Who Gets the Body? Who Gets the Baby? Two Lovers and a Mom to Duke It Out Over Anna Nicole Smith Tuesday
Here on the sunny Left Coast, in Hollywood, Florida, where Anna Nicole Smith came to play, then died mysteriously before picking up her new boat…it’s now a waiting game.
The Broward medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper is waiting for results of toxicology tests on his most beautiful cadaver, America’s new princess of fame, Anna Nicole, aka Vicki Lynn Marshal, who died after falling unconscious Feb. 9 at the Hardrock Hotel on the Seminole Reservation.
The next day, the pathologist did an autopsy, and predicted it would be three to five weeks before he’d have findings back. There were no obvious signs of foul play, and he’s said Howard K. Stern and her close friends were helpful in pinpointing previous conditions and other factors that lead him to more narrowly focus his examination.
So, we could know something as early as the end of next week if investigators agree after searching for clues on her two laptops and an external hard drive they received from South Carolina authorities. Law enforcement officials tell me a relative of the Myrtle Beach developer took them from the house, turned them into the Horry County sheriff who handed them over to Florida investigators last week.
In the meantime, we wait for Judge Larry Seidlin who Tuesday kicks off his hearing over who is the legal next of kin entitled to bury the former Playboy centerfold. She was finally embalmed Saturday after officials found a funeral home willing to sign a non- disclosure agreement.
Now comes the crossroads: will she go home to Texas with her mother, or, to the Bahamas with Howard K. Stern, the long-time boyfriend who wants to bury her next to her son, Daniel, who died from a toxic mix of anti depressants and methadone.
So we wait…and keep our eyes peeled for who’s coming to town.
Some figure no decision will be reached Tuesday by colorful Judge Larry (“this body belongs to me”) Seidlin. Too many competing parties and issues; that’s why he appointed an adminstrative guardian to help him, along with pop gd .
Not only will Vergie Arthur, her mother, be facing off against Stern to claim the body, there’s another professed biodad in town, Larry Birkhead. He’s the photographer who had a fling with our princess of fame, and wants Stern to take a paternity test. He aims to be in court as well to testify.
We hear he was walking around Fort Lauderdale today, in the hot, hot, hot Hollywood sun, waiting.
He doesn’t want the body, just DNA tests to prove he’s got rights to help raise a baby named Dannielynn…and maybe a piece of an estate worth upwards of a half billion dollars. Anna Nicole left it all to her dead son in a will signed in 2001, with Howard as the executor. That’s expected to be challenged, turning into perhaps the Probate of the Century. “They’re going to ask, was she capable of signing that will, her state of mind, if she was on drugs…and should Howard be executor of a will he’ stands to collect on as an administrator.
Don’t be surprised if Judge Larry assumes jurisdiction over it all and tries to make the parties come to terms. He tried Friday in a settlement conference in chambers, but it didn’t work. Now tempers are white hot, nerves are frayed, and bad blood and big money are getting ready for a showdown.
February 21st, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Art happy to see you being a commentator on Nancy Grace. I just love her show. I have been watching the Anna Nicole court room drama everyday. It is better than a soap opera. I hope the judge let her mom have Anna’s body and also moved Daniel with Anna. I Think Anna was a beautiful woman and was hanging with the wrong people. They hooked her on Drugs. Howard should be ashamed of himself!
March 24th, 2007 at 5:11 am
This sadly is not better than a soap opera.
This is real.