Jackson accuser's father commits suicide

The father of a boy who accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse has committed suicide.

Evan Chandler - whose son Jordy was 13 when he claimed in 1993 the pop star had molested him - was discovered in his bed. He was 65

The former Beverly Hills dentist was found by a concierge at his waterfront Jersey City apartment in New Jersey on November 5 after he failed to keep a doctor's appointment.

News of his death has only just emerged.

It comes just five months after his son's alleged abuser Michael Jackson died at his Los Angeles home from acute Propofol intoxication.

A police source said: "We have ruled it as suicide. There was no note but officers did find medication in keeping with a serious medical condition."

Dr Chandler's claim that Jackson had abused his son triggered the singer's fall from grace in the early 1990s.

A 13-month police probe followed, including a raid on Jackson's Neverland Ranch in California.

The case never reached court after Jordy Chandler was given a $US22 million settlement and signed a contract agreeing never to talk about the allegations.

After the public furore following the allegations, Dr Chandler, a divorcee and father of four, underwent a series of bizarre cosmetic surgery operations, just as Jackson did.

Jordy Chandler - now 29 and living in Long Island, New York, under an assumed name - had fallen out with his father.

He took out a restraining order against his father in 1996, claiming his father had attacked him with a dumbbell weight.

In the same year, Dr Chandler filed a US$60 million lawsuit against Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley for talking about the case - allegedly breaching the confidentiality contract.

The officer in charge of the suicide probe, former Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas, said: "Everybody in this whole saga was touched tragically."

- Bang! Showbiz