Michael Jackson house auction raises $1m

The contents of the house where Michael Jackson lived before he died have sold at a Los Angeles auction for almost $1 million (£646,000).

Some 500 items were for sale from the mansion the singer rented, including furniture, ornaments and paintings.

Among the lots was an armoire upon which Jackson wrote a message to himself that fetched $25,750 (£16,600).

A pottery rooster holding a chalkboard bearing a note from Jackson’s children also sold for $5,000 (£3,200).

Prior to the auction, organisers had estimated total sales to be between$200,000 (£129,000) and $400,000 (£258,000).

Also sold was a Victorian Revival-style bedroom suite, an 18th-Century French clock and a shower bench on which Jackson had drawn stick men.

Only a handful of auction items bore a personal connection to the singer and his family, as most were part of the rented surroundings.

The ornate headboard from the bed where Jackson’s body was found had also been due to go under the hammer but was removed from the sale last month at the request of Jackson’s family.

However, the rug that had been beneath the bed sold for $15,360 (£9,900).

Dr Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter over the pop star’s death in 2009 last month and was sentenced to four years in prison.