On the third day of testimony in the Conrad Murray trial two former members of Michael Jackson’s staff, bodyguard Alberto Alvarez and Chef Kai Chase, took the stand Thursday (September 29).
Alvarez was the first to take the stand to describe his arrival on the scene. He claimed that when he entered the room, he saw Murray performing chest compressions on Jackson with one hand, and that when Murray heard Alvarez enter, he made the frantic request for Alvarez to remove several vials of Propofol (the potent anesthetic that was part of the official cause of Jackson’s death) from the room before he called for an ambulance. Alvarez said that after he had placed vials and the IV bag in bags for Murray, the doctor asked him to call 911. Alvarez said he thought Murray was packing the material to take it to a hospital. “I believed Dr. Murray had the best intentions toward Michael Jackson. So I didn’t question his authority at the time,” he told prosecutor David Walgren.
Kai Chase, Jackson’s Paris-trained personal chef, was the second witness to take the stand. Chase was preparing a turkey and cobb salad for Jackson to share with his children for lunch when a panicked Murray ran into the kitchen from Jackson’s bedroom. She testified that between 12:05 and 12:10 p.m., a distraught Murray ran partway down the back stairs to the kitchen screaming. “His energy was very nervous and frantic,” she said, “and he was shouting, ‘Get help! Get security! Get Prince!'” Chase said she “did as she was told” and went into the den to alert Prince and that she did her best to keep the children calm.
On Friday, prosecutors are expected to call to the stand two Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics who responded to the 911 call, Richard Senneff and Martin Blount. Testimony is set to resume again Friday at 8:45 a.m. PT.
