Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer and faux boyfriend Howard K. Stern has been arraigned on five additional charges in her death. All of the counts related to him helping her illegally obtain prescription narcotics. He’s pleaded not guilty, along with two of Smith’s doctors, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich.

More charges were filed Wednesday against the lawyer-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, with prosecutors claiming he helped obtain the drugs that killed the former Playboy model. Howard K. Stern was charged with five more felony counts in an amended complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’soffice, bringing the total number of charges against him to 11.

Smith died of a drug overdose on Feb. 8, 2007, in a Florida hotel room. Prosecutors call Stern an aider and abettor of two doctors, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who are charged with improperly prescribing the drugs that killed Smith. All three pleaded not guilty in May to conspiring to illegally provide Smith with controlled substances. They re-entered their pleas Wednesday to the amended complaint. Outside court, Stern’s attorney said the additional charges were filed because prosecutors realized their case against him was weak. “They are using a shotgun approach,” Steve Sadow said. “They are throwing everything at him to see what sticks, and nothing will stick.” Sadow argues his client should not be blamed for Smith’s death because Stern was relying on the doctors to treat the former model, who he said was recovering from an illness at the time of her death.

“Anna Nicole was a very strong-willed woman,” Sadow said. “She took the prescription medications because she thought it was in her best interest to control her pain. A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 5 but prosecutors asked for a delay until Oct. 13. A decision will be made following a scheduling hearing Oct. 1.

[From MSNBC]

There’s also the big issue of what kind of relationships Smith had with her doctors. There’s a photo of her with Kapoor at a gay pride parade and the prosecution is saying they had some sort of inappropriate personal relationship. His lawyer is arguing that’s not the case, since Kapoor is gay. She says they didn’t have a social relationship either, they just both happened to be at the same event. I can buy that. However I’d love to hear the excuses that come out of Dr. Khristine Eroshevich’s lawyer. Look what kind of photos are floating around of Eroshevich and Anna Nicole.

Anna Nicole Smith and her psychiatrist were captured on film in various contorted sexual positions, according to new legal docs.

We reported this morning that the legal docs describe Anna Nicole and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich naked in a bathtub together. Authorities claim the two women had a personal relationship “that crossed the boundaries of professionalism.”

The documents are very specific: “One photo showed both naked women embracing while looking at the camera. In another photo, Dr. Eroshevich is sitting between Anna Nicole Smith’s legs while Anna…was in a more reclined position.

In the third photo, Anna Nicole Smith has her ankles on each of Dr. Eroshevich’s shoulders while they are holding hands and their clasped hands are resting in the area of Anna Nicole Smith’s vagina posing for the camera.”

More than a year ago we saw a photo of Anna Nicole and Dr. Eroshevich, naked in a bathtub with a sex toy nearby. We did not publish the photo.

[From TMZ]

If even TMZ finds themselves in an ethical quandary over a photo, it’s got to be seriously bad. I can’t wait to hear how Eroshevich is going to explain those pictures. There’s no non-salacious and rational explanation I can think of. All of the defendants in this case are creepy, just different levels. Howard Stern is creepy because of his appearance and Svengali-like hold over Smith. But of the two doctors I find Eroshevich the worst. I mean presumably she also functioned as a psychiatrist to Smith. Yet… those photos. This woman must be seriously psychologically disturbed.

Anna Nicole was victimized from all sorts of people. It just goes to show the powerful way drugs can take over your life. In her case they made her so doped up that she agreed to all sorts of things she probably wouldn’t have otherwise. And they ultimately led to her death. Even though it’s been several years coming, hopefully she’ll get some justice soon.

Header photo credit: WENN. Photo below credit: Fame

Today is the big day in the case against Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer/parasite Howard K. Smith and her shady physician Kristine Eroshevich. The duo is being arraigned on felony drug and conspiracy charges. The case claims that both Stern and Eroschevich knowingly provided the late model with an array of pharmaceuticals that ultimately led to her overdose and death. Despite claims by Anna’s father that Stern is the reason she’s dead, the lawyer has maintained his innocence and sources say he refuses to cut a plea agreement. Both defendants are expected to plead not guilty today.

