"jackson was doing better" because he was down from 30 to 40 xanax pills a night. >> no matter how you cut it this is an extremely high dose of xanax. >> five doctors are being investigated, two of whom sources confirm to cnn, dr. arnold kline as well as dr. conrad murray. breaking news in the case of a beautiful young mom and her sons found dead in their white finished two-story home, each strangled each in their own bedroom. matter of death, ligature strangulation. a glove found flung along i-55, spattered with red spray paint, a link to a chilling message scrawled across the walls of the murder scene. mother of two found left naked, face-down in her bed at the home. airline boarding passes, a home depot receipt for red spray

paint and latex gloves. husband/daddy who worked for worldwide televangelist joyce meyer ministries keeps a secret p.o. box unknown to the wife and family. not only were the homes walls spray painted with messages, little gavin's bed spray painted with profanity as well. with the 9-year-old lying there in the bed. as we go to air, a coroner's jury hands down the cause of death. and video of daddy's mistress surfaces. we have the video. >> chris, are you guilty? >> chris, did you kill your wife? >> did you do this? >> chris, do you have any comment? >> baby killer! murderer!

baby killer! >> breaking news. we have made an arrest in the homicide of sherry gavin and garrett coleman. we have a christopher coleman in custody. he was charged with three counts of first degree murder in the death of his wife and two small children. >> christopher coleman was cheating on his wife with this woman, a cocktail waitress, friend and former classmate of sherry coleman. both attended high school in a tampa suburb, graduating a year apart, but maintaining a friendship through the years. if chris coleman had gone to the myspace page he would have seen this photo. after the murders, he admitted to police to having marital problems and exchanging e-mails with her. columbia police chief joe edwards interviewed coleman after the murders. >> did you just say in court chris and tara exchanged explicit photos, including photos of body parts? >> yes, i did.

>> an attorney representing cheri coleman and brother wasinn that location of the crime scene and he said he saw in the downstairs living room the words f f-ubitch, the word below it, punished. >> think about this manner of death. ligature strangulation. who does that? somebody that wants low noise, low mess, no gunshot residue. imagine how cold the father would have to be to do that to his kids. >> good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. the mystery around the death of music superstar michael jackson intensifies. >> investigation into michael jackson's death might turn into a criminal case. the l.a. police chief confirms that jackson's doctors are being investigated and criminal charges could result. from the police probe. doctors not cooperating were issued subpoenas. >> the coroner's office here in l.a. county has a list of doctors that investigators have already begun interviewing. >> cnn has confirmed from a

source, dr. kline is on that list. as well as dr. conrad murray, the doctor who was with michael when he collapsed. >> we also have new claims from some of michael jackson's former employees about his alleged drug use. they told police back in 2004 jackson took more than ten xanax pills each night, and at one point used as many as 30 to 40 pills. >> according to this document that we have, one of the security guards told investigators that he would get xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for jackson under, quote, fictitious names. one of the security guards actually named five doctors that he said were writing prescriptions for michael jackson. this security guard said in several states across the country, he personally drove jackson to different doctors' offices which really paints a picture of doctor shopping. one of the security guards described jackson as sharp and "in tune" before the doctors' visits, and afterwards he said he would be "out of it and sedated." there is plenty right here that

really paints a very dark picture of jackson's apparent drug habit and the sophisticated operation that was in place to apparently help him get the drugs and the doctors he may have been getting those drugs from. >> straight out to ellie jostad, our chief editorial producer. what can you tell me about the reports that jackson's body may be hidden right now in the family crypt of motown founder berry gordy? >> right, well berry gordy, very involved in the jackson 5 career, as well as michael jackson. apparently michael jackson's casket is in this crypt that berry gordy bought for his family, at forest lawn cemetery. the casket is just sitting there right now while the jackson family is fighting amongst themselves about where to eventually bury michael jackson. >> okay. let me get something straight. i'm also understanding that at the get-go we were told, you can't just dig a hole in the backyard and bury a body.

all right? start your own cemetery. but it seems as if that's exactly what's going to happen. the state, while it says it hasn't been contacted yet, says it's okay to go forward with burying michael jackson's body there at neverland, to make kind of a graceland theme park, a burial theme park? what's happening, ellie? >> right. well, the state says that they have been contacted by one of jackson's lawyers, or an emissary for jackson, but that the county -- >> they have been contacted? >> have been contacted. >> have been contacted. >> right, right. but the state -- rather, the county of santa barbara county, santa barbara county would have to give the okay. and that could be a long, drawn-out process.

