Character witnesses to speak on Murrays behalf

Jurors will hear Wednesday from people who will say Dr. Conrad Murray saved lives. NEW: Dr. Murray sheds tears as heart patient testifiesMurray "is the best doctor I've ever seen," a former heart patient saysCharacter witnesses testify for Dr. Murray's defense WednesdayThe defense will call two medical experts before resting Thursday or Friday
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tears flowed from Dr. Conrad Murray's eyes Wednesday as he listened to an elderly patient tell jurors that Murray had opened a clinic in the Acres Homes community of Houston in honor of his father, who had practiced there.
After 17 days of hearing about how pop star Michael Jackson died under Murray's care, jurors began hearing Wednesday from people who say the doctor saved lives.
Ruby Mosley was one of five character witnesses called by Murray's defense lawyers Wednesday morning as his involuntary manslaughter trial nears an end.
"If this man had been greedy, he never would have come to an area, a community of Acres Homes, 75% of them poor, on welfare and Social Security," Mosley said.
Murray continued to dab tears from his eyes even after Mosley left the stand.
"He's the best doctor I've ever been to," said Gerry Causey, a 68-year-old former patient of the man accused of causing Jackson's death."And I just don't think he did what he's being accused of," Causey added, under cross-examination by the prosecution.
Much of the prosecution's case has been spent trying to demonstrate that Murray gave reckless and incompetent medical treatment as Jackson's personal doctor in the last months of his life.
Causey met Murray 11 years ago when he was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital with a heart attack, but they became friends since then, he testified.
"It's because of Dr. Murray, the way he cares for you, the way he makes you feel," Causey said.
Prosecutors contend that Murray abandoned his patients in Las Vegas and Houston for the $150,000 a month Jackson had promised him.
"There's no way, he's not greedy," Causey said. "He doesn't charge me my deductable, never has."
Las Vegas heart patient Andrew Guest, who followed Causey on the witness stand Wednesday, said Murray "makes sure you're ok during the procedure."
"That man sitting there is the best doctor I've ever seen," Guest testified.
Murray treated Dennis Hix by putting 14 stints into arteries around his heart 11 years ago, Hix testified.
"I'm 66, I've gone to a lot of doctors, a lot of doctors and I've never had one that gave me the care that he did," Hix said.
Murray never charged Hix beyond what his insurance would pay, he said. "I had a type of insurance that don't hardly pay for nothing," he said. "So he did it for me free."
Two medical experts for the defense, including anesthesiologist Dr. Paul White, are expected to follow Thursday and possibly Friday. This would set the stage for closing arguments and jury deliberations early next week, although it's possible that could come Friday.
Jackson's sisters Janet and La Toya, as well as his brother Randy, were in court for Wednesday's testimony.
The promoter of Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" tour testified Tuesday that Jackson's fear that producers would "pull the plug" on the shows if the singer missed more rehearsals was unfounded.
"No one on our end was ever contemplating pulling the plug," said Randy Phillips, the head of AEG Live.
Murray's lawyers contend Jackson self-administered the overdose of drugs that killed him in a "desperate desire to get to sleep," because he feared without rest he would miss his next rehearsal and trigger the cancellation of his comeback concerts.
If the tour was canceled, Jackson would have to pay for all of the production and rehearsal costs, Phillips said, although the judge would not let him tell jurors how much that might have been. Defense lawyer Ed Chernoff estimated the cost to be about $40 million, leaving him "a very, very poor man," but it was not while the jury was present.
Concert director Kenny Ortega sent Phillips an e-mail five days before Jackson's death, referring to Jackson's fear the company would cancel the tour. The e-mail triggered a meeting with Jackson and Murray to address Ortega's concerns about Jackson's "lack of focus" and missed rehearsals, with the debut of his London shows just three weeks away.
He and Ortega were satisfied when Jackson told them "You build the house and I will put on the door and paint it," suggesting he would be ready, Phillips testified.
Also at the meeting, Phillips told Murray that he wanted to make sure Murray knew about Jackson's visits to another doctor, dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein. "Because he's his principal physician, I thought he should know," he said.
Phillips said he was concerned because Jackson "seemed a little distracted and not focused" in a meeting after a visit to Klein's Beverly Hills clinic.
The defense contends Jackson became addicted to the painkiller Demerol in his frequent visits to Klein in the three months before his death. His withdrawal from the Demerol, which Murray was unaware of, would explain why Jackson could not sleep the day he died, the defense contends.
Earlier Tuesday, a nurse who tried to treat Jackson's insomnia with natural remedies testified that Jackson told her that doctors assured him using the surgical anesthetic propofol at home to induce sleep was safe as long as he was monitored.
Jackson died two months after that conversation with nurse Cherilyn Lee, from what the coroner ruled was an overdose of propofol, combined with sedatives.
Prosecutors contend Murray's use of propofol to treat Jackson's insomnia in his home was reckless, in part because he did not have proper equipment to monitor his patient and he abandoned him to make phone calls.
Lee's testimony was briefly delayed as she was overcome with emotion. "I'm feeling really, really dizzy," Lee said. "This is just very sensitive to me."
Lee used IV drips loaded with vitamins, "sophisticated" vitamin smoothies and bedtime teas to treat Jackson's insomnia, but Jackson became frustrated when her natural remedies failed to make him sleep, she said.
"He said 'I'm telling you the only thing that's going to help me sleep right away is the Diprivan and can you find someone to help me to sleep?'" Lee said. Diprivan is a brand name for propofol.
After some quick research, the nurse warned Jackson that it was dangerous to use propofol at home, Lee testified.
Jackson was not deterred, she said, even after she asked him "but what if you don't wake up?"
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren asked her, "And he responded, 'I will be OK, I only need someone to monitor me with the equipment while I sleep'?"
"Yes, that's exactly what he said," Lee said.
Murray had already agreed to serve as Jackson's private physician and had ordered his first supplies of propofol for Jackson more than a week before Jackson asked Lee for help getting the drug.
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People rescued from Philly basement speak