Howard K. Stern won’t cut a deal with the D.A. in the Anna Nicole Smith drug case, and sources tell us the only reason he’ll plead not guilty is because there’s no such thing as a plea of innocent.

Our sources say Stern will show up in court for his scheduled arraignment today, but the matter will likely be continued. But when he does enter a plea it will be a loud “not guilty” to all felony drug and conspiracy charges.

This case is the opposite of Chris Brown’s, where Mark Geragos and the prosecutor are wheeling and dealing. We’re told Stern wants a fight to the end, because he believes he did absolutely nothing wrong.

[From TMZ]

Howard K. Stern has arrived in court to answer to charges that he helped unlawfully supply Anna Nicole Smith with prescription drugs.

He and Smith’s former psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich are due to be arraigned on various felony counts, including prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

All 11 of the prescriptions found in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel room where Smith died of an accidental overdose in 2007 were written by Eroshevich, none in Smith’s name. Eight of the meds were prescribed to Stern.

The duo were charged along with another of Smith’s docs, Sandeep Kapoor, on March 12, shortly after a second raid on Kapoor’s Studio City, Calif., office.

Kapoor’s arraignment is set for May 13.

[From E!]

Howard K. Stern is audacious enough to drag this out into a jury trial, and it sure will be interesting to see what the evidence is against him. The only hard part will be finding 12 jury members who don’t have a predisposition to hate this notorious slimeball. But he’s a lawyer- so he probably already knows that. I definitely believe that Stern and Eroshevich were conspiring to keep Anna – and maybe even her son – incapacitated. But I also think that Anna was partly at fault too. She was way too trusting of Howard and let him have too much power – both in her court case and in her personal life. In the end, she paid the ultimate price for that bad judgment.

File photos of Howard K. Stern on 4/10/2007, two years ago, when the paternity of Dannielyn Birkhead was revealed. Photos: Fame.

Florida officials have decided to re-examine the circumstances surrounding late model Anna Nicole Smith’s death. It was originally ruled an accidental overdose, but because of the new findings, investigators are taking a closer look at the events leading up to her demise. In light of the recent arrests of Howard K. Stern, nefarious hanger-on/lawyer for Anna Nicole Smith, and her personal physicians, Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich, investigators are re-examining evidence in the case.

Following the arrests of Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer and doctors, officials in Florida are reexamining the circumstances surrounding her death.

Howard K. Stern and Drs. Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich were busted earlier this month for allegedly supplying Smith with illicit drugs.

“Our prosecutors have met with representatives of the Los Angeles district attorney’s office and the California Department of Justice and discussed the evidence they have turned up in their investigation,” says Ron Ishoy, the spokesman for Ft. Lauderdale State Attorney Mike Satz.

“We are now investigating that evidence to see where it might lead in relation to Ms. Smith’s death here in Broward County in 2007.”

Legal experts say that Sunshine State prosecutors may reopen the case if they find evidence that the defendants illegally administered drugs to Smith, which ultimately caused her death.

“If what they know is criminal felony conduct lead to the death, then they could be considering whether or not they can bring a secondary murder charge or an involuntary manslaughter charge against any or all of these people,” says Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Alec Rose, who is not directly involved in the case.
It does not matter how much time has gone by since the case closed, explains Rose.

“In most jurisdictions the statute of limitation for murder is unlimited,” he says. “There’s never a time limit to investigate a charge of murder. A criminal charge can usually be brought in any location where any part of the crime took place.”

There was no comment from either the Los Angeles district attorney or California attorney general’s office on the Florida probe.

Stern, Kapoor and Eroshevich were charged with felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict. They are currently free on bail and have proclaimed their innocence.

“These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown said earlier this month.
“There is ample evidence that Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith.”

[From E!]

