Former foes Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern sat side-by-side in a courtroom Tuesday as a commissioner admitted Anna Nicole Smith's will to probate and ordered that Birkhead, father of the late model's daughter, would be guardian of the estate while Stern serves as executor of her will. "The will dated July 30th, 2001, is admitted to probate," said Superior Court Commissioner Mitchell L. Beckloff.

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

Larry Birkhead is the father. He just announced to the world.The DNA results were unveiled inside and it's a DNA match for Birkhead and Dannielynn An emotional Larry Birkhead thanked the crowd after Dr. Michael Baird released the DNA results to the judge. The probability of paternity is 99.9999%. Baird said, "essentially he is the biological father."

Lawyers just announced the judge has made a ruling on who gets custody of Dannielynn, despite the fact that Larry Birkhead is the biological father.

Howard K. Stern just said "I am obviously very disappointed ... I am not going to fight Larry Birkhead for custody." Stern added, "I will do everything I can to make sure he gets sole custody."

Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead hugged each other outside the courtroom. Stern said Birkhead was welcome to come to the house and spend as much time with baby Dannielynn as he wanted. Stern said he'd like the transition to be "gradual," so the baby can adjust.

Larry Birkhead cannot take Dannielynn out of the Bahamas, until the custody issue is resolved. So, Stern has invited Larry to spend as much time as he wants at Horizons, where Stern is staying. Until Birkhead gets custody, he has no legal claim to the baby.

Virgie Arthur is expected to challenge the ruling. Her lawyer suggested she wants strings attached if Birkhead gets custody.

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Danniellyn, Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead, Virgie Arthur

Anna Nicole Smith could have been saved if she been hospitalized before her death, a medical examiner said Monday, but in a statement released Monday night, her companion Howard K. Stern said she had refused emergency care, fearing a "media frenzy."

If she had sought treatment for her flu, she might have been saved, Perper said, if only because her drug use could have been controlled: "If she would have gone to the hospital she wouldn't have died because she wouldn't have had the opportunity to take the excessive amount of chloral hydrate."

But according to a statement from lawyers for Stern, she refused emergency care in the days before her death because "she did not want the media frenzy that follows her."

Both Stern and Smith's physician implored her to seek emergency treatment, but Smith “refused to go to the hospital because she wanted to avoid media," attorney Lilly Ann Sanchez said in a news release"Anna called the shots in Anna's life and everyone close to her knows that."

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern

Charlie Tiger, Chief of the Seminole Police Department, just announced there was no evidence of illegal drugs on the day Anna Nicole Smith died and there was no evidence of foul play.

Tiger says the cause of Anna Nicole's death was an accidental overdose. After performing an autopsy, it became clear, Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of medication. In all, she was taking nine drugs, including valium, ativan, antihistimine and chloral hydrate. She was also taking muscle relaxers. But Dr. Perper says it was impossible to know if she took some or all of the drugs without assistance.


Dr. Perper says the injection that caused the buttock infection did not in and of itself cause her death. It is unclear who administered the injection that broke the abscess open, but it was not the linchpin of her death. She had injected a drug into her left buttock days before her death. Dr. Joshua Perper announced that when Anna Nicole flew to Miami before she died, she was complaining of pain in her left cheek.

Some of the drugs Anna Nicole Smith had taken were prescribed to her -- some under an alias and some prescribed to other people but intended for her.

Chief Tiger adds Howard Stern will not be prosecuted. As TMZ first reported, Stern's computer was checked and there was no evidence of anything untoward

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith died with a toxic level of the sleeping medication chloral hydrate in her system reports the National Enquirer and Star magazine. Apparently, Anna Nicole had a raging blood infection also. The infection was caused by an unsterilized needle and contributed to her death. The infection was so serious, it would have killed her if she had not overdosed. Contrary to speculation, tests show Anna Nicole did not have methadone or any other painkilling drug in her system at the time of her death.

Just before she left the Bahamas for Florida on February 5, three days before she died, Anna Nicole received an injection in her left buttock. Tests did not reveal what that substance was. "As she boarded the plane for Miami, Anna Nicole developed a painful abscess at the site of the injection," said a source with knowledge of the case. "The needle wasn't sterile. The pain kept getting worse as the abscess got larger and larger very quickly."

