(EXCLUSIVE) Michael Jackson Autopsy Picture Leaked?

Real or Fake, There is a Market for Michael Jackson’s Autopsy Photo (And Anything Else Michael Jackson…

Remember the Michael Jackson autopsy photo rumors that swept the tabloids and the Internet shortly after Michael Jackson died in June? They’re back, but the details behind the autopsy photo this time leads one to believe that this story may be of an authentic autopsy photo.

Gerald Posner at the Daily Beast wrote that he received a phone call last week from a source that had once offered him pictures of Princess Diana’s death scene — photos he had passed on and later seen on CBS “48 Hours” — but was now offering information about a possible Michael Jackson autopsy photo leak. His source said the Michael Jackson autopsy photo was said to be making the rounds in Los Angeles.

Posner immediately began trying to ascertain the veracity of his source’s information and soon tracked the rumor to a restaurant owner who had a face shot of Michael Jackson, head completely shaven, supposedly taken during the pop singer’s autopsy. The restaurant owner told Gerald Posner that a television executive had told him that the high-resolution photo was given to him by a “high-ranking police friend.”

Posner also spoke with Ed Winter, Los Angeles County Chief Coroner, who said that that had heard several rumors about Michael Jackson autopsy photos but had never been able to find conclusive proof that anyone had them. He also mentioned that the photo could be a really good fake and would have to see a copy of the photo in order to determine if such were the case. Winter reminded Posner of the fake Michael Jackson autopsy report that and News of the World.

But would there be a demand? Posner talked with several editors of tabloids who assured him — off the record — that such a autopsy photo, if it were indeed real, could gain the seller over $1 million in worldwide publication rights. However, it would also lead to a police investigation that could cost the seller far more than his negotiated prize. Such an investigation might also cause more than a few people within the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office to lose their jobs and/or to face criminal prosecution for “leaking” the photo.

Michael Jackson’s death, as Gerald Posner’s piece illustrates, holds a morbid attraction for the public. Much like the deaths of many celebrities — James Dean, Jim Morrison, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Princess Diana, ad infinitum — the death of Michael Jackson has produced a demand for pictures, videos, articles, and information not only about his dying and death, but of the details surrounding the pop singer post-mortem. There was a death photo published shortly after Michael Jackson’s death, just as there was a near-death photo (billed by OK! Magazine as the last photo taken of Michael Jackson while alive, which was — and is — a questionable assertion) for which editors paid half a million dollars. There was the aforementioned fake autopsy report and the deathbed photos as well. And then there were the countless articles concerning every detail imaginable of the King of Pop’s death.

Although Gerald Posner could not find someone willing to talk to him in any great detail about the Michael Jackson autopsy photo itself, there is ample reason to believe that one does exist. With an unofficial $1 million price tag, there just might be someone willing to take their chances with the legal system and sell the photo. Because where there is a market…