The coroner is scheduled to announce the cause of death for Anna Nicole Smith this morning at 10:30 a.m. EST. The National Enquirer and Star Magazine claim to have worked together to unearth insider information which suggests that Anna died of a fatal dose of the sleeping medication choral hydrate, which was complicated by a serious blood infection that was improperly treated. If the sleeping medication did not kill her, they say, the sepsis would have.

Commentors point out that Marilyn Monroe also died of a fatal dose of the same medication in combination with the anticonvulsant phenobarbital. (Thanks sabine and xiaoecho.) Some say that The Enquirer and Star don’t exactly have a high standard of journalism and that we’ll have to wait until the official cause is announced.

Anna told FHM in an interview in 2004 that she thought she was going to die at 37 like Marilyn Monroe. She was 39 when she died, and it’s a mighty coincidence that the same old sleeping medication may be behind her death.

Now The National Enquirer says that video footage inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel where Anna died shows a shadowy figure enter her room and quietly leave at a critical point in the morning before her death when her nurse and bodyguard were away.

The coroner’s announcement today is not going to bring closure to this case as it will just explain what caused Anna’s death, not what preceded it. If she was murdered, the culprit was probably clever enough to make it seem accidental.

Howard K. Stern is the prime suspect, of course. The nurse says she ran into Howard on the elevator when she came back around noon, and from her description it sounds like he was coming down from Anna’s suite. She said Howard went back up with her to the suite, but then left shortly afterwards.

In a stunning new break in the investigation into Anna Nicole Smith’s death, police have discovered video footage of a shadowy figure slipping into her hotel room hours before she died.

And they believe the video – captured on sixth-floor surveillance cameras at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. – could unmask a killer, The Enquirer has learned exclusively…

The video image now being scrutinized by police is believed to have been captured in the morning of the day Anna died. The man on the video could have staged her death, making it appear as if she had overdosed. Police do not believe the coroner can help them determine if another person was involved in Anna Nicole’s overdose.

Tasma “Taz” Brighthaupt, the nurse who was caring for [Anna], left Anna’s suite with her husband [Anna’s bodyguard] to pick up friends at the local airport the morning of ANna’s death.

She told police she believes Anna was sleeping when they left.

The couple returned around noon. As the doors of the hotel elevator opened, they were greeted by Anna’s friend and lawyer Howard K. Stern, who returned to the sixth-floor suite with them.

Soon after, Howard and Mo [the bodyguard and nurse’s husband] left again while Taz stayed behind to tend to Anna.

At 1:30 p.m., Taz realized something was terribly wrong with Anna. Minutes later, a 911 call summounded paramedics.

[From The National Enquirer print edition, April 2, 2007]

This account is similar to the timeline of events on the morning of Anna’s death that was covered by TMZ. Howard was said to have run into the nurse on the elevator and then to have returned to the suite briefly, where he was seen pacing around and talking on his cell phone. He left right after noon. It is unknown where he was from 12:00 to 1:30, and the bodyguard says this is quite suspect, because Howard usually checked up on Anna constantly.

People distrust the Enquirer on principle, but they have had scoops that are proven correct in high-profile celebrity crime cases. They do make up stories based on psychological profiles, but I have not caught them inventing facts like this and I believe this story. It could just be a video of Howard entering the suite and leaving, but if he was there and bolted when other people were on the scene it seems like he has something to hide.