THE death of Michael Jackson has been officially ruled as homicide due to intoxication by anaesthetic, an LA coroner has said.

The singer died in June from cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles.

Jackson had lethal levels of a powerful anaesthetic, propofol, in his body when he died, coroner's office documents have already shown.

Police have interviewed his doctor Conrad Murray but he has not been named as a suspect. He has strenuously denied any wrongdoing. “The cause of death was established as acute propofol intoxication,” the coroner's report said.

“The manner of death has been ruled: Homicide,” it adds. In the US the crime of homicide includes manslaughter.

A cocktail of six drugs — including midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine, lorazepam and ephedrine — were detected in his body, the report said.

Lethal levels of propofol were judged to be the cause of Jackson's death, said an initial affidavit by the city's chief coroner.

According to the documents, Jackson's doctor told police he had been giving the singer the drug as part of his treatment for insomnia. But he said he had been concerned Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and had been trying to wean him off, using alternative drugs.