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Michael Jackson murdered for hit catalogue, claims LaToya

Katie Hodge
Thursday 24 June 2010 09:20 BST
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(REUTERS/Jason Redmond)

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Michael Jackson was murdered because he was "worth so much more dead than alive", his sister said today.

In a television interview, LaToya Jackson insisted the Thriller singer's relatives and fans now deserve "the truth" about his death.

Asked whether she believed the star was murdered, she said: "I never had a doubt. You must remember from the day that I found out that Michael was no longer with us, when my mother screamed 'he's dead' on the phone, I just went into this, 'Who did it?"'

The singer's death, on June 25 last year, sparked a litany of conspiracy theories.

But his sister insisted: "Michael was murdered for his catalogue - that's the bottom line.

"He was murdered for his catalogue and they knew that, and they knew Michael was much more, worth so much more dead than alive.

"His children deserve the truth. I think his parents deserve the truth, his family and his fans.

"Personally I think it is a slap in the face, not just to Michael but to the entire family. It's totally unfair, it's wrong and it was not an accident."

LaToya once caused a storm by publicly distancing herself from the star and condemning him for his alleged behaviour with children.

But she now claims her "management" made her read a statement out to the world's press, without knowing what it said.

This morning she told GMTV: "I always wanted the world to see Michael the way we did. He was such a good-living, caring, kind person."

Describing her mother's grief after Jackson's death at the age of 50, she added: "I could see the pain and the sorrow in her eyes. But she was strong - she chose not to cry and I think she chose that for the children."

Jackson named his mother as his first choice to raise children Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, eight, in a 2002 will.

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