From Miami, Anna Nicole and Howard K. Stern traveled to Hollywood, Fla. The pain from the abscess became excruciating and Anna Nicole developed a high fever. By the time she got to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino her fever was 105. Anna Nicole, unaware that her blood was being poisoned by infection, had also developed a second infection from a virulent form of norovirus, which causes intestinal problems.

It was at this point that Anna Nicole made a fatal mistake. She refused to go to a hospital, a decision that would have saved her life. Instead, Anna's people gave her an ice bath to control the fever, administered the antibiotic ciprofloxacin by mouth and gave her an over-the-counter flu medicine.

As the needle-caused infection took over her body, she began vomiting, had severe diarrhea and could not urinate. On February 6, a Tuesday, Anna spent the whole day in bed. She could not keep fluids down. She was becoming severely dehydrated.

On Wednesday, February 7, Anna seemed somewhat better, but she wasn't, the source said. "She was still vomiting and suffering diarrhea," said the source. "Again, she spent the whole day in bed, as the abscess continued to grow. She was in such pain, she just wanted to sleep."

And that's when the final fatal mistake was made. Sometime overnight on February 7, Anna ingested the sleeping medication chloral hydrate. The drug is extremely potent. The dose was too much — and in fact it was a toxic level. On Thursday, February 8, Anna never woke up.

Preliminary analysis indicated the cause of death was systemic sepsis syndrome, a lethal blood infection. It was caused by the abscess of the left buttock. Further investigation revealed the fatal level of chloral hydrate.
source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

Larry Birkhead's lawyer said there will be no negotiating with Howard K. Stern. Debra Opri says the only subject of negotiation is "how fast he [Stern] will produce the child for a DNA test and how quickly he will allow that child to go to California with her real father."

Stern has been asking Birkhead for some involvement in Dannielynn's financial affairs after paternity is established. Now Opri says, "There were never any deals. It was a one-sided discussion."

Opri said she did not want to respond to Stern's overtures until after the funeral.

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Danniellyn, Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead

Today, at Anna Nicole's funeral Howard K Stern spoke movingly and angrily. Singling out Smith's "so-called family members" but without naming names, Stern vowed in a startling tone to continue to protect and fight for Smith in death. When he stepped away from the podium inside the Mount Horeb Baptist Church, his supporters stood and clapped.

Sitting among the 300 mourners were Smith's mother Virgie Arthur, who tried as recently as today to have her estranged daughter's funeral in the Bahamas stopped in favor of a Texas burial, and photographer Larry Birkhead, who is battling Stern for custody of Smith's surviving infant daughter.

After the ceremony, Smith's pink-draped coffin with flowing pink ribbons was loaded back into a white hearse and driven to Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum, where a 20-minute graveside service attended by about 30 intimates preceded her burial alongside her son Daniel, who died in September at age 20, three days after her daughter Dannielynn's birth in the Bahamas.

Howard K Stern arrived in a dark suit with a pink ribbon on his lapel. Birkhead wore a dark suit and a pink tie. source

Anna's mother arrived last after filing an emergency legal motion in the Bahamas courts trying to halt the burial. The motion was denied prior to the funeral's 11:15 a.m. start. She entered with a stream of BOO's.

Exclusive footage was shown on Entertainment tonight. From what I saw the only one of these three people that actually cared was Howard K Stern. I truly felt bad that Howard K Stern had to be polite to them on this day. I understand in court, but this was a time for the people Anna cared about. It was quite apparent how distraught Howard K. Stern was.

Why was Birkhead and the mother there? Anna hated both! The emotion Birkhead and the mother showed was completely fake! Her freaking mother was trying to stop what Anna wanted and Birkhead just wants his baby, so why did he go to the funeral?

