A two-year investigation and trial on child molestation charges may have contributed to U.S. entertainer Michael Jackson's death, his defense attorney said.

Attorney Tom Mesereau told "Inside Edition" he thought the stress of the investigation and 2005 trial "took a terrible toll" on the 50-year-old pop singer, who died June 25.

"He lost weight, his cheeks became sunken in. His eyes became heavy. He was terrified," Mesereau said on the syndicated show to be broadcast Friday. "I always saw him as lucid, articulate and coherent. Never did I think he was under medication or a dangerous drug."

"I think the poor soul may have just not fully recovered from leaving Neverland," his Santa Barbara County, Calif., estate, the attorney said.