Auction of Jackson's furniture raises $1 million

An auction of the contents of deceased pop singer Michael Jackson's last home raised almost 1 million dollars, Julien's Auctions reported Sunday.
The former King of Pop had rented the furnished Los Angeles house for himself and his three children. He died there on June 25, 2009, aged 50, from an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol, prescribed by his doctor.
According to the auction house, the take from the event was two to three times Juliens' original estimate - between 200,000 and 400,000 dollars - of the value of the items in the lot.
In all, the auction included 524 items from the house at 100 North Caroldwood Drive, in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles.
The carpet upon which emergency responders attempted to resuscitate Jackson went for 15,360 dollars, Julien's Auctions reported. Its original value lay between 400 and 600 dollars.
They also auctioned off a board upon which one of Jackson's children had written "I love Daddy." It went for 5,000 dollars.
Several of the items on the block had been featured in the trial of Conrad Murray, the physician sentenced to four years in jail for involuntary manslaughter, on charges of incorrectly prescribing medication to Jackson.
Two paintings took the highest prices at the auction, which lasted all Saturday and into early Sunday. One, a watercolour by Maurice Utrillo, went for 35,200 dollars, while a oil painting by Adelsteen Normann went for 46,875 dollars.
The headboard of the bed upon which Jackson died was removed from the auction block at the last minute, at the request of Jackson's family.