I’ve never believed that Anna’s death was an accident. Stern certainly had his motives for keeping Anna Nicole incapacitated. The model stood to inherit, at the very least, $88 million from her late tycoon husband prior to her death. Stern helped Anna stake her claim to those millions and many felt that the only reason he was hanging around was to make sure he got his share. In fact, Stern had just acted on Anna’s behalf in court as recently as March 9, asking that the stay on the case be lifted so her estate could start collecting the inheritance. But his request was denied. Then there’s the matter of Anna’s son, Daniel, who died shortly before his mother, also under mysterious circumstances – also ruled an “accidental overdose.” I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Stern was near both of them at the time of their deaths. I wonder what would have happened to Anna’s baby daughter, Dannielyn, if Stern had won his bid for custody of her? Very few infants have “accidental overdoses,” so he would have had to come up with another plan. Hopefully the investigators are more careful with this new investigation – clearly, something happened here that was no accident.

Anna Nicole Smith is pictured at the National Enquirer relaunch event on April 7, 2005. Photo credits: PRPhotos.

Over two years after Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic death, her conniving hanger-on, Howard K. Stern, and two doctors who wrote unnecessary prescriptions for her have been charged by the LAPD with felony conspiracy to supply controlled substances. Both Stern and doctor Sandeep Kapoor, who was famously photographed with Smith on a float in a gay pride parade, were booked last night and released on $20,000 bail each. Psychiatrist Kristine Eroshevich, who described herself as a friend to Smith, may turn herself in on Monday:

Howard K. Stern won’t be shaking the Anna Nicole Smith association anytime soon.
Along with two doctors who wrote prescriptions for Smith, Stern was charged Thursday with obtaining drugs for the late model and reality-TV star, who died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose in 2007.
Stern, psychiatrist Kristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, whose office was raided by Drug Enforcement Agency officials last month at the behest of the California Medical Board, are all facing one count apiece of felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

“These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. “There is ample evidence that Doctor Eroshevich and Doctor Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith.”

Stern and Kapoor, who surrendered to authorities, were both released tonight after posting $20,000 bail apiece. Per Brown’s spokesman, Eroshevich is expected to turn herself in Monday.
Last month, Stern told E! News he did not try to procure drugs for Smith from Kapoor.

“Dr. Kapoor never prescribed medications for Anna Nicole in my name and that is what the medical board will find out,” he said.

Stern and Kapoor were also charged with a single count of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance between June 9, 2004, and Sept. 22, 2006, while Stern and Eroshevich were hit with the same charge for prescriptions doled out between June 5, 2004, and Jan. 26, 2007.

Kapoor had prescribed methadone for Smith when she was pregnant with daughter Dannielynn, and the Rx was made out to “Michelle Chase,” an alias Smith was known to use.

Kapoor and Eroshevich, whose offices were both searched in 2007 as part of an investigation into their practices, were also each charged with one count apiece of obtaining a prescription for opiates by “fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” and of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address.

All 11 medications found in the Florida hotel room where Smith died were prescribed by Eroshevich, eight in Stern’s name, two to someone named Alex Katz and one to Eroshevich herself.
No arraignment date has been scheduled yet.

[From E! Online]

Stern’s behavior after Anna’s death seemed super suspicious to me, but maybe he was doped out of his mind at the time. There were plenty of strange details in this case that suggested that he was somehow guilty, particularly the fact that he disappeared for the window of time in which Anna passed away, claiming he was making arrangements to buy a boat. He’s definitely culpable for helping Anna stay hooked on so many pills and injectable drugs. She had an abscess on her buttock that caused a blood infection and high fever. That, coupled with all the drugs she was on, including the sleeping medication chloral hydrate, ultimately led to her death. Doctors speculated after her death that a visit to the hospital to treat her septicemia properly could have saved her life, as she wouldn’t have been supplied all the additional drugs.

At least some minor amount of justice is coming to this case two years later. Stern could still cash in for millions as he’s the executor of Anna’s estate and stands to make a hefty percentage if the case is ever settled to award her daughter, Daniellynn, access to Anna’s late husband J. Howard Marshall’s 1/2 billion. If Howard gets an estimated 10% as executor (I couldn’t determine the actual percentage he’ll be taking) of 1/2 billion that’s $50 million. That’s a pretty good motivation for murder, or at least for keeping someone so drugged up that you can easily control them.

