Michael Jackson spent his final days in a beautifully appointed private home that was not his own. But the fact that they were his final days now potentially can turn into a financial bonanza for the house's actual owners, who are selling off over 600 items the late singer and his children used and lived with while he rehearsed for his comeback "This Is It" tour in 2009.

The auction will be conducted by Julien's Auctions on Dec. 17; a free exhibit of items from the 100 North Carolwood Drive house will be open as of Dec. 12. As auctioneers Darren Julien and Martin Nolan told TODAY's Ann Curry, they will re-create rooms from the house and place the items up for bid, so that visitors and bidders can get a sense of what it was like to live amongst the furniture and personal items up for grabs -- many of which were marked or written on by Jackson and his children.

"There's still a demand for his items," said Nolan. "Everywhere around the world people desperately want something, they're very nostalgic, they want a memory. Michael is gone and they want to cling on to something tangible."

One item is an armoire mirror that Jackson wrote a message to himself on: "Train perfection March April May. Full out." As Julien noted, the piece itself (just the mirror visited the TODAY studios) would go for $6,000-$8,000 "but because it was associated with Michael Jackson we anticipate that it will sell for much more."

Other items being shown in the TODAY studio included chairs from "the medication room" in the house and a rooster butler holding up fruit and displaying a chalkboard, on which a child had scribbled: "Love daddy, I heart daddy, smile it's for free." In another instance, a fat yellow candle with engravings by Prince is also up for auction.

"This is stuff that was in a typical family home, and that's what we're trying to show people," said Nolan. "Michael in a beautiful home with his children, normal kids growing up, and this is a part of the memory of that."

A recent Michael Jackson auction didn't go so well; unseen footage from the singer's 1993 "Dangerous" tour failed to sell in London, but tangible items that fans can put their hands on and even perhaps use -- which Michael Jackson also used and put his hands on -- are likely to command a much higher value. And the headboard from the bed in which Jackson actually died has since been removed from the auction. Still, the notion that anything was "typical" in the Jackson household ... that might be something of a harder sell, for any auction house.

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Dr. Conrad Murray received a maximum four-year sentence on Tuesday for his role in the death of Michael Jackson, and the deputy district attorneys who prosecuted Murray, David Walgren and Deborah Brazil, appeared on TODAY exclusively Wednesday with their reactions to the sentence.

The sentence came after the judge proffered a 24-minute dressing down of Murray, and the harsh tone did not come as a surprise to the prosecution. "He (the judge) had sat through the trial, had heard all of the evidence, he was one of the most informed people in regards to the facts of the case, and I think being aware of all the facts and all the evidence, he was rightfully offended by the actions of Conrad Murray and was expressing that," Walgren said.

Although Murray received the maximum sentence of four years, he is unlikely to serve anything close to that amount of time, a fact that the prosecution does not find disappointing. Brazil told Savannah Guthrie, "The judge clearly sent a message to Dr. Murray as well as any other physician by imposing the maximum sentence. The actual time spent behind bars is not a reflection of the seriousness of Conrad Murray's conduct."

Walgren agreed: "I think he certainly deserves the full weight of the punishment and he certainly deserves the full four years ... How much time he actually serves at the end of the day will be up to the sheriff."

Although the facts of the case were presented at trial, Murray gave the prosecution and judge fodder from outside the courtroom in the form of a documentary about the case, and accompanying interview with Guthrie -- an action that might have ultimately hurt him at sentencing Tuesday. "I certainly don't think it helped him," Walgren said. "I think the fact that in that interview he expressed a complete lack of remorse, a complete lack of personal responsibility, he blamed it again on Michael Jackson rather than himself ... that he Conrad Murray was the victim and not Michael Jackson, I think it showed a complete failure to recognize what he did."

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• Conrad Murray gets four years and tongue lashing
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It's been quite a week in the world of celebrity news. Kim Kardashian decided 72 days was enough time to be married to Kris Humphries, so she filed for divorce. Lindsay Lohan was back in court and subsequently ordered back to jail -- but not before she had a chance to finish a shoot for Playboy. And the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, was drawing to a close.

