Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (83 page)

Back in Los Angeles, Evan Chandler
was working day and night to bring
down Michael. Evan had obtained a
high profile lawyer, the "fighting attorney," Gloria Allred, to represent
Jordie. She immediately called a press
conference, announcing that her thirteen-year-old client was "more than ready, more than willing, and more than able to confront his molester in
court."

This ballsy attorney perhaps was too aggressive for the Chandlers. She
really wanted a criminal suit against Michael, whereas the Chandlers preferred
civil action so that damages could be claimed. The attorney charged that such
a strategy would make the parents look too "money grubbing." Allred was
removed from the case, and a more modest but also competent attorney, Larry
Feldman, was hired instead.

On September 14, 1993, Feldman filed a civil suit for Jordie. He was in
the eighth grade, aged thirteen.

In Jordie's civil complaint, Michael was charged with:

(1) sexual battery

(2) battery

(3) seduction

(4) willful misconduct

(5) intentional infliction of emotional distress

(6) fraud

(7) negligence

As this suit was being filed, Michael, in another part of the world, confronted soaking rain and large crowds as he marched with Russian soldiers in
Red Square with the Kremlin in the background. A large banner (in English)
was unfolded for his benefit: MICHAEL, RUSSIA LOVES YOU!

Flying to Tel Aviv, Michael met a different set of people. Although many
citizens of Israel are as liberal as some of their counterparts in New York, others are staunchly conservative and almost violently anti-homosexual.

Flaunting convention, and under indictment on charges of child molestation, Michael landed in Israel with the Cascio brothers, Eddie, 9, and Frank,
13, in tow. When they went to visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, angry protesters threw stones at them. The trio fled into a waiting limousine which was
also pelted with stones as it made its get-away. En route to their hotel, signs
greeted Michael: GO HOME, PERVERT. YOU'RE AN ABOMINATION!

Under pressure, the American Friends of the Hebrew University, originally planning to give Michael the Scopus Award for his humanitarian activities
around the world, abruptly withdrew the honor they were about to bestow on
him.

Not all the people of Israel agreed with these arch conservatives. It was
estimated that some 85,000 fans filled a local auditorium at two sold-out concerts. One student outrageously proclaimed Michael as "our new Messiah.
He's come back to Earth to save us!"

In Los Angeles, Michael's attorneys, Fields and Weitzman, denied that he
was "in hiding" in the French Alps to avoid arrest in California. Actually, he
was.

Desperately needing a rest, Michael, in a break on the Dangerous tour,
accepted an invitation to fly to Geneva, where he was driven with the Cascio
brothers to the chic enclave of Gstaad and Elizabeth Taylor's luxurious villa
where she'd previously romped with Richard Burton, other husbands, and
lovers.

Michael, Frank, and Eddie were guarded by Elizabeth's security force,
each of whom earned one hundred dollars a day. At this point, Michael's
addiction to painkillers reached dangerous levels. "He was a ticking time
bomb," one of Elizabeth's security guards leaked to the press. "A male version
of Marilyn Monroe flirting dangerously with death, almost inviting it."

In Gstaad, Michael was informed that his trusted aide, Norma Staikos,
was being sought by the police for questioning. He demanded that she be
given tickets to her native Greece. Staikos flew there and into exile, far from
the authorities in Santa Barbara.

When queried about why a key witness, Norma Staikos, the duenna of
Neverland, had flown away, Howard Weitzman said, "I know she's coming
back, and I've told this to the police. To use the word `flee' is egregious."

The National Enquirer managed to obtain an exclusive interview with
Jordie. The boy was quoted as saying, "I imagine Michael Jackson is pretty
scared right now, really scared. And he should be, because what he did to me
is a really bad thing."

When Michael left Elizabeth's villa in Gstaad, he was confronted with
about a dozen angry mothers holding up signs. One read: SAVE OUR CHILDREN. Another in bold red letters demanded: PIED PIPER, LEAVE OUR BOYS
ALONE! Yet another merely requested that
Michael: GO HOME!

MJ and Norma Staikos

Abandoning Gstaad, Michael and
the Cascio boys flew to Buenos Aires
aboard a red-winged 747, a private jet, to
continue the course of the Dangerous tour.
They checked into a marble-clad mansion
which Michael had rented for $12,000 a day.
The villa, administered by the nearby Park
Hyatt Hotel, was often reserved for visiting
heads of state.

Daringly and provocatively, as if
flaunting the charges against him, Michael appeared on the balcony of the mansion, in
his pajama top, with Frank and Eddie. The
brothers, "looking cuter than any two boys
have the right to," in the words of one
woman journalist, waved to the crowds.

Johnnie Cochran

A few moments later, after they'd
retreated inside, Michael reappeared. At
least his arm, still clad in pajamas, reappeared. He waved a copy of Child, a magazine for parents, at reporters who seemed
shocked at such outrage.

Back in Los Angeles, because of the
hysteria generated by his case, Jordie temporarily dropped out of school. He
was grilled by psychiatrists, questioned by prosecutors, and "trial rehearsed"
by his attorneys. Later, Evan discovered a picture that his son had drawn of
himself. It depicted Jordie on the roof of a tall building ready to jump to his
death. It was later reported that this was not necessarily a suicide drawing but
an expression of fear on Jordie's part at being forced to testify against his formerly close sleepover buddy.