new claims this morning that michael jackson may have taken more than ten xanax pills a day. a 2004 police document says jackson asked some employees to get the prescription sedative xanax under their names and also says jackson traveled to doctors' offices in other states to get the drug himself. this dock yoomt -- document contains interviews with two of jackson's former security guards. one guard saying in there he was concerned about jackson taking ten or more pills a day but was told by his colleagues jackson was doing better because he was down from 30 to 40 pills a night. >> people start off taking a few and they take more and more and build up a tolerance. if you stop taking it, the withdrawal is just awful. people can have tremors, they can have seizures, they get the shakes, they can have sweats. >> xanax is an anti-anxiety medication, also commonly used to treat sleep disorders because it causes drowsiness. >> another source was telling us

the family were concerned for a long time, but it was janet who tried to force the issue two years ago that michael jackson simply stopped seeing him. >> back in 2007, "people" magazine did report about an alleged jackson family intervention. the jackson family denied it. >> meanwhile, michael jackson's father, joe, is speaking out for the first time since his son's memorial service. he told abc's "nightline" he does not think his son's death was an accident. >> the inquiry into the death of mr. jackson is continuing. are we dealing with a homicide, are we dealing with accidental overdose, what are we dealing with? >> i want to go to mary margaret, news editor of radaronline.com. all right, we still don't know where the body is. what can you tell me about a portion of michael jackson's brain still missing? >> well, the portion of the brain that was missing is supposed to have been taken for medical reasons. they wanted to do further investigation -- >> testing?

>> further testing, yes, in terms of what exactly he ingested, what was in his system, et cetera. >> straight out to howard oliver, former deputy medical examiner and forensic pathologist. doctor, thank you for being with us. don't they have tissue samples? i'm sure they took blood from his body. why do they need his brain, doctor? >> they really don't need his brain for toxicology studies. soft tissues, like from the liver and the kidney, would be better than examining brain tissue. >> so why? why? can you think of any legitimate reason to keep michael jackson's brain out of his body? >> well, had i done the autopsy, i would have kept the entire brain and had a neuropathologist to examine it to alleviate any possibility of any other cause of death. rather than toxicological study. >> but doctor howard oliver joining us from l.a., dr. oliver, what do you mean?

what could the brain reveal as to cause of death? it seems to me they're zeroing in on cardiac arrest following overuse of prescription drugs. so what else could the brain reveal that tissue could not? >> well, it could have been some type of disease that's specific to the brain. rather than looking at toxicological studies. >> like what? >> well, for an example, like in an older person, say alzheimer's disease could cause -- >> doctor, doctor, doctor. come on. i have great respect for you, doctor. i've checked you out thoroughly. dr. oliver joining us from l.a. michael jackson is not an older person. he did not have alzheimer's. all right? so i've got a problem with the brain being withheld from the body. it's just not sitting right, doctor. so let's forget about the alzheimer's. what other reason could they have kept his brain? >> okay, i used the alzheimer's as an example.

>> true. >> he could have had some sort of seizure disorder, like epilepsy, or that sort of thing. >> which leads me to my next question, doctor. there are reports that michael jackson suffered from lupus. what is it, and how could it have impacted his death? >> lupus is an autoimmune disease. it's the immune system attacking different organs of the body. usually the worst organ attacked is the kidney, which can lead to death. you can have lupus disease in the skin and other organs of the body. >> got it. and back to you, ellie. what's this we were learning, after jackson admits publicly to physical beatings over his entire childhood, 18 years, at the hands of his father. now joe jackson announces not only does he believe a murder has taken place, announcing foul play, but that he himself is going to raise the three children to be "strong jacksons."

>> right. joe jackson told abc that he and katherine jackson are best equipped to raise these kids. that they'll feed them, give them a nice home, they'll get plenty of rest, plenty of sleep, they'll grow up to be strong jacksons. this is against what everybody else says michael jackson would have wanted. >> to the lawyers. let's unleash them. joining me tonight, famed attorney out of san francisco, john burris. carmen st. george, defense attorney out of new york. lewis levinson, estate attorney, he represented james brown's children in an estate battle, and that was a battle royale. okay. burris, you're out there on the scene in california. we know michael jackson kept his three children as far away from joe jackson as possible. reality, he's the one that left his kids to the mother. did he forget about the husband, joe jackson? >> no, he didn't forget about the father. he knew exactly he did not want his children to be associated with the dad in any kind of

custody way. that was a right. i am surprised the father thinks he can assert himself now.

