Jacko: The Purloined Letters

JULY 9--The mother of the California boy who has accused Michael Jackson of sexual molestation told investigators that letters written to her son by the singer were stolen by a private investigator working for the Jackson camp. The allegation is contained in a June 30 court filing by Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon (a heavily-redacted version of the prosecution filing was docketed yesterday by Superior Court officials). According to the prosecution document, excerpts of which you'll find below, the woman's account of the purloined letters was included in a November 2003 court application to search the Beverly Hills office of investigator Bradley Miller. The woman has told investigators that, in the wake of last February's broadcast of the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, she and her family left their ratty L.A. apartment and went on the lam--with the aid of Camp Jacko--to avoid press scrutiny (her son, then 13, was filmed nuzzling with Jackson). The family's belongings were placed in storage by private eye Miller, who was acting on behalf of Jackson, prosecutors allege. But the letters from Jackson "were missing when her property was returned to her" months later, according to the prosecution filing, which fingers Miller for the "unlawful taking" of this material. The content of these Jackson letters is not described in the government document. While the prosecution filing and related motions by Jackson's lawyers have been redacted to remove the names of the underage victim and his relatives, court officials slipped up at one point, leaving the family's surname on one page of a defense motion. We've covered it with a red box, however. (3 pages)