Jackson was murdered

Michael Jackson's sister La Toya has used newspaper interviews to allege the hugely popular singer was killed by a band of greedy hangers-on.

La Toya, 53, spoke about her younger brother's death and its aftermath with Britain's The Mail on Sunday and News of the World weeklies.

"I believe Michael was murdered - I felt that from the start," she said.

"Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle.

"Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person - people took advantage of that.

"Less than a month ago, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he was surrounded by people who didn't have his best interests at heart."

La Toya says she has ordered a private autopsy into Jackson's death on June 25, at the age of 50.

"Michael was worth more than a billion dollars; when anyone is worth that much money, there are always greedy people around them," he said.

"I said to my family a month ago, 'He's never going to make it to London'. He was worth more dead than alive."

Murder under Californian law can include killings that are not premeditated.

Jackson's comeback 'was forced'

La Toya accuses a "shadowy" group of cutting her sibling off from his family and friends and forcing him to sign up for 50 comeback concerts at London's O2 Arena, shows billed as This Is It.

She says they saw him as a "cash cow" and "got him hooked on drugs - I think it shocked his system so much it killed him."

"I am not going to stop until I find out who is responsible," La Toya said.

"I want justice for Michael. I won't rest until I find out what - and who - killed my brother."

La Toya says Jackson was found in the bedroom of his physician Dr Conrad Murray.

"Michael walked from his room to Dr Murray's room - what happened in there we don't know," she said.

La Toya says she was driving to see Jackson in hospital when her mother screamed 'He's dead!' down the phone.

"I nearly crashed my car - my legs went weak," she said.

"They took me up to the area where Michael had been taken; Mother was crying and Michael's kids were crying."

She also claims jewellery was missing from his house and no cash was found, despite the fact he regularly kept more than a million dollars around.