In less than two days, the 12-person jury reached its verdict. Murray was found guilty and carted off to the Los Angeles County jail where he was placed on suicide watch.

Later this month Murray, who could receive probation or as much as four years in prison, will be sentenced.

Jackson's death came while the mega-pop star was preparing for "This Is It," the comeback of all comeback tours; a series of concerts at London's O2 arena. Millions and millions of dollars were at stake. Postponement or cancellation of the tour wasn't an option.

Working extremely long hours and exceedingly hard to get back into shape for the arduous tour, Jackson was unable to sleep. Murray gave Jackson the drug propofol. According to drugs.com, propofol "reduces anxiety and tension, and promotes relaxation and sleep or loss of consciousness." The powerful drug "provides loss of awareness for short diagnostic tests and surgical procedures, sleep at the beginning of surgery, and supplements other types of general anesthetics."

In its post-trial report, foxnews.com pointed out that, "The pop star had plucked the little-known cardiologist from Houston to be his personal physician."

But had Jackson really "plucked" Murray or had Murray been "plucked" for him by executives at AEG?

Philip Anschutz's AEG

According to Portfolio.com's Matt Haber, "AEG was so committed to keeping the event on track, it paid ... Murray to act as the singer's personal physician."

Therefore, one of the most interesting aspects of the trial was the testimony of Randy Phillips, the chief executive of AEG Live, the company promoting Jackson's tour.  According to the Los Angeles Times, "Phillips was called to the stand by lawyers for ... Murray, who had hoped his account would bolster their claim that an anxiety-ridden Jackson gave himself a lethal dose of propofol in a desperate attempt to sleep before critical rehearsals."

The Times reported that "For two hours, Phillips walked jurors through "This Is It," ... from its genesis in a Bel-Air hotel suite to a final rehearsal at Staples Center that left a normally cynical music executive with goose bumps and his star performer with a great confidence.

"'He put his hands on my shoulders as we were walking out and he said to me, 'You got me here, now I'm ready. I can take it from here.' And that's the last I saw him,' Phillips recalled."

Phillips also said that the concert tour "grew out of a 2008 phone call from Philip Anschutz, the billionaire head of AEG Live's parent company. Anschutz asked him to meet with Century City financier Tom Barrack, whose company had recently purchased a note on Jackson's Neverland ranch."

Philip Anschutz is a billionaire several times over. Philip Anschutz is not a household name. He prefers it that way. In September, Forbes magazine listed Anschutz as tied for the #39th spot on its Forbes 400: The Richest People in America. He owns an assortment of enterprises ("Phillip Anschutz: The Most Powerful Billionaire You Have Never Heard Of," -- http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12976) including the concert division that was promoting the Jackson tour, as well as London's O2 arena.

In his late-September report on the trial, Westword.com's Michael Roberts wondered whether "the case's revelations [would] splash back on Denver's ... Anschutz, who stood to profit handsomely had Jackson been able to headline the tour he was financing?" Roberts also speculated as to whether Anschutz would take a financial bath because of Jackson's death.

Roberts reported that, "Anschutz was able to turn these fiscal minuses into a plusses. By late October, he'd reportedly made back the $36 million the non-tour cost him by selling "This Is It" rehearsal footage to Sony for over $60 million. And he also had a sizable piece of the This Is It movie, which proved to be a cash cow as well."

AEG Live partnered with Jackson's estate to release the This is It movie. Since its release, This Is It has become the highest grossing concert film in history, with over $260 million in domestic and foreign sales and nearly $45 million in US DVD sales.

Westword.com's Roberts reported that, "Anschutz wasn't pilloried for profiting from Jackson's demise, in part because he's so adept at manipulating the press. He's in the process of purchasing the Oklahoman newspaper -- the deal also includes Colorado Springs Broadmoor Hotel -- and a recent profile of him by the paper couldn't have been puffier if it'd been printed on a cotton ball.

"Indeed, the Columbia Journalism Review's Ryan Chittum made the article the centerpiece of his new column 'How Not to Cover Your Paper's New Owner.' After quoting a reference to Anschutz's belief in family values, Chittum writes, 'Is 'family values' code for 'finances anti-gay issues' and misinformation about evolution? That certainly doesn't put him out of line with political thought in my home state, of course, or with the paper's editorial history, but it's a disservice to readers not to report it. Let's face it: Anschutz is probably not buying a newspaper in 2011 to make money.'"

According to the Los Angeles Times, "AEG was paying for everything in his [Jackson's] life - from his rented Holmby Hills mansion to the personal chef who prepared him organic juices - as well as the huge expense of mounting a high-tech show that included multiple sets, Jackson catapulting over the crowd and 3-D elements. If he failed to perform, Jackson would have to reimburse AEG more than $30 million, according to the defense."

Philip Anschutz is a devoted Christian. Over the years, he has supported a number of causes, candidates and institutions embraced by the religious right, including anti-gay initiatives and the Intelligent Design espousing Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington. He also owns The Examiner chain of conservative newspapers, and The Weekly Standard - an influential conservative magazine - that he bought last year from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Given his business dealings in Los Angeles, his standing in the Denver community, his hammerlock on key aspects of the entertainment industry, and his status as one of the richest men in America, Anschutz is basically untouchable. But the question remains: In the name of profit, did AEG push an unprepared, out-of-shape, drug-taking Jackson to the brink?