Header photo credit: WENN. Photo below credit: Fame

Howard K Stern and his dead eyes were on Scientologist Greta Van Sustern’s show on Fox News yesterday. He talked about the night Anna Nicole’s son Daniel died in her hospital room four days after she had baby Danielynn, in September, 2006.

Stern recounted the story in his typical flat affect, showing absolutely no emotion and looking straight ahead almost the entire time.

He said that after Daniel died Anna was inconsolable and refused to believe he was dead. Howard said he took the photo of Anna clutching dead Daniel in the hospital bed for her, and that it was stolen and leaked to the media. He said that he couldn’t take Daniel home with them, but he could take that last photo for Anna. Sustern acknowledged receiving the photo, but said she chose not to run it. I cannot remember seeing that photo.

Daniel’s death was officially ruled an accident earlier this month after an inquest in the Bahamas. He was said to have died of the drug combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro. Coupled with Anna Nicole’s death from a drug overdose on Stern’s watch, it makes him look guilty as hell, but he’s managed to avoid being implicated in either death and it could perhaps be a coincidence.

Lawyer Howard K Stern continues to stay in the mansion in the Bahamas that Anna scammed from an ex boyfriend, developer Ben Thompson. The National Enquirer reported on April 7 that “Stern is living in the place pending the outcome of the ownership battle.” Eviction proceedings were started by Thompson over a year ago.

The inquest into the death of Anna Nicole Smith’s son Daniel is going on in the Bahamas. It’s hard to tell who is the bigger surviving famewhore: Larry Birkhead or Howard K. Stern. Both hangers-on have been called to testify in the investigation and give two very different accounts of Daniel. Larry Birkhead claims that Daniel often dipped into his mother’s formidable stash of prescription drugs, and that Anna herself gave Daniel the drug ecstasy on occasion. Stern, however, says that Daniel was “not that kind of kid.” When Stern was grilled about his motives for taking photographs of Daniel’s dead body, he explained that he wasn’t looking to make money off the photos, but instead took them for Anna’s sake, because she was not able to accept that her son was really gone.

Larry Birkhead said he knew Daniel Smith was sneaking his mom’s methadone and that Anna Nicole Smith gave him Ecstasy to take at home.

Meanwhile, Howard K. Stern was saying, “Huh?”…

“I didn’t believe Daniel died of a drug overdose at all,” Stern said. “Even after the toxicology report came back, I thought that was some kind of setup or something. He wasn’t that kind of kid.”

Smith was found to have died of a toxic combination of methadone, antidepressants and sleeping pills. His passing was originally deemed “suspicious” by the coroner who performed his autopsy. The inquest, which finally got under way in November after a year of postponements, was held to formally determine what killed Daniel and whether any criminal charges should be filed.

The magistrate will likely hand the case over to the seven-member jury on Thursday…

“Daniel said to me, ‘I don’t know why I’m so tired,’ ” Stern testified. “I didn’t think anything of it. I wish I had.”

Stern copped to taking a picture of Daniel’s body after he died, but adamantly denied his intention was to profit from the morbid shot, as the son-in-law of one of Smith’s exes testified earlier.

Smith, who was beside herself with grief and was having trouble accepting Daniel was really dead, requested he take the picture, Stern said. “I did that for her, and I would do it again.”

[From E!Online]

I think this inquest is a giant waste of time. Nobody in this case is going to tell the truth, and the one person who really wanted to know what happened to Daniel– his mother– is dead. As for all the new details about Anna and her son’s drug use, it’s sad, but at this point, it’s nobody’s business. They’re both dead; and nothing is going to be gained by further dragging them through the mud. It just seems like more of an excuse for Larry Birkhead and Howard Stern to be on camera.

Note by Celebitchy: I think there was some funny business in Daniel’s death and would like to see Howard K Stern answer some tough questions about it. It seems suspicious to me that Birkhead is saying Daniel pilfered Anna’s drugs while Stern is saying the opposite, like they planned it together to make it seem believable. The coroner found that Daniel injested so much methadone that he must have be trying to kill himself. Why would he do that when his baby sister was just born? It doesn’t make sense.

Howard K Stern and Larry Birkhead are shown below on April 10, 2007 after a paternity hearing that announced that Birkhead was Dannielynn’s father.

