SUICIDE FOR FATHER OF ALLEGED MIJAC VICTIM: Evan Chandler found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

       Evan Chandler, 65, was the father of the boy, now 29, who was paid a reported $15 to $20 million by the King of Pop to stop speaking about his claims of sexual abuse he alleges took place during sleepovers in 1992.

       Chandler, a former Beverly Hills dentist, was discovered dead on Nov. 5 in his luxury waterfront apartment, clothed and without a suicide note nearby, reports People.com. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a .38-caliber revolver, according to Jersey City Police Department spokesman Stan H. Eason.

       Chandler and his son had been estranged since 2006, when the son secured a restraining order after claiming his father threatened him with a dumbbell.

       The boy was 12 when he began going to Jackson's Neverland Ranch for sleepovers after the pair met through the child's stepfather's rental-car company. The boy first came out with his accounts of molestation when Chandler put him under anesthesia for dental work.

       Jackson's lawyers called accusations that the singer fondled the boy fabrications and outright extortion. Jackson was never charged with a crime for the alleged incidents. Jackson later faced a trial on charges of molesting another boy, and was acquitted.

       Chandler was suffering from a serious ailment at the time of his death. Authorities would not give details on the nature of the illness.