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead

Larry Birkhead, Howard K. Stern, Virgie Arthur and several hundred more of Anna Nicole Smith's closest friends and family paid their last respects in a private ceremony at Mount Horeb Baptist Church in Nassau earlier today. After the service, Anna's coffin was moved to Lake View cemetery, for the burial the final chapter of her life. Splash News has been hired as the official photographer of the funeral. Proceeds from the sale of this and other photographs are being donated to the Dannielynn Hope Trust Fund.
source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, RIP

Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered Friday in the Bahamas in a service befitting her flamboyant life. "It will be a very beautiful Anna Nicole send-off," Patrik Simpson, a friend of Smith who is helping to organize the memorial, told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "Of course it will be over the top because it's Anna Nicole."

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, funeral

As various parties continue to fight over the remains of Anna Nicole Smith and custody of her baby, John Travolta has stepped into the fray.

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, John Travolta, WHEN ALIENS ATTACK

Larry Birkhead finally met the child he claims is his 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn. In their time together, Birkhead fed the baby, burped her – and she threw up on him, according to an interview and profile, part of which was aired on the Today Show Tuesday.

As for how he got his first glimpse of the child that he claims is his, Birkhead said, "They were kind of low-res pictures that [Smith and Stern] sent out to different outlets to see if they were interested in them, and they were so small that I couldn't see. But even in that small form, I knew when I looked at them, I knew. I said, 'She's mine. That's my baby. She looks like me – she is mine.' And there was not a doubt."

Last week, during the court battle for custody of Smith's remains, Birkhead was permitted to visit the mortuary and offer his final goodbye. He said his words to her were "something she made me say every night before she went to sleep... I said, 'Good night, my sweet Anna baby.' "

Of Stern, who claims he is Dannielynn's father and is seeking legal custody of the child, Birkhead says, "I think he is doing what he thinks is best. And I think what I am doing is best."

As for what he one day hopes to tell Danniellyn about her famous mother, Birkhead says, "I just want her to know the good stuff. I want her to know she was a good person, a loving person. She loved kids."

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Danniellyn, Howard Stern, Larry Birkhead

TMZ obtained a cover sheet to a fax, sent six days before Anna Nicole Smith died, and it raises questions about Anna Nicole's intent to change her will.

The cover sheet shows the fax was sent on 02/03/2007 at 02:18. The fax contained the existing will of Anna Nicole. It lists a phone number with the initials RAR -- we believe that to be Ron A. Rale, Howard Stern's lawyer. It is unknown to whom the fax was sent.

We know Stern was concerned for Smith's well-being. Anna Nicole Smith's former nanny alleged Smith tried to take her life twice after Daniel died. Under the will, Stern was not protected. Daniel was the only beneficiary with Stern as trustee. As a result, Smith's infant daughter would inherit her mom's property outside the will, and unless Stern could prove he was the father, he would probably lose his claim to serve as trustee.

There's a serious question as to whether Smith was even mentally capable of changing her will. There is evidence she was on methadone, and video several months earlier shows she was almost incapable of functioning. Indeed, even on a segment of "Entertainment Tonight" that aired just days before her death, Smith seemed out of it.

Was Stern in the process of changing Anna's will just before she died? And if so, is this an acknowledgment by Stern that Daniel's death derailed his position?

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern

The body of Anna Nicole Smith was embalmed Saturday at the Broward County Medical Examiner's office, officials said. Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin ruled on Friday the embalming could proceed, and although the move takes the former Playboy Playmate's body one step closer to burial, the fight over where she will be buried has only begun.

Smith's attorney and longtime partner, Howard K. Stern, says Smith wanted to be buried next to her son Daniel, who died in the Bahamas last year. But the reality TV star's estranged mother, Vergie Arthur, wants her buried in her native Texas.

Stern's attorneys say Smith bought a plot in the Bahamas, next to the plot where Daniel is buried. He died in September while visiting his mother, who had just had a baby.

Stern filed an emergency petition this week stating that, under Bahamian law, he should have custody of the body because he is the executor of her estate. The executor is authorized to set up and oversee a trust on behalf of Smith's beneficiaries, and to make investments.

Seidlin on Friday ordered Stern to appear at a Tuesday hearing to take up the burial issue. His lawyer, Krista Barth, argued unsuccessfully to have Stern appear by video phone from the Bahamas, where he is caring for Dannielynn.

A decision about releasing Smith's body for burial isn't likely until next week.

