Star-filled mausoleum awaits Michael Jackson

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — One month after a lavish public memorial for Michael Jackson, the pop singer’s family prepared to inter him privately today in a mausoleum filled with legendary entertainers.

On Wednesday, a judge said Jackson’s estate will bear the funeral costs, which were characterized by an attorney as extraordinary. It was disclosed in court that 12 burial spaces were being purchased at Forest Lawn Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but no details were offered on how they would be used.

In a declaration filed Wednesday by Katherine Jackson’s attorney, Burt Levitch, stated that the cemetery told him the spaces had to be purchased as a unit and could not be subdivided.

“Mrs. Jackson and her family wish to honor her son by a funeral that seeks to offer solace to his multitude of fans and by which the family also may be comforted,” Levitch wrote in the declaration.

A copy of the contract with the cemetery filed with the court has been redacted so that costs and details of today’s service have been removed.

Jackson will rest in the cemetery’s Great Mausoleum with Hollywood stars including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.