No evidence of foul play in Smith’s death

updated 1:26 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2007

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Prescription drugs were found in Anna Nicole Smith’s hotel room, but there were no pills in her stomach, and investigators said Friday they are awaiting tests that would tell whether the former centerfold died of an overdose, as some close to her suspect.

Dr. Joshua Perper, the Broward County medical examiner, said no illegal drugs were found in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. He would not identify the prescription drugs.

But CNN quoted an unidentified law enforcement source as saying investigators found a large amount of prescription medicine, including Valium and antibiotics, and over-the-counter cold and flu medication.

Star magazine also is reporting that Smith's Florida hotel room was like "walking into a pharmacist's shop" and that prescription medication found at the scene included the stimulant Provigil, the antidepressant Xanax, the powerful pain reliever Vicodin, and the morphine-like pain reliever Methadone.

Perper said there were no pills in Smith’s stomach and no other immediate indication of an overdose, but officials “do not exclude any kind of contribution of medication to the death.”

Describing signs of inflammation in Smith’s heart, Perper said he saw “something which looks a little bit unusual,” but added, “It may be nothing.”

NBC VIDEO Who will get Smith's money? Feb. 10: Anna Nicole Smith's ex-husband left behind a $1.6 billion fortune. After her death, who will get the money? MSNBC

He said it would take three to five weeks to conclude the investigation.

Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said there was no indication Smith was the victim of a crime, and Perper said the autopy was able to exclude any types of physical injury such as blows to the body or asphyxiation.

“There are a number of possibilities” as to the cause of death, Perper said, including natural causes, a drug reaction or some combination.

Smith apparently had been sick for several days with some kind of stomach flu, Perper said.

Authorities planned to interview nurses and examine medical records before settling on a cause of death, Perper said.

On Thursday, a private nurse found Smith unconscious in her room and called 911. Smith was declared dead at a hospital. She was 39.

Smith's mother blamed drugs for the former Playboy playmate’s sudden death.

'Too drugged up'
“I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny (Smith’s late son),” her mother, Vergie Arthur, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday. “I tried to warn her about drugs and the people that she hung around with. She didn’t listen.”

“She was too drugged up,” Arthur said. “By the last interview I saw of her, she was so wasted.”

Video: Anna Nicole Smith Birkhead leaves Bahamas with Dannielynn May 1: In this exclusive video, Larry Birkhead boards an airplane in the Bahamas with his daughter, Dannielynn, in tow. Dannielynn can leave Bahamas Court: Birkhead can leave Bahamas with baby Anna Nicole's half-sister's tell-all book Birkhead talks to MSNBC Anna Nicole: Paternity solved Make room for Daddy Stern: 'I’m very disappointed'

Smith’s attorney, Ron Rale, said the one-time reality TV star had been ill for several days with a fever and was still depressed over the death five months ago of her 20-year-old son from what a private medical examiner determined was a combination of methadone and two antidepressants.

The birth certificate lists Dannielynn’s father as attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith’s most recent companion, who Rale said was with Smith at the hotel and was too choked up to talk when he called Rale with the news. Smith’s ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead is waging a legal challenge, saying he is the father.

At a hearing Friday in Los Angeles, a judge declined Birkhead’s attorney’s request to order an immediate DNA sample be taken from Smith’s body. The judge ordered the body be retained, though, until a hearing on Feb. 20, attorney Debra Opri said.

Opri said the DNA is needed to connect Smith with Dannielynn “so that no one can switch the babies.”

She also asked the judge to take jurisdiction over the child until her paternity is established. “Nothing was granted. Nothing was denied,” she said.

Rale, Smith’s attorney, said it was “despicable that we would have an emergency notice and appear right now.”

The baby was being cared for in the Bahamas by the mother of Shane Gibson, the Bahamian immigration minister who is a close friend of Smith’s, People magazine reported on its Web site, citing unidentified sources.

A visibly shaken Gibson declined comment as he was leaving his office Thursday night, and he has not responded to several message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.