Meanwhile, a court-appointed administrator, Shane Kelley, was to interview the parties and recommend to the judge who should receive Smith's remains.

Seidlin also appointed a guardian, Miami attorney Richard Milstein, to protect Dannielynn's interests.

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

TMZ has obtained tapes of the 911 calls made moments after Anna Nicole Smith was discovered unconscious in her Florida hotel room last Thursday. the tape, officers from the Seminole Police Department can be heard requesting assistance from Hollywood Fire and Rescue.

The tape is pretty amusing. The person requesting help doesn't seem very concerned and the 911 person sounds disinterested also. Odd!

source

Labels: 911 tape, Anna Nicole Smith

A photo of the inside of Anna Nicole Smith's refrigerator taken after she died has surfaced. The refrigerator, which was inside Anna Nicole's bedroom in the Bahamas, contained Methadone (5 mg per 5 ml). The small refrigerator contained cans of Slimfast-- ironic, since Smith was TRIMSPA's spokesperson. Several bottles of TRIMSPA sat right next to the fridge.

The fridge also contained Miracle 2000 (marketed as a nutritional supplement for "today's active lifestyle"), French's Worcestershire Sauce, yogurt and spray butter. It also appears there are vials used for injectable medicine.

The Methadone is ironic since it appears Smith's son Daniel died from a combination of drugs including Methadone. Law enforcement sources in the Bahamas tell TMZ at least one witness has come forward and said Howard K. Stern supplied Daniel with methadone just before he died and flushed the remaining stash down the toilet. That witness is expected to testify at the coroner's inquest into Daniel's death next month.

Now Stern is placed in the same home with another stash of Methadone. The home he shared with Smith. The law enforcement in the Bahamas is aware of the contents of the refrigerator.

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Drugs, Howard K. Stern

Only prescription -- and not illegal drugs -- were found during an investigation of Anna Nicole Smith's room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, this according to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger.

At a press conference outside the Broward County Medical Examiner's office, Tiger revealed that "No evidence has been revealed to suggest that a crime has occurred," and that sworn statements were taken from everyone involved.

While authorities were unable to identify an official cause of death, Broward County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper suggested that the death might be due to either natural causes, medication, or a combination of natural causes and medication.

Perper was able to rule out several speculated causes of death, such as blunt force trauma, gunshot wounds or asphyxia, meaning she did not suffocate to death on her own vomit.

Perper revealed that a small amount of blood was found in Anna's stomach, which he says is a result of the terminal shock Smith experienced before she died. He also said that no pills or tablets were found in her stomach.

Perper also acknowledged the need for Anna's DNA (due to the ongoing paternity dispute) and said a "large sample" was taken.

According to Perper, an official cause of death would be determined in 3 to 5 weeks.

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, RIP

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith

While searching Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room late Thursday afternoon investigators found two key pieces of evidence -- illegal narcotics and prescription medications.

Now, a toxicology report will determine whether one of these drugs or a combination of both substances contributed to her death. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

source

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, Drugs, RIP

Anna Nicole Smith has died in Florida, her attorney, Ron Rale, confirmed to MSNBC Thursday. Sources say Smith was rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., where she was staying with her companion, Howard K. Stern.

Her 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope, was not with them, sources say, but is being cared for in the Bahamas by the mother of Shane Gibson, a high-ranking Bahamian official who is a close friend of Smith's. Before learning of Smith's death, Rale told PEOPLE, "She hasn't been well the past few days, she's had cold and flu symptoms."

She was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital shortly after 2 p.m. ET on Thursday.

source

UPDATE: A hospital witness says that Anna Nicole's body was already covered when she arrived at Memorial Hospital, according to a report on CNN.

According to Seminole, Florida Police Chief Charlie Tiger, Anna's bodyguard administered CPR before paramedics arrived.

David Granoff, Anna's former publicist, told MSNBC that he was "sad, but not shocked" by Anna's death. He added that there was "Just no spark in her anymore."

Tiger also said that Anna's private nurse was with Anna at the hotel. He did not know why a nurse was with her.
source

UPDATE 2:

Labels: Anna Nicole Smith, RIP