take a listen to what michael jackson said when he revealed to oprah winfrey. >> there's a lot of sadness about my past life. and, you know, adolescence and my father and all of those things -- it just made me very, very very sad. >> he would tease you, make fun of you? >> yes. >> did he ever beat you? >> yes, he did. yes. >> and that was difficult to take, getting beaten and going onstage and performing? >> yes. >> why would he beat you? >> because he saw me -- he wanted me to -- i guess, maybe -- i don't know if i was the golden child or whatever it

was -- >> that is michael jackson's interview with oprah, it was in 1993. we got from that harpo productions. tonight we learn that grandfather joe jackson has not only publicly announced that he and the jackson family believe foul play resulted in michael jackson's death, dead body, foul play, that equals murder -- but that he, himself, will take a hand in raising jackson's three children. jackson's worst nightmares now coming true. we also learned the jackson family has made the first moves in having jackson's body buried there at neverland. a place he grew to hate. we learn it will be a burial theme park. something like elvis' graceland, which rakes in believe it or not $35 million a year. out to natisha lance, our producer joining us from l.a. what can you tell me about abc

network paying nearly $250,000 for photos, really for an interview, but they said for photos of michael jackson? what happened? >> right, nancy. this was an interview where joe jackson said he and katherine jackson would be best equipped to raise the children. apparently abc news reportedly paid $200,000 for video of the jackson family to be used on a special that's coming up. $200,000 where joe jackson sat down for this interview. >> to carmen st. george, joining us out of new york. carmen, as a parent, this must strike a chord with you. he specifically did not want his children at the hands of joe jackson. and we see it happening before our very eyes. because of what he said in his will, giving guardianship to his mother, who's married to his father, has he unwittingly engineered this fiasco? >> nancy, i hope that the courts

take this into their hands considering the best interests of the child. even though joe jackson has another residence, primarily in vegas, since they are married he technically can be in the home and have some influence over the children. i think it's going to be very important for the courts to really assess how much contact a prior abuser and somebody who michael jackson himself didn't want around his kids will eventually have. dddddddú

so i think, again, it talks to the complexity of the relationship and the fact that even when children are abused, they still have ambivalent and mixed feelings towards the parents who abuse them. >> back to ellie jostad, reports surfacing 10,000 pills in the six months leading up to his death that he ingested, including up to 40 xanax a night? >> right. well, this is coming from some security guards that used to work for michael jackson. they were interviewed as part of the probe into those molestation allegations back in 2003, '04, '05. these security guards said that not only was jackson taking 30 to 40 pills a night, according to another staffer, but that he was making them get prescriptions for him in their names, that he intended to take himself. >> and brad lamb, board certified, board registered interventionist at

changesomeoneyoulove.com. >> hey, nancy. >> hi, dear. this on the heels of learning just today that there were track marks, needle marks in his neck? how do you even shoot yourself up in the neck? how does that happen? >> well -- >> how do you do that? >> i would be surprised if he did it himself. my history is that i was addicted for many years too. and xanax was one of the panoply of drugs that i had a real strong relationship with. so i can testify firsthand it's a really hard drug to kick. i can also testify that you can detox yourself down -- >> what is xanax? >> xanax is a class of drugs -- called benzodiazapines, and used in this case to treat anxiety disorder, i think. and it does help you seep. but one of the side effects is it will cause sleeplessness. so it may help you sleep at a certain moment, but quickly builds up in the system -- >> brad, brad, brad --

>> takes more to do the same thing. yeah? >> track marks in the neck. how do you do that? >> i think you'd need somebody to help you do that. >> this brings up quite the specter, bill majeski, former nypd, president of majeski associates. bill, picture it. a doctored, a certified doctor, an m.d., hovering over jackson. not only keeping an iv in him in a van that's a mobile unit overnight. but injecting him in the neck? this as chief of police bratton, who's really no-nonsense, says he's mulling a criminal investigation. what do you make of it? >> i think that criminal investigation is ongoing as we speak. there are an awful lot of suspicious behaviors, an awful lot of behavior that one would believe leads to possible criminal action on the part of a number of people. so, i think that the police right now are doing an investigation, talking to a lot of people, creating time lines, gathering evidence, and

hopefully in short order they'll be turning it over to the prosecutor's office who will then be investigating it and hopefully indictments will be coming down on all of those that may have been involved in any kind of criminal activity that may have taken place. >> to mary margaret, news editor radaronline.com. now reports are surfacing. remember when he had to go to court, and he showed up with crutches, said he had a spider bite on his leg. reports surfacing that may have not been a spider bite at all but the results of an injury from a broken needle injection. >> yes. i mean, one of the things, and the reason the d.a. is involved, is the fact that there are these five doctors that have been central to michael's possible addiction. and they need to know exactly how they were involved. how long were they involved. and exactly what they did to him. >> remember, mary margaret, awhile back we learned that he had over a $100,000 debt to the local pharmacy down the street.

