'People wanted MJ dead'

On his death anniversary, Michael Jackson's mother says 'mean, evil, vicious' people didn't want pop star around

On his death anniversary, Michael Jackson's mother says 'mean, evil, vicious' people didn't want pop star around

Michael Jackson's mother Katherine said yesterday the pop legend was murdered, insisting her son was convinced "people wanted him dead".

Long live the king of pop: A Michael Jackson impersonator is reflected in the sunglasses of a fan outside the 02 Arena in London yesterday, as fans gathered for the King of Pop's first death anniversary. Pic/AFP

In a rare TV interview, the family matriarch revealed the Thriller hitmaker always feared he would meet a tragic end. And the 80-year-old is adamant greed played a part in the superstar's demise.

"I know Michael didn't die of natural causes. Someone did this to him. Mean, evil, vicious people didn't want him around for some reason. It just shows how vicious people are and greedy for money," Katherine said. "He told me several times that he felt that people wanted him gone, wanted him dead. He would always say that. And for him to say that he must have known something."

'Slain for catalogue'
The claims follow La Toya's recent insistence that Jackson was killed for money, saying, "Michael was murdered for his (music) catalogue ufffd that's the bottom line."

Jackson's sister La Toya said she felt her brother was "sent from god".u00a0 She said he was missed by family and fans deeply, Contactmusic reported.

"I have to be quite frank with you, Michael was something sent from god.

Michael was truly something special from god. You guys never really saw what was really within him, the talent that he truly, truly had, that he only gave you a little bit of it. It's amazing," Toya said. "The talent that was there and the love that exuberated from him when you were around him is something that will be greatly missed, especially by those like myself and my family who knew the real Michael."Asked about the probability of Jackson's murder, Toya 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?' He was murdered for his catalogue. They knew that, and they knew Michael was worth so much more dead than alive."