Way back in 2004, Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K Stern came up with an idea for a show called “Celebrities Strike Back.” The treatment, which was submitted to E! and registered with the Writer’s Guild, had Anna Nicole and other celebs turning the tables on the paparazzi with staged events to see if the media would pick up the stories. Sound a little familiar? Well it’s pretty darn close to Ashton Kutcher’s new show for E! called “Pop Fiction.” In it, celebs… turn the tables on the paparazzi and media to see if they’ll pick up the stories. Like when we all started writing about Paris Hilton wandering around L.A. with some crazed guru. Who was revealed to be an actor after a very short period of time – but we all thought the joke was on Paris, not us. Boy that sounds freakishly similar.

Ashton’s show sounds like a carbon of Anna’s treatment — “…what happens if Anna Nicole Smith and other celebrities turn the tables and capitalize off of the overzealous media? What if the next big supposed scandal is not a scandal at all? What if everything is staged, but the media (and the public) don’t know it?” It continues, Anna Nicole and other celebrity guests take aim at the media and push all the limits.”

That’s Ashton Kutcher’s show and we’re told Howard K. has already threatened suit. What is really pissing him off is that he and Anna had multiple meetings with E!. Two months ago, Stern spoke with E! again on behalf of the estate and the network seemed intrigued by making Larry Birkhead the celeb to do the first prank and then host the show. Ultimately Jay James said it just wouldn’t work. Oh really?

[From TMZ]

I never like to give Howard K Stern credit for anything if I can, but it sure seems like he could have a pretty legitimate lawsuit on his hands. This show seems pretty much up Ashton Kutcher’s alley, and it’s entirely possible that he or someone at his production company came up with the idea without ever knowing about Smith and Stern’s show. It’s also possible that E! liked the idea but didn’t like Anna for the project, and once she passed away brought the idea to Kutcher. Either way, the common denominator is E! They knew about Anna’s show and are airing Ashton’s show. They’ve made a ton of money off her in the last few years, and should have been more respectful.

Larry Birkhead brought his 17 month-old daughter, Dannielynn, to the grave site of her mother, the infamous departed Anna Nicole Smith, in the Bahamas yesterday for the first anniversary of her death. He just happened to dress the tot in her finest and bring along a television crew. The touching moment when Dannielynn whispered “momma” and laid a pink toy on the grave of the mother she’ll only know from videos and photos was captured for the benefit of the curious masses and will be broadcast on Entertainment Tonight.

February 5, 2008 (Los Angeles, CA)– ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’s JANN CARL was exclusively with Larry Birkhead and daughter Dannielynn this week in Nassau, Bahamas as the 17-month-old made her first trip back to visit her mother and brother’s graves, one year after her mother’s sudden death.

In an a multi-part interview to begin airing on Wednesday, February 6th, Birkhead says the visit is difficult for him, but he arranged it for his daughter, “It’s tough. Even though she doesn’t understand, it was important for us to come. One day I can tell her that we went to visit her mom.” When they arrived at the unmarked gravesites, Dannielynn placed a pink toy turtle on Anna Nicole’s plot and whispered, “mama.”

On why the graves of Anna Nicole and Daniel are without tombstones, Birkhead says, “A rough draft came back with a sketch of a picture I didn’t care for. I could just hear her hitting me over the head saying, ‘Why did you let that picture go down!?’” Birkhead reveals that the design of the headstone will be “so grand and big. It’s going to encompass Daniel’s stone too.”
When asked how he feels about making the journey from Los Angeles to Nassau, Birkhead speaks candidly, “I don’t like the fact that they’re here, I never did. I know that Daniel didn’t want to be here and I know that his mother was only here because of what was going on between us with the paternity question. To me it feels really odd.” On if he has considered moving the graves, he says, “I’m going to leave the decision to Dannielynn when she’s older. It would probably be very hard, if not impossible to take both of them and I definitely don’t want to separate them.”

In an effort to keep Anna’s memory alive for their daughter, Birkhead tells ET, “I keep a lot of memories around. I quiz her and she knows Mama. I say, ‘Where’s Mama?’ and she’ll give Mama a kiss on the picture.”