and the pharmacy basically had to threaten to sue to get the 100 grand back. how do you run up over $100,000 in prescription drugs? we'll all be right back. as we go to break, happy birthday. happy 60th to new york friend of the show michael, isn't he handsome. he loves his boat and mg, he says. he comforts people for a living at a funeral home, one of the biggest ones in manhattan. michael, happy birthday, friend. you've touched so many lives, including ours here at the show. and happy birthday to friend of the show veteran atlanta defense attorney raymond giudice. now, he may not admit it but he has practiced law over 20 years. newly married with two daughters in his blended family. takes time out of a busy courtroom schedule to join us. happy birthday, ray giudice.

the family said to be divided over burial at neverland ranch. michael jackson could be buried there if santa barbara county okays it. >> according to the state, an attorney for the jackson family has inquired about burying michael jackson at neverland ranch. something jermaine jackson told cnn he'd like to see happen. >> i would love to see him here. there's a special place right over near the train station, right over there. >> what's unclear is if everyone in the family wants neverland to be jackson's final resting place. joe jackson seemed to shoot it down when asked about it in the days after jackson's death. >> that's not true. that's not -- that's not true. >> straight out to ellie. ellie, what can you tell me? it seems like the whole kit and caboodle are showing up in court on monday regarding guardianship. does that include debbie rowe? >> we don't know if debbie rowe's going to show up. her attorneys say they'll be there. debbie rowe hasn't filed

anything indicating her intentions but she told a local l.a. station she plans to fight for her kids. and to you, lewis levinson, state attorney from new york, what do you think will happen on monday? >> well, it's fair to say that the judge is going to follow the recommendation of the will, unless there's some real compelling evidence to do otherwise. and the will appoints katherine jackson as the guardian. >> and to you, carmen st. george. even though we know going into that home is going to be in direct opposition to what he wanted, to keep his children away from his father that beat him. >> i think, nancy, it's got to be a consideration by the court of the best interests. this wasn't a letter of intention that michael jackson wrote, this was a will. this wasn't something that he just mentioned to somebody. he wrote it down. he intentionally left his biological father out of his will. he didn't say my mother katherine and my father joe, i would like them to have custody. i really think that has to be

considered by the courts. these are minor children going to an 80-year-old woman. so that's another consideration. who is going to be best able to take care of these children? >> and quickly, ellie. on monday, what's the likelihood that rowe is going to jump up in court and make a claim? >> well, we just don't know at this point. she did surrender her parental rights in 2000. she later regained them in 2006. we don't know. she could try to ask for custody or more visitation. >> well, there's blood in the water. i'm sure that money will be an issue. she could be paid millions just to go away. very quickly i want to switch gears and take you to illinois and the story of sherry coleman and her two young boys ages 9 and 11, all three found dead in their own beds. a coroner's jury has handed down a cause of death. take a listen. >> sherry coleman was only 31. her son garrett 11. gavin 9. >> all three murdered. in the early morning hours,

apparently as they slept in their own beds. >> we believe that this was not a random act. >> police said that they do have a person of interest, and they do have enough evidence. >> at this point, is chris coleman considered a suspect in this case? >> we're not prepared to say anybody is keyed in on a suspect. >> he reportedly left his house around 5:45 a.m. to work out at a gym five miles from the house. when he returned after calling the police to check on his family, they found the victims inside their bedrooms all dead. >> he returned to the police department on monday under court order to be fingerprinted. >> police say a written threat was left on a wall inside the home. >> we do know that there were words written on the wall and the words say "i told you this was going to happen." >> here today to announce the filing of a wrongful death suit against mr. coleman, christopher coleman. >> straight out to marlene

schiavo, on the story from the very beginning. a coroner's jury hands down the cause of death. what happened? >> the cause of death today, nancy, at the coroner's inquest determined it was a homicide by ligature strangulation. there were no drugs found in the system. originally they said they were not going to do an inquest, then they decided to and there were no drugs in the system which is kind of huge. >> and video of the mistress, the alleged mistress, emerges. we have the video. here she is. here's the high school friend of coleman's wife. sent apparently out to the cousin of sherry coleman, an attorney who's filed the wrongful death lawsuit. enrico, this was apparently one of her friends. all of this over that? here's the video.

