They CAN'T know if it was consensual. The "stories" that came out on the news made it seem that it was consensual, with the implication that Michael "begged" for it, and then it killed him. I have never believed this. It just doesn't ring true to me. . . . . .
The FF never reported seeing any needle-marks on his arms, that I can recall.
The FF wrote emails to Karen Faye (but please let's not deviate and get into K.F. stuff here? :bugeyed) asking for her help. A number of us here have seen the emails before they were removed. The FF observed Michael at a rehearsal and said he was incredibly, dangerously, thin. He was wearing white and they said that they could see every rib, and his backbone, and he looked like he could die, he was so emaciated. They were freaked out! They said other members of the cast and crew weren't relating to him at all, weren't even looking at him.
They asked K.F. to intervene. She told them that she'd written an email about it to Randy Phillips, and that she was terribly concerned, too. But then she told them to be QUIET about it. Nothing happened. The FF wrote letters to Michael expressing their concern. They gave them to him on the night right before he died, but a body-guard took the letters from them and said they'd get them to Michael, and that they could not talk to him then, but would be able to speak by phone soon. He and body-guards went into the house. The FF tried to reach him, but all calls were dropped. They don't know for certain if he was given the letters, or read them. Within hours, he was dead.