[ET press release via Gossip Rocks]

What I want to know is – how are they going to spread this out into a multi-part interview? She’s dead, it’s hard, your daughter doesn’t understand, end of story. I mean you feel for people’s pain but what else is there to say?

Part of me doesn’t want to hate on Birkhead. The guy is a former paparazzo who really does care about his daughter and fought hard to win custody of her. He’s also obviously not adverse to using his daughter to make a buck and he’s probably running low on cash now that his deals are drying up and he has all those legal bills he’s contesting. (It seemed like he really got fleeced by that lawyer Debra Opri, and he’s probably paying someone a lot of money to fight that case. He also probably has to pay for those grand gravestones he’s ordering for Anna Nicole and Daniel.)

Birkhead has told The NY Daily News that he plans to sue over yet another book about Anna Nicole, “Anna Nicole Smith: Portrait of an Icon,” which is currently available for download for $15. The book was written by a fashion designer for Anna Nicole and his partner. The designer alleges that he met Birkhead at a camp for HIV positive youth and that he was quite open about his preference for men.

Birkhead also said that author Rita Cosby would be sued for a book about Anna Nicole that came out last year called “Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death” which claimed that Birkhead and creepy Anna hanger-on Howard K Stern were gay lovers. It was Stern who ended up suing Cosby to the tune of $60 million.

The inquest into Anna’s son Daniel’s death is underway. The coroner testified that 20 year-old Daniel’s death a year and a half ago couldn’t have been an accident, which suggests murder or suicide. He had too much methadone in his system for it to have not been intentional. Many people suspect Anna’s lawyer, Howard K Stern, had a hand in Daniel’s untimely demise. Anna’s death less than six months later was ruled an accidental overdose.

As for whether it’s news that Dannielynn went to her mom’s grave before she’s even two, I doubt it. Take some sweet pictures and do the interview at home or go to the park and play. Go to Disneyworld and get all your meals, admission and hotel stay comped while trying to score some cash for a cross-promotional deal. The kid won’t remember that either, but at least it will be fun for her.

The inquest into the death of Anna Nicole Smith’s son Daniel has resumed. Though he died sixteen months ago, the inquest has been plagued by delays. The essential point is to determine how Daniel Smith died and if anyone was responsible for his death. His autopsy blamed a fatal combination of prescription drugs. However the inquest’s purpose is to figure out if it was accidental, suicidal, or if someone killed Daniel. A lot of suspicion has fallen on creepy Howard K. Stern, Anna’s “partner” – though it seems that they were likely never romantically involved. After Anna died last spring, the inquest was put on hold again. However they’ve been working at a steady pace the last few days, and have taken testimony from several of Anna’s friends.

Several of Anna’s associates have described Daniel as a boy who was painfully shy and somewhat embarrassed by his mother.

Ford Shelley, the son-in-law of G. Ben Thompson, a former boyfriend of the reality star and the developer who owned the Nassau home Smith and Howard K. Stern resided in the months leading up to her death, told the Coroner’s Court that the 20-year-old boy was a “brilliant” child who had for years been “living in a shell” as a result of his mother’s overshadowing fame and larger-than-life public persona.

“He wanted to break free,” Shelley said. “He loved his mother but didn’t want to be known as her son.”

[From E!]

Shelly denied that Daniel could have had a drug problem, noting that he “couldn’t even hold his liquor” and was “afraid of his own shadow.” Shelly noted that after Daniel died, he saw Howard K Stern find two white pills in the pockets of a pair of Daniel’s pants – which Stern quickly flushed down the toilet. Shelly said that he knew Daniel had recently broken up with his girlfriend and had a history of serious depression, but that he did not think he was suicidal. However the director of the medical examiner’s office in Miami-Dade County (where Daniel’s toxicology tests were performed) said it was likely an “intentional ingestion” due to the sheer quantity of drugs.

While eight different drugs, a combination of antidepressants and stimulants, were found in Daniel’s body at the time of his death, “clearly the methadone was the key in understanding this death. But for the methadone, he would not have died.”