>> i -- i hope you're not expecting me to comment on that. i can't explain it, nancy. >> you know what, you're right. you're right. there is no way to explain it but i can ask you this. not only are you her cousin and very, very close cousin i might add, to sherry, and very close to the two little boys, 9 and 11 years old. all dead in their home, in their own bed. what does this ruling today from a coroner's jury mean to the case? not only the criminal case but the wrongful death case you filed? >> it's not going to have any effect on a wrongful death case, because our burden of proof is still a preponderance of the evidence. the fact that they ruled a homicide, i think it's pretty clear all along it's a homicide. it doesn't point the finger away from chris coleman, it doesn't point it at him. our suit will go forward and we'll make our independent finding against chris coleman. we're very confident about that. >> what do you make, enrico, of the discovery today that there was no drugging of any of the

victims before their deaths, which means they suffered. >> this is terrible. we had hoped and we thought there might somebody drugs in the system, that maybe it was -- and i don't know how to say this any other way, nancy. maybe a more painless death. knowing they weren't drugged and there was probably a very violent ending affects all of us in the family. we're very sad to hear that. >> enrico mirabelli, well-known attorney in the chicago area and first cousin to sherry coleman, enrico, thank you. right now, "cnn heroes." >> this is "cnn heroes." >> it was not that great. it was not easy to carry around this weight. i wanted to get healthy and fit. >> where do we go wrong as a country where pe is no longer a priority in schools, or

children's health is no longer a priority. something had to be done and i just decided to be the one to do it. my name is pamela green jackson and my organization is a physical fitness and nutrition education program for elementary and middle school youth in my community. my brother died at 420 pounds, and he didn't have to die, so i promised myself i would do whatever i had to the make sure that another child didn't suffer like he did. so what we have done is to convert vacant classrooms and turned them into health clubs. this is a free program. we have personal trainers. we have dietitians who work with them, and allow each individual child to set their own goals. >> miss pamela is my hero,

because she is always helping me to do things i never thought i could do. >> we instill these habits in them early, then they will grow up and become healthier adults. that is all this is about, saving the lives of children.

the mystery surrounding the sudden death of music superstar michael jackson intensifies. >> do not touch me. >> nobody touched you here. >> you just did. don't. >> are you ready to fight for your children? >> are you ready to get your butt kicked? don't [ bleep ] touch me. >> not a good look, mommy. that's the bio mom, the alleged bio mom, debbie rowe, apparently set to throw her hat into the ring claiming she should get guardianship of all three of jackson's children. i still don't understand how a 14 karat gold prome thean casket

can get lost. >> i'm not sure there was even the body in the casket at that memorial. >> now that we are hearing about his veins collapsed from i.v. use. to use that particular drug, you apparently have to have oxygen on the standby. >> that's right, nancy. this could be a smoking gun. >> ever since i was born, daddy has been the best father we could ever imagine. ♪ smile though your heart is aching ♪ >> and i just wanted to say i love him so much. >> amongst all the hangers-on, the vultures, the star-suckers, that moment of clarity and truth rang out as michael jackson's 11-year-old little girl, hurt, grief, heartbreaking tribute to her father. tonight, let's stop and remember army chief warrant officer jonathan bryce millward, 28, chubbuck, idaho. attended idaho state.

did mission work in brazil, and fluent in portuguese. loved kayaking, snowboarding, surfing. composed his own music and lyrics. one of his true loves, his guitar, pauline. he leaves behind a wonderful family, grieving parents joseph and lanae, 11 siblings. jonathan bryce millward. american hero. thanks to our guests but our biggest thank you to you for being with us. special good night to the new york control room. good night, liz, brett. everyone, i'll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern, and night, 8:00 sharp eastern, and until then, good night, friend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello.

i'm a.j. hammer in new york. this is a "showbiz tonight" news break. here's some of what we're covering for you on "showbiz tonight" coming up at the top of the hour. brand-new bombshells about michael jackson's alleged drug use. shocking reports that jackson may have been taking up to 40 pills a night. plus, why l.a.'s police chief says that jackson's death could become a homicide investigation. also, stranger than fiction, unbelievably bizarre stories that are surfacing after jackson's death. are they really saving part of his brain? and did jackson really try to rescue lisa ling's sister from a jail in north korea? this outrageous stories that are stranger than fiction. plus, he's back as bruno. and one scene from the new movie is getting a lot of buzz. tonight, the untold story of bruno and the terrorist. that is your "showbiz tonight" news break. tv's most provocative entertainment news show for friday night at the top of the hour.