Disabled adults held captive speak outNEW: "We don't know the extent of this," the police commissioner saysA missing Florida 15-year-old is identified by Philadelphia policeOne suspect served time for starving her sister's boyfriend, police say"That was real dirty of you," a victim saysFor more information on this story, check out CNN affiliates KYW and WPBF

Philadelphia (CNN) -- More victims could emerge in a case involving three people suspected of locking four mentally disabled adults in the cramped sub-basement boiler room of a Philadelphia apartment building, the city's police commissioner said Tuesday.

"We don't know the extent of this," Charles Ramsey told CNN. "We do know it goes beyond the borders of Pennsylvania -- at least Texas, Florida and Virginia, and we suspect other locations as well."

The case began over the weekend, when the four people were found locked in the room, with no food and only a bucket for a toilet, police said. The pitch-black, 15-foot-by-6-foot space houses what police described as a boiler used to heat the building. A penetrating stench of urine and feces still hung in the chamber days after the discovery.

One of the four, Derwin McLemire, was chained to the boiler, police said.

The three suspects -- Gregory Thomas, 47, Eddie Wright, 49, and Linda Ann Weston, 51 -- face charges including criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment, Philadelphia police said Sunday. Police said they were investigating whether the victims' Social Security checks had been stolen, as well as several other leads.

Weston had identification documents for about 50 people with her when she was arrested, Ramsey said. They included Social Security cards and court documents giving power of attorney, among others. "That just happened to be what she had in her possession on the night she was arrested," he said.

"We have to track all those down and find out ... whether those people are still living, where they're located, what happened to them, to see whether or not they were victims," Ramsey said. "So we don't know whether there are more people involved as offenders or as victims."

"We believe it's a strong possibility that there are other (victims)," he said. "We don't know how long this has been taking place. It could go back as far as the late '90s that she (Weston) has been involved in this activity."

On Monday, three of the four people rescued from the room spoke about their harrowing experience.

"That was real dirty of you. That was wrong," a tearful McLemire told CNN affiliate KYW , talking about his alleged captors.

