tests led the Los Angeles County coroner to a preliminary conclusion that Jackson died of an overdose of propofol , a powerful sedative he had been given to help him sleep . The latest release refers to suspicions by some members of Jackson 's family in the hours after his June 25 death that heroin might have been involved . `` During the course of the investigation , family members of the decedent notified -LSB- coroner investigator -RSB- Chief -LSB- Ed -RSB- Winter that they located a quantity of tar heroin in a bag in the decedent 's bedroom located on the second floor of the residence , '' Martinez wrote . He used this statement to justify a search of Jackson 's home because `` there may be additional medications and/or narcotics at the location as well as the necessity to confiscate these items for the safety of the minor children . '' A source with knowledge of the probe told CNN Thursday that a test later showed that a brown , sticky substance found in the search was not heroin . The source asked not to be named because the source was not authorized to speak about it
LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The first search of Michael Jackson 's bedroom a day after his death found marijuana , skin-bleaching and hair-growing ointments , anti-insomnia pills and empty bottles of several anti-anxiety drugs , according to court documents unsealed Thursday . The documents reveal what investigators found in Jackson 's bedroom the day after his death . A substance initially suspected to be tar heroin proved not to be a narcotic , according to a source with knowledge of the investigation . An affidavit , written by Los Angeles Detective Orlando Martinez , was used to outline probable cause for a warrant to search Jackson 's Holmby Hills , California , home on June 26 . Martinez filed his report on what was found in the search five days later . While the documents may provide some insight into Jackson 's life , they appeared to contain nothing that would lend new insight into his death . Another sworn statement written by Martinez several weeks later -- and made public earlier this week -- provided a more extensive list of drugs found by investigators at Jackson 's bedside . That document also revealed that toxicology