Michael's attorney, Bert Fields, antagonized authorities by firing off a letter to the police commission. He charged the police with using "scare tactics
and intimidation" in the young boys they questioned. Not only Jordie, but
Brett Barnes, Wade Robson, and Macaulay Culkin. The press reacted with
astonishment to Fields' next move: He filed a motion in Santa Barbara, asking that the case against Michael Jackson be postponed for six years. At that
time the statute of limitations would have run out, and the Chandlers would
have no case, not even a criminal one.

Meanwhile, Michael's lawyers were concerned with more than just "little
boys coming out from under rocks to tell nasty tales about Michael," as one
member of Michael's legal team claimed. A business deal was concluded with
EMI, which announced a five-year agreement to administer Michael's rich
ATV publishing catalogue, which included all of those Beatles hits. The deal
called for Michael to get $40 million upon signing what potentially could be
a $100 million-plus-transaction.

Both Fields and Weitzman advised Michael to fly to Los Angeles to face
charges. Michael reportedly "threw a fit" when neither Fields nor Weitzman
could assure him that he would not be arrested if he set foot on American soil.
Michael's trusted security aide, Bill Bray, denounced Fields for hiring
Pellicano, who, according to Bray, "is far too notorious to put on this case."
Bray urged Michael to hire Johnnie L. Cochran, "the best black lawyer in
America when it comes to something criminal."

The next stop on the tour was Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, of course, and
there were genuine fears that Federal agents might come aboard the plane and
remove Michael in handcuffs to be photographed before the world's
paparazzi. "Even the New York Times would run that picture on its front page,"
Michael predicted.

Michael, deeply addicted to Codeine, Percodan, and Demerol, continued
to call Fields daily with the same question: "Will I be arrested if I fly back to
America?"

Instead of Puerto Rico, Michael opted instead to fly into Mexico City on
October 24, ordering his attorneys, Fields and Weitzman, to join him there to
plot strategy. Michael also requested that his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein,
join him in Mexico City as well.

As part of a tantalizing detail whose implications would extend deep into
Michael's future, he also invited Dr. Klein's assistant to fly to Mexico too. A
tough woman, known as a "biker babe" or "motorcycle mama," Debbie Rowe
would become Michael's second wife and the bearer of two of his children.

Dr. Klein is an internationally renowned dermatologist. Michael could
find no greater expert on skin disorders in America. In the early days of the
AIDS crisis, Dr. Klein was the first physician to diagnose a case of Kaposi's
sarcoma in Southern California, which marked the beginning of a life-long
commitment to fighting the disease. This commitment established a dialogue
with Dame Elizabeth. Klein eventually helped establish the Elizabeth Taylor
Center for AIDS Research, Treatment and Education at UCLA.

Word was spreading that Jordie had identified "marks" on Michael's genitalia, and that the pop star wanted Klein to "disguise the evidence."
Reportedly, Michael went into a "screaming rage" when he learned that the
Santa Barbara police could force him to undergo a strip search.

On November 8, 1993, while the Jacksons
were attending Samuel Jackson's funeral-he was
Michael's grandfather-police raided Hayvenhurst
in Encino. With a search warrant, more than a dozen
officers fanned out through the premises, including
Katherine's bedroom. But mainly their attention
focused on Michael's bedroom which he no longer
used, having more or less abandoned it and many of
its contents.

Dermatologist
Dr. Arnold Klein

All the dolls, fancily dressed mannequins,
and expensive toys were left just as they were the
day Michael moved to Neverland. Katherine had
insisted on this. Before the raid ended, the police
had rounded up seventy-five boxes of evidence, including videotapes, magazines, and photographs belonging to Michael.

Distraught and suicidal once again, Michael called Elizabeth at her home
in Los Angeles, pleading with her to come to Mexico City "to rescue me."
Within eleven hours, Elizabeth and her construction worker hunk, Larry
Fortensky, were flying south. In Mexico, the Fortenskys discovered that
Michael was suffering a complete nervous breakdown. The night before,
Michael had overdosed on Percodan.

Sleeping in the room next to him, Elizabeth maintained a 24-hour suicide
watch until Michael pulled through this latest crisis. Once again, she urged
him to admit himself to the Betty Ford Clinic.

The hotel manager later told the press that he had to send three of the
hotel's security guards to Michael's suite to subdue him. "He was threatening
to jump out the window. He was butting his head against the stucco walls.
There was blood on the walls. He'd vomited on the expensive Oriental rugs.
The guards managed to hold him down as he struggled. `Let me kill myself,'
he shouted. `I want to die!"'

Later, when he seemed under reasonable control, Michael took magic
markers and began to write his initials, MJ, over all the walls and on every surface. One of the security guards called the manager, who said Michael should
be allowed to continue. "If that will subdue him, let him go for it. I'll bill
him-and bill him good-when he checks out of this hotel to the relief of
everybody."