The battle for her body

Hoda Kotb Correspondent • Profile

In life she was a sensation: Anna Nicole Smith was teenaged bride turned pin-up girl, model-turned-reality TV star and would-be heiress. 

In death, she's become a phenomenon, a woman whose story grows more unbelievable at every turn.

When she passed away suddenly two weeks ago, she took clear instructions about her burial wishes with her. This week, three parties were duking it out in a Florida courtroom, battling over where her body will be laid to rest. 

In one corner is her estranged mother, Virgie Arthur.

In another, her longtime companion and attorney Howard K. Stern. 

In another still, Richard Milstein, the court-appointed attorney for Anna Nicole’s infant daughter Dannielynn.

The battle played out in front of a judge, one Larry Seidlin of Broward County, Florida.

Hoda Kotb, Dateline correspondent: This hearing was supposed to be about one solitary issue.  What was it supposed to be about?

Gary Casimir, former prosecutor: Well, it was supposed to be about who should have control over where the body should be buried.

Gary Casimir is a former prosecutor with 15 years trial experience. 

Simple question maybe, but from the first moments of the hearing, it was clear this would be no ordinary set of proceedings—and no ordinary judge.

Dan Abrams, NBC Chief Legal Correspondent: At first, you wondered, is this just a judge sitting with lawyers, just being a little bit casual, a little bit folksy? But once the witnesses come in he’ll make sure that the decorum of the courtroom is reestablished? No, didn’t happen.

At noon on Tuesday, the first major contender, Howard K. Stern took the stand.

Right from the start, the judge seemed to be interested in the intimate details of Anna Nicole’s life, in this case her relationship with Stern.

Stern and his lawyer argued that Anna should be buried in the Bahamas next to her son Daniel.

Howard K. Stern (in court): Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna’s life.  From the time I met her, everything that she was doing  was for Daniel. From the day Daniel died, Anna honestly was never the same. I would say that  physically she died last week but in a lot of ways emotionally she died when Daniel died.

Stern testified that for years, Anna had worried about where she would be buried and conceded the Bahamas was not always her first choice.

Stern: Anna in a lot of ways always thought she was going to die young and she said that she thought she was going to be like Marilyn Monroe. Initially, Anna had always wanted to be buried near Marilyn Monroe.

Stern said after much struggling, Anna decided to bury Daniel in the Bahamas, and bought a plot there for two.

Stern: Anna was very firm that the Bahamas was her home, it’s where she wanted to raise Dannielynn and she wanted Daniel to be near her.

One of the oddest moments of the day came when the court received a call from the medical examiner, put on speaker phone by the judge and he had some jarring news. 

Medical Examiner:  [I] checked the condition of the body and they observed unfortunate deterioration much faster than they expected.

Michelle Kosinski, NBC correspondent in Florida: It was shocking, because you would see the images of Anna Nicole Smith, this beautifully young woman who—all the cameras are on her.  And now what everyone’s arguing over is a lifeless person.  And it was both sad and disturbing.

As the day progressed, tempers flared over a videotape Howard K. Stern and his attorneys wanted to show in court—an interview Anna gave to Entertainment Tonight, which Stern said proved how much Anna hated her mother.

Anna’s mother’s attorney, nicknamed "Texas" by the judge, fought to keep it out. 

Virgie Arthur, mother of Anna Nicole Smith's attorney: Even if it’s authentic, if it’s been spliced, diced, you know the news media does not run everything they take a tape of. They edited like a movie in Hollywood.

Birkhead attorney: Also, if there tapes come in, we have tapes.  Does that mean our tapes come in?

Debra Opri, another Birkhead attorney: It’s gotta be all or nothing your honor.

Judge Seidlin: There’s nothing hidden here. You see what I see. I’m going to decide how much of the tape I’m going to watch. But whatever I watch you’ll watch. I appreciate your thoughts though.

In the end, the judge allowed it, and the result was unnerving. 

Anna Nicole Smith (Entertainment Tonight footage): What has she done to me? You wanna hear my child life?  You wanna hear all the things she did to me?  That’s my mother. That’s my mom. What do you want to say to her? I want to say to her, how dare you .... b**tch. How dare you.

Abrams: I think that tape was very important. I think the fact that Anna Nicole clearly did not have a great relationship with her mother made the judge very reluctant to allow the mother to decide where she gets buried.

Sitting stoically while her daughter accused her of abuse, Virgie Arthur knew her turn to respond to the tapes and to Howard K. Stern would come soon.

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