The death of a centerfold

As the year began, Anna Nicole Smith was keeping—for her—a low profile in the Bahamas with her baby Dannielynn and her ex-lawyer, turned constant companion, Howard K. Stern.

Alex Goen CEO of Trim Spa, is a business associate and close friend of them both. He said Anna Nicole was still trying to come to terms with the loss of her son.

Alex Goen, Trim Spa CEO: Typically, there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t have at least one episode in which—she was—crying for maybe an hour to three or four hours. 

Anna Nicole and Stern’s recent visit to Florida was supposed to be for pleasure. They were closing the deal on a 39-foot powerboat. The papers were signed, the boat cruising back to the Bahamas.

There was no clue on Thursday that a very public life was about to meet an equally public end.

That afternoon at 1:38 p.m., a private nurse traveling with Anna Nicole called the front desk at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel to report finding Anna Nicole unconscious.

Moments after that SOS call, Anna Nicole’s bodyguard, the husband of the private nurse and a paramedic himself—reached the scene and attempted to revive her. EMTs arrived at the hotel just after 2 p.m.

Anna Nicole was taken by ambulance to a trauma center where she was pronounced dead at 2:49 pm.

Goen, who spoke to Stern this morning, says Anna Nicole’s companion is devastated:

Goen: First 12 hours or so, he was sobbing—non-stop, having difficulty catching his breath.  I mean, and understand he lost his wife.  He lost someone that he catered to for the last, almost 15 years of his life.

As word of Anna Nicole’s death spread, questions swirled: Could it have been an accidental drug overdose? Suicide?  Or foul play? After the life she’d lived, even those who’d known her the longest, wondered.

Gail Harrison, Anna Nicole’s cousin: I’m shocked about her death but I’m not surprised. She has battled so much lately, I mean she, I’m not sure if she committed suicide. I don’t think we’ll know until all the tests are in. But I do know she was so distraught that maybe and at one point, she didn’t want to be around… or I don’t know.

By mid-day Friday, there were still more questions than answers. Star magazine reported that an unnamed source had seen prescription medicine in Anna Nicole’s room.

Bonnie Fuller, executive editor, Star magazine: The information that we have comes from somebody who actually was in the hotel room and saw it after she was removed.

At least one aspect of the case seemed closed.

Chief Charlie Tiger, Chief of Seminole Police Department:  No evidence has been revealed to indicate a crime has been committed. We found no illegal drugs only prescription medicines.

The medical examiner did report that no significant quantities of prescription drugs were found in her stomach. But it could be three to five weeks before he had conclusive results from the toxicology tests.  

And there will be much more to sort out in the weeks to come, beginning with the fate of her 5-month-old daughter.

In Los Angeles on Friday, ex-boy friend Larry Birkhead went to court seeking an immediate DNA test on Anna Nicole’s body.

His attorney, Debra Opri.

Debra Opri: Larry is the father of Dannielynn and we need that DNA test to prove it, and they won’t give it to us.  And, we will keep fighting in court until we get it. 

The judge declined to mandate the DNA test but did order that Anna Nicole’s body be preserved until a hearing February 20^th.

Natalie Morales, NBC News: Why is her DNA even in question here?  Why do they need a sample of her DNA?

Susan Filan, NBC legal analyst: Well, in a typical paternity case, and there’s nothing typical about this case, you do it with a triad, mom dad and baby.  That’s just the way it’s done, standard operating procedure. But in a case like this, when there’s potentially a half a billion dollars at stake, you never want a claim of switched babies at birth by accident in the hospital. And when this child is 15 someone says, you know, “that’s not really Anna Nicole’s baby, I’m Anna Nicole’s baby.”

And if the father is neither Howard K. Stern, nor Larry Birkhead, yesterday Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband number 8, Prince Frederick Von Anhalt, announced he’d had a decade long affair with Anna Nicole and was the baby’s father. But even he wasn’t sure.

Frederick Von Anhalt: I’m sure there are other men, there could be easily 20-30 men.

And the question on everyone’s mind today: Where is baby Dannielynn? 

Goen says Stern took action after a break-in last night at Anna Nicole’s home in the Bahamas. 

Goen: Thank God Howard was very clever. In fact, when Anna passed, he recognized that Dannielynn could be somewhat unsafe in the house, even though she was in very good care—told the people watching the baby—who are very close friends of Howard’s—actually family members—to take the baby to an undisclosed location for safety… He made sure Dannielynn Hope was completely secure.

So for now, Goen says the baby is safe and Anna Nicole’s will is safe in Stern’s hands.  

As for the $400 million dollar question: Will her estate ever get a hold of the money, and if so, who are the heirs?  It’s likely they’ll be coming out of the woodwork.

But for a very small child in the Bahamas, it’s about more than money and paternity and the law.

Morales: What are we left with of Anna Nicole? 

Filan: What’s left is a 5-month-old baby, who’s got no mother. This baby will never feel it’s mom’s kiss, will never feel its mom’s arms around her, doesn’t know who her father is, doesn’t know what her fate is.

In the end, it was the remains of little Vicki Lynn Hogan, all grown up, that were removed from that Florida hotel room. Death imitating art like some country western chorus to “Goodbye Norma Jean.”

J.D. Heyman, People Magazine:  She really became, sadly, at the end of her life, sort of a caricature of herself.  Not just a caricature of Marilyn Monroe, but a caricature of Anna Nicole Smith. Sort of a copy of a copy of a copy.  And I think that was deeply tragic.

Yet, whatever her shortcomings, just this one last time, we couldn’t take our eyes off Anna Nicole Smith.

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