The bubbly bedroom farce that had been Professional Blonde Bombshell Anna Nicole Smith's life thus far, took a series of surreal, ultimately tragic turns over the last week.
Thursday, September 7, she joyfully announced the arrival of a "healthy 6 pound, 9 ounce baby girl," born at Doctor's Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, only to have her son, Daniel Wayne Smith, 20, die suddenly and mysteriously in his sleep while visiting her in her hosptial room three days later.
Today, the coroner termed Smith's death "suspicious," and Reginald Ferguson, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamian Police Force, heightened the mystery surrounding the tragedy by stating that a third person, who was not a member of the hospital staff, was in the room when the young man died.
Her Majesty's Coroner Linda P. Virgill added, "I can confirm that there was definitely a third person in the room at the time of death and I do know who that person is, but I am unwilling to reveal that information at this time for various reasons," she said cryptically.
Virgill said authorities believe they know what killed Smith, but she left that hanging also. She did indicate there was no sign of physical injury to Smith, and police spokesman Ferguson said no drug paraphernalia or traces of illegal drugs were found on Daniel Smith, nor in or near the hospital room.
The coroner scheduled