So it seems we should have a chat about these topics and whatever else is on your mind in the world of entertainment. Use the link below to set up a reminder and join us on Friday, Nov. 4, at 9 a.m. PT.

"Punky Brewster" star Soleil Moon Frye is all grown up now: the 35-year-old mother of two now spearheads her own parenting blog, and is the author of the book "Happy Chaos." Fans of the Punky character will enjoy portions of the book where Frye talks about her own similarities to Brewster, but there's a surprise in store, too. Frye reveals she was one of the kid stars with whom Michael Jackson shared a hot tub. 

"So there I was sitting with Michael Jackson, alone in his Jacuzzi, talking about life, love, and the secrets of the world. I was eight years old. Yes, I know you're probably horrified, or at least a little confused as you read this, wondering how in the world I got there," Frye writes.

She explains that she met Jackson through his close friend Quincy Jones, and shortly thereafter, Frye and her mother were invited to Jackson's home. "Michael took my mother and me on a tour of his home. We saw his elaborate costumes encased in glass, his bedroom, all of his knickknacks, and his stunning recording studio ... We watched 'Willy Wonka,' and Michael and I sat next to each other. He had a way of speaking as if he were a child, too."

On Tuesday's TODAY, Frye told Anne Curry of the visit, "I didn't realize how strange it was then."

You can watch the entire segment above, or click here to read Frye's guest post on TODAY Moms.

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Michael Jackson reportedly was desperate for sleep in the last months of his life, hence his alleged fondness for the anaesthetic propofol. But at least one report says Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, may not have had such issues. TMZ.com is reporting that Michelle Bella, a stripper who was speaking to Murray in the last hours of Jackson's life says the doctor told her he was "gonna get some sleep."

Could the doctor have actually fallen asleep when his famous patient was dying? TMZ reported in 2009 that "authorities believe" this may have happened.

Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, and Murray said he found the singer not breathing, administered CPR and called 911. Murray will be tried for involuntary manslaughter; jury selection resumes in May.

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Although there seems to be plenty of incriminating testimony that would suggest Dr. Conrad Murray's preliminary hearing for involuntary manslaughter will lead to a trial, several members of the Jackson family fear that Murray will walk free.

"The Jacksons are afraid that it won't go to trial," a source very close to the family said. After Thursday's hearing, the source said that family members were left feeling "nervous and really afraid. They keep saying 'He's going to get away with it.'"

The hearing is expected to continue several more days.

There's more damning testimony coming out of Tuesday's continuing preliminary hearing in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray.

NBC's George Lewis reports on testimony from Alberto Alvarez, a Jackson bodyguard who planned the logistics of the pop star's movements and was present during resuscitation efforts on the day Jackson died. According to Alvarez, Murray asked if Alvarez or Faheem Muhammad (another Jackson bodyguard) knew CPR. At that point, Alvarez started chest compressions on Jackson and Murray started giving mouth-to-mouth.

"This is the first time I give anybody mouth to mouth, but I have to do it. He's my friend," Murray then said, according to Alvarez. Not long after, paramedics arrived but Jackson seemed "dead."

This is the second day of the hearing in Los Angeles.

Mark Boster / EPA file

Dr. Conrad Murray during an arraignment in Los Angeles in February 2010.

The preliminary hearing for Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, is set to begin in Los Angeles Tuesday, but it won't indicate the beginning of any sort of closure for the Jackson family. The family believes that Murray, who is facing involuntary manslaughter charges, should be dealing with much more severe charges.

"They believe that Murray should be facing murder charges," a source in close contact with the Jackson family said. "They have never agreed with the manslaughter accusation and certainly not involuntary manslaughter."

The hearings this week -- expected to last approximately eight court days -- will determine whether there is evidence enough to require Murray to stand trial on the charges.

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Dr. Conrad Murray and his defense team are in court this week to face charges that Murray committed involuntary manslaughter. Sources say that the defense might suggest that Jackson committed suicide and administered his own last, fatal dose of propofol, a claim that has the family outraged. Tamron Hall and I discuss that, actor Pete Postlethwaite's passing and David Arquette's rehab in the Scoop on msnbc TV.