[Dr. William Lee] Hern further claimed that, while he could not know for certain whether he did so deliberately or unintentionally, the large amount of drugs taken by Daniel in such a short amount of time—a onetime dosage of four pills rather than one, possibly diluted in a drink—lent itself to “a high degree of probability” that the overdose of drugs was “an intentional ingestion.”

“Based on the amount in the stomach, it was not an attempt to get high,” he said. “It was enough to kill him, with some left over unabsorbed. If what was in his blood hadn’t killed him, the remainder would have continued its toxic effect.”

[From E!]

I never though Daniel’s death was accidental, it was just a matter of speculating whether he killed himself or Howard K Stern did it. Whenever I considered the possibility of suicide, I couldn’t help but think about the timing. When you’re 20 years old, an only child, and admittedly very close to your needy mother, it must be incredibly bizarre for her to suddenly have a brand new baby girl and be shaking up with an evil guy. I thought Daniel might have been suicidal depressed because he perhaps thought he didn’t matter to his mother as much as he used to. I would think a lot of things were changing in his life, and that’d have to be a shock to the system. It never occurred to me that he obviously had his own life and own issues, and breaking up with a girlfriend can be really hard – especially when you’re just 20 years old. It can feel like the world is ending.

The issue of the methadone still remains incredibly suspicious, considering it played a role in Anna’s death a few months later. Being a lawyer, you’d think that if Howard K Stern were involved in some way, he’d be smart enough not to use methadone twice. But he’s never struck me as a particularly intelligent fellow, at least to hear him speak in interviews. So at this point we know that Daniel Smith’s death was caused by an “intentional ingestion” of drugs. What remains to be ruled is whether foul play was involved.

Since it’s been a little over a month since we gave you an update on the Anna Nicole case, I thought it was time for a rundown. The inquest into the death of her son Daniel, 20, got under way last week. It had been postponed several times due to the legal wranglings of Howard K. Stern … and a hurricane, so they’re not all his fault. It took over a year for the inquest to actually begin. So far there haven’t been any giant revelations that make a person say a-ha, but there have been a lot of interesting tidbits. For instance, before he died, Daniel seemed fine to all the hospital personnel who came across him. Though several of them did note that they found Daniel asleep with Anna Nicole in her bed, which they found unusual.

On the second day of an inquest into the Sept. 10, 2006, death of Daniel Smith, nursing assistant Francis Woodside said the young man was sleeping in the same bed as his mother, while her attorney and partner Howard K. Stern slept in the other, about 3 hours and 40 minutes before a hospital-wide alarm that he had been found unconscious.

Woodside noted nothing unusual in the room except the sleeping arrangements. “We don’t usually have that happen, patients sleeping in the bed with relatives,” she told a jury that will decide the official cause of death and whether authorities should pursue any criminal charges.

[From the Associated Press]

That’s a little weird. Not sure what to make of it. Anna always seemed to have some pretty serious boundary issues. A part of me thinks that sounds pretty unhealthy, but the other part of me thinks it’s probably not that significant – Anna Nicole certainly did weirder things.

Another matter of note were some pills that were likely accidentally dropped by Howard K Stern. Considering a lot of people think he had something to do with Daniel’s death, it might end up being relevant.

Nurse Nadine Carey testified Tuesday that she found two round tablets on the bed that hospital employees previously said was occupied by Stern. She did not say what kind of pills they were, only that they were turned over to senior nursing staff.

Police have said there is no evidence of homicide in Daniel Smith’s death and an autopsy found the likely cause was a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants.

[From the Associated Press]

Logically I doubt that there will be much of a conclusion from the inquest or that anyone will ever know for sure if someone else [Howard K Stern cough cough] had something to do with Daniel’s death. Though everything in Anna Nicole Smith’s life was so dramatic and “movie of the week” –like that you can’t help but expect some dramatic conclusion involving Howard breaking down and confessing, then throwing himself into traffic or something. Not that I’m suggesting that.

Note by Celebitchy: In March there was a story in the National Enquirer that claimed that Daniel’s autopsy results were faked and the numbers were fudged to make it look like his death was the result of a drug interaction. According to the Enquirer, the level of methadone in his system was ten times the amount reported on the official toxicology report, pointing to death by murder or suicide.