Michael Jackson's final bodyguard has shed light on the inner struggles that he thinks contributed significantly to the tragic death of the King of Pop, who would have turned 66 years old on Thursday.
Three weeks before the start of his highly anticipated, sold-out residency, Jackson tragically passed away in June 2009 due to acute propofol intoxication.
However, in the days leading up to his death at the age of 50, his then-bodyguard Bill Whitfield described Jackson as "frail" and suggested that the overwhelming stress may have contributed to his untimely death.
"Prior to the whole 'This Is It' tour coming into play, a lot had changed," he told The U.S. Sun. "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," Whitfield added.
Whitfield said people often ask him about his thoughts on what led to Jackson's death. His response has consistently been that several factors played a role.
He said he believes the intense desire of others to be in Jackson's presence as well as their expectations of him contributed to the difficult situation he faced.
"That can be overwhelming. He was definitely stressed out. And stress kills," Whitfield said.
Whitfield admitted he often pondered the possibility of foul play in the untimely demise of the iconic "Thriller" singer in the years after his 2009 passing.
"Do I think someone made a mistake? Yes," he told the outlet. "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."
Whitfield, a well-known celebrity security expert, was hired as Jackson's personal bodyguard shortly after the singer was found not guilty of disturbing child sex abuse allegations in 2006.
Upon learning about the case, Whitfield initially harbored doubts about the validity of the allegations before accepting the position.
He recalled of his days working for the late singer, "[Jackson] 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."
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The security expert's focus was directed toward observing Jackson's interactions with his children and others, as well as his environment.
"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," Whitfield explained.
Following his observations, Whitfield concluded that the allegations against Jackson were baseless.
"That's not who he was. Nothing like that even remotely came to the surface to make me believe or assume otherwise," he insisted.
Whitfield also claimed that the accusations did not align with Jackson's character. Having spent time around the singer, he said it shocks him whenever he comes across such rumors.
"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 said. "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."
Reflecting further on Jackson's death, the singer's last bodyguard said, "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."
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