The alleged victims said they were beaten and were afraid of the suspects in the case.

Tamara Breeden told KYW Weston hit her in the head, "and all this was bleeding and everything."

McLemire, Breeden and a third man, Herbert Knowles, told KYW their Social Security information was taken from them.

Meanwhile, officials in West Palm Beach, Florida, said Tuesday a 15-year-old who has been missing since July was recovered by Philadelphia police.

West Palm Beach city spokesman Chase Scott would not say whether Benita Rodriguez was among those held in the sub-basement, but Philadelphia police said earlier all the captives were adults, ages 29, 31, 35 and 41.

Rodriguez was last seen in the company of a male believed to be Thomas' son at a West Palm Beach home thought to be near where the Philadelphia suspects lived earlier this year, Scott said.

Rodriguez was considered an endangered runaway, according to a missing persons flyer issued by West Palm Beach police.

Her mother, Juana Rodriguez, told CNN affiliate WPBF Tuesday that her daughter went willingly with "the young man."

"As long as she's been found and she's doing good, that's all that matters," Juana Rodriguez said. "I can breathe. I can breathe now. Because she's doing good."

Rodriguez was being held Tuesday at a police facility "until a family member can make arrangements to pick her up," Scott said. He did not release any further information.

Juana Rodriguez spoke to her daughter briefly. "She's just crying," she told WPBF.

Bond for each of the three suspects was set at $2.5 million, according to the Philadelphia district attorney's office. The FBI joined the probe after detectives discovered one of the accused had traveled to at least two other states with the people found in the basement of the northeast Philadelphia apartment building, police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said.

McLemire, who said he is from North Carolina, said he met Weston on an online dating site, according to KYW. He said once he attempted to escape from a home of Weston's, "and I didn't get away, so they got me."

Authorities were still trying to unravel the shocking details about the case.

Weston served eight years in prison for killing her sister's boyfriend in the early 1980s, Ramsey said earlier. In that case, the victim "was held captive for an extended period of time, locked in a closet and he literally starved to death," he said.

"That concerns us because obviously, she's capable of quite a bit of a lot of different things," he said.

Asked why Weston is not still behind bars, Ramsey said Tuesday, "That's a good question. Our legal system is what it is, but you would think that someone who's committed a crime that horrific would still be in jail. But she wasn't, and obviously she wasn't fully rehabilitated, either."

Ramsey said he has an entire team of detectives working the case, and is likely to put a task force together for long-term investigation, because "this is not one that's going to end very quickly."

Weston is believed to have been in McLean, Texas, with some or all of the alleged captives. They then traveled to Florida and Philadelphia, Evers said. All seven had been traveling together, Evers said, but he did not know for how long.

Scott told CNN that Thomas was arrested in West Palm Beach on a burglary charge in July and was a suspect in a grand theft case later that month. Authorities initially identified Gregory Thomas as Thomas Gregory, and later corrected the name.

Philadelphia police have identified several juveniles in Philadelphia who have ties to West Palm Beach, Scott said Monday, but it was unclear whether the youths had been reported missing. Scott said Monday that Rodriguez was not one of the juveniles identified.

A preliminary hearing for the suspects on the charges and evidence in the Philadelphia case was set for October 24. No pleas were entered on Monday, with that to happen at a formal arraignment at a date yet to be set.

The building's owner, Turgut Gozleveli, discovered the four captives after being informed that people were milling in and out of his basement, where no one was supposed to be. Gozleveli said he checked out the basement Thursday and found a few things out of place, but no people. On Friday, he found a dog dish and thought one of his tenants was attempting to conceal a pet.

On Saturday, after hearing a dog barking, he went to the building's sub-basement and found a door chained shut. He removed the chain and found the four inside.

The alleged victims were brought out on stretchers, said Danyell Tisdale, the block captain who notified Gozleveli. She said she was concerned about some of the things she'd seen recently, including people being brought in from the back of a sport utility vehicle with out-of-state plates.

"I hope I did enough," she said. "I called."

CNN's Melanie Whitley, Tom Faust, Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt and Kyra Phillips contributed to this report.

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