Michael Jackson doctor had huge debts, detective says

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  Nov. 7, 2011: Dr. Conrad Murray listens as the jury returns with a guilty verdict in his involuntary manslaughter trial in a Los Angeles courtroom .AP

LOS ANGELES –  The doctor convicted of involuntarily killing Michael Jackson appeared to be on trial again Wednesday as a lawyer for Jackson's mother tried to show the physician's desperate financial situation drove him to extremes in his treatment of the superstar.

Attorney Brian Panish, questioning a police detective, hammered away at the depths of debt that enveloped Conrad Murray when he agreed to give Jackson what he wanted -- infusions of the powerful anesthetic propofol to make him sleep.

The pop star offered Murray $150,000 a month to travel with him on his ill-fated "This Is It" concert tour. AEG Live LLC, the concert promoter, reluctantly agreed, according to testimony in the doctor's criminal case by AEG executives.

Panish used the testimony of police detective Orlando Martinez to suggest that if AEG had investigated Murray's background, it would have found a man so encumbered by debt that he was not trustworthy.

The testimony came during the trial of the negligence lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson claiming AEG didn't properly investigate the doctor who gave her son a lethal dose of propofol. The company denies wrongdoing.

Murray is not a party to the high-stakes court contest. He is serving a four-year prison term for involuntary manslaughter.

AEG attorneys said they intend to call him as a witness. He remains in jail and is appealing his conviction.

A coroner ruled that the 50-year-old star died of the overdose of propofol in his bed on June 25, 2009, while under Murray's care. The drug was not intended for home use.

Martinez, who was lead investigator on Jackson's death, said he discovered that Murray faced student loans, home loans, child support obligations and credit card payments that were in arrears in 2009. Panish said the debts totaled nearly $1 million.

Martinez said he found that Murray had eight children by seven different women and was supposed to be supporting all of them.  He said the doctor was about to lose his home and his office in Las Vegas. Without his big payday from Jackson and AEG, he would have been in financial ruin, Martinez said, suggesting this caused him to disregard his medical oath.

Martinez testified he found most of the debts against Murray in public records that would have been readily available to AEG.

AEG denies it hired Murray, and it is likely to blame Jackson for insisting on having Murray as his doctor because of his dependence on propofol.

Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake in the trial, which may last 90 court days.

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TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER:Casey Anthony's Life Story May Be Used to Pay Debts

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  March 4, 2013: Casey Anthony, center, leaves the United States Courthouse in Tampa, Fla., with U.S. Marshals after a bankruptcy hearing in Tampa, Fla. Anthony has not made any public appearances since she left jail after being acquitted in 2011 for the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee.AP

TAMPA, Fla. –  The trustee overseeing Casey Anthony's bankruptcy case has filed a motion to sell the rights to her story so she can pay her debts.

In a motion filed Friday in federal court in Tampa, trustee Stephen Meininger asked Judge K. Rodney May for permission to sell the "exclusive worldwide rights" of Anthony's life story.

Anthony, who is now 26, was acquitted of murder in 2011 in the death her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Anthony has never told her side of the story, despite intense media scrutiny of the case.

During a meeting with creditors in her bankruptcy case in Tampa on March 4, Anthony said she was unemployed and hasn't received any money to tell her story. She said that she is living with friends and that those friends -- and strangers who send her gift cards and cash -- help her survive.

But Meininger, through his attorney, said he thinks that her story has value and should be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

One man, Meininger wrote, has already offered to pay $10,000 for Anthony's life story so he can prevent her from publishing or profiting from it in the future.

Meininger points out that the man's offer is not contingent on Anthony's cooperation or participation. Anthony's life story -- including details about her childhood and the disappearance and death of Caylee -- is referred to as "the Property" in the motion.

"Due to the intense public interest in Debtor and the Property, the Trustee believes that there will be interest from others in purchasing the Property," the motion reads.

An auction, with bidding, is the "best way to maximize the value for the Estate and its creditors."

A call to David Schrader, Anthony's bankruptcy attorney, was not immediately returned.

One New York publisher said Monday that Anthony's story has the potential to be worth seven figures.

"If she had the goods, and she was really going to spill the beans of what happened, particularly if she's not guilty, that's pretty big," said Eric Kampmann, the owner of Beaufort Books. "If she knew who the murderer was for example, that would be huge. That would be the biggest news story of the year."

Kampmann, who said he has been in contact with a member of Anthony's legal team but has no deal in place, is no stranger to controversial books. His publishing house reissued OJ Simpson's book, originally scheduled for release by ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins. But "If I Did It" was dropped in response to widespread outrage. ReganBooks founder Judith Regan was later fired and her imprint disbanded.

A federal bankruptcy judge then awarded rights to the book to the family of murder victim Ronald Goldman to help satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against Simpson.

Beaufort Books, based in New York, published "If I Did It" with Simpson's original manuscript intact and commentary included. The Goldman family called the book Simpson's confession -- the same description Regan offered in justifying the original publication. The Beaufort edition has sold more than 100,000 copies.

Kampmann said enough time has passed since Anthony's trial that her story could be marketable.

Anthony filed for bankruptcy in Florida in late January, claiming about $1,000 in assets and $792,000 in liabilities. Court papers list Anthony as unemployed, with no recent income.

Her listed debts include $500,000 for attorney fees and costs for Jose Baez, her criminal defense lawyer during the trial; $145,660 for the Orange County Sheriff's office for investigative fees and costs; $68,540 for the Internal Revenue Service for taxes, interest and penalties; and $61,505 for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for court costs.

The filling also states that she is a defendant in several lawsuits.br

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Debts highlight Liverpool demise

Kenny Dalglish ... Liverpool had to pay out the former manager to the tune of around $15m. Source: Jon Super / AAP

Liverpool owners have been hit by a set of "painful'' financial results that highlight the cost of investing heavily in players who have failed to re-establish the club as a force in England or Europe.

The debt at Liverpool was revealed on Monday to have risen by one-third to £87.2 million ($A130 million), while losses of £40.5 million ($A60 million) were accrued during the 2011-2012 season.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	28	23	2	3	37	71
2	Man City	27	16	8	3	26	56
3	Tottenham	28	16	6	6	16	54
4	Chelsea	28	15	7	6	26	52
5	Arsenal	28	13	8	7	21	47
6	Everton	28	11	12	5	9	45
7	Liverpool	28	11	9	8	19	42
8	Swansea	28	10	10	8	5	40
9	West Brom	28	12	4	12	1	40
10	Fulham	28	8	9	11	-5	33
11	Stoke	28	7	12	9	-7	33
12	West Ham	28	9	6	13	-9	33
13	Norwich	28	7	11	10	-18	32
14	Sunderland	28	7	9	12	-7	30
15	Newcastle	28	8	6	14	-11	30
16	Southampton	28	6	9	13	-12	27
17	Wigan	28	6	6	16	-22	24
18	Aston Villa	27	5	9	13	-26	24
19	Reading	28	5	8	15	-20	23
20	QPR	28	3	11	14	-23	20

"I take comfort in the fact that the work we have done, some of which costs us a lot of money in this period and beyond, looks pretty painful at the time,'' managing director Ian Ayre said.

"But as long as you invest in it and manage it in the right way, then hopefully it bears fruit as we go forward.''

There's little prospect of Liverpool reaping riches from the UEFA Champions League next season, however, as the team languishes in seventh place in the Barclays Premier League, outside the top four qualification places.

The downbeat financial results demonstrate the minimal impact of having reached two domestic finals last season and ending a six-year title drought by winning the League Cup.

The five-time European champions were strong performers in the Champions League before slumping out of the group stage in 2009.

It was the eighth-placed finish last season in a top-flight division the club has won 18 times - a haul only surpassed by Manchester United - that bit so hard on the Anfield balance sheets and led to Kenny Dalglish losing his job as manager, replaced by Brendan Rodgers.

The cost of firing Dalglish was included in £9.5 million ($A14 million) of "exceptional payments" during the 10 months to May 31, 2012 covered by these accounts.

Liverpool's losses of £40.5 million in the accounts covering a 10-month period were in line with the losses in the previous full year.

There was only a modest increase in turnover of £5 million ($A7.5 million) from the £184 million ($A273 million) reported for 2010-2011.

Man United's revenue by comparison in 2011-12 hit £320 million ($A476 million).

Ayre accepts the club must "mprove revenues and manage our cost base effectively''.

Owner John Henry's Fenway Sports Group, which rescued the club from fellow Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr in 2010, injected £46.8 million ($A70 million) into the club last season.

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