2011. Held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the televised proceeding was presided over by Judge Michael Pastor and featured prosecutors David Walgren and Deborah Brazil. The prosecution lasted for 16 days, while the defense went for eight, resulting in a 24-day trial. At the end of it, on November 7, the jury found Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and he was consequently sentenced to the maximum of four years in prison. Moreover, his Texas medical license was revoked and his licenses in California and Nevada were suspended.
Prison Time
Ultimately, Murray served a little less than two years in prison before being released in late October of 2013. His release was granted on account of both prison overcrowding in California and his demonstrated good behavior.
Other Legal and Financial Troubles
Even before his criminal case for the death of Michael Jackson, Murray was involved in a number of legal troubles. He was a defendant in multiple civil lawsuits, and by 2008 had amassed more than $600,000 in court judgments against him for medical equipment and unpaid rent for his personal practices. Further, Murray was on the brink of losing his medical license in California due to unpaid child support. He filed for bankruptcy in the state in 2002.
Before his criminal conviction in 2011, Murray was sued by Jackson's father Joe in a wrongful death suit. However, the case was dropped in 2012.
Personal Life
Over the years, Murray reportedly had seven children by six different women, only some of whom he was married to. While wed to his second wife, fellow medical school alum Blanche, he was dating and paying the rent for a stripper named Nicole Alvarez. Murray and Alvarez had a son named Che. Among his other relationships, Murray was reportedly seeing a Houston cocktail waitress.
Murray's sundry dalliances and offspring caused him many problems, as he owed child support to the mothers of his children out of wedlock. He was also in arrears on the mortgage of the Las Vegas home where his first wife and their children lived.
