Michael Jackson’s bodyguard lifts lid on abuse claims and reveals what he thinks really killed star

Bill Whitfield said Jackson – who would have turned 66 on Thursday – had become “frail” in the weeks before his death in 2009.

Celebrity security pro Bill became Jackson’s bodyguard in December 2006 – not long after he had been cleared of shocking child sex abuse allegations.

He said he had read stories about the case and took the job unsure in his own mind about whether the allegations could be true.

Bill told The Sun: “He was sad a lot. Things were different, he had just come off facing a couple of trials.

“Like everybody, I heard all the stories prior to working for him, so it would only be normal for me to go into the situation wondering.

“Being that up close and personal with someone, if that was the situation, it would reveal itself.

“I paid close attention to him and his surroundings and how he interacted with his kids, and other people

“I never wanted to believe these things, but I definitely kept an eye out, paid extra attention, because I didn’t know him until I started working for him.”Bill ended up considering the star a “very good friend” – and saw Jackson in some of his most vulnerable moments.

He insisted the accusations have no weight to them and said: “That’s not who he was.”

Bill added: “Nothing like that even remotely came to the surface to make me believe or assume otherwise.

“It wasn’t his character. You had to be around him to know him and I was there. So no, that wasn’t him. And so it just still surprises me when I hear things like that.

“I’m just sorry he wasn’t around long enough to actually tell his side of the story so people could get a better understanding of who he was.

“He would never hurt a child. That wasn’t the man I knew.

“He once said he would slit his wrist before hurting a child.

“So I know those accusations were hurtful for him. I can tell that changed him.”

Having shot to stardom as a child, Jackson spent four decades at the centre of the world’s stage – clocking up 500 million record sales in the process.

But he became embroiled in controversy when in 1993 he was accused of sexually abusing a child.

It was settled out of civil court – however, in 2005 dad-of-three Jackson was tried over further damaging allegations of child sexual abuse.

The FBI failed to find any evidence of criminal conduct, and Jackson was acquitted.

Shaken by the four-month trial, the Man in the Mirror singer became reclusive and decided not to return to his beloved ranch, Neverland.

And following his HIStory World Tour in 1997, Jackson had shied away from performing any major concerts.

But in March 2009, he set the world alight by announcing a series of comeback concerts.

The This Is It residency was due to run for a whopping 50 dates at London’s O2 arena from July 2009 to March 2010.

Jackson moved to LA, where he spent endless hours rehearsing – which Bill says took its toll on the star – especially after the publicly played out trial.

He said: “Prior to the whole This Is It tour coming into play, a lot had changed.

“There were more people in his life and it became hectic.

“I could see he was a little more frail than normal, he was doing a lot of rehearsing. I could tell it was weighing on him.”

Just three weeks before Jackson was due to kick-off his much-anticipated sellout residency, he died from an overdose.

Bill said he has wondered in the years since whether the Billie Jean singer could have been killed intentionally.

He said: “Do I think someone made a mistake? Yes.

“I’ve tried to work on the thoughts of could this have been intentional.

“But the thought that [he died] at the hands of someone intentionally, that doesn’t weigh with me.

“I’ve often been asked, what do I think killed him. And I’ve told people, a lot of everything. And includes a lot of us.

“There were so many people that wanted not only to be near him, but there were so many people who wanted something from him.

“And that can be overwhelming. He was definitely stressed out. And stress kills.

“I like to [think] he didn’t just pass away, he left. He left this place, this world, for a better place because the rest that he needed he would never got in this lifetime.”

Bill said when he first got a call on June 25, 2009, saying his boss was dead, he failed to believe it.

He added: “I started getting phone calls from people, and they were saying ‘did I hear’ – I said did I hear what?

“They said Michael had passed away.

“And at first I didn’t believe it because there was a time when we were driving in Virginia and on the radio they announced that Michael Jackson had passed away.

“And he was in the back of the car, and I was looking right at him.

“And I said: ‘Mr Jackson did you hear that, they said you died’.

“And he said ‘oh, I get that all the time’.

“So when the situation was actually real, I didn’t believe it at first.”

My friend, my boss

Describing Jackson as “different”, Bill said he considered the superstar a “very good friend”.

Bill added: “He trusted me, even with his most prized possession, his kids.

“As much as I considered him my friend, he was still my boss.

“And he got on my nerves – anybody who had a boss or a supervisor, I’m sure they got at their nerves at some point. He certainly got on mine.

“Certainly going to the movies and he insisted on bringing spray butter and hot sauce with him to the movies.

“And there were times which we forgot it, and then he didn’t want to go to the movies.

“That was that serious to him, I guess, to be able to enjoy a moment the way he wanted to enjoy it.

“He liked taking long drives at three, four in the morning. And we would just drive, whether it was up and down a Las Vegas boulevard strip or wherever we happened to be out in the country somewhere.

“He would just want to drive and kind of take in the world outside without being rushed.

“I know he was dealing with something or going through something, and he would take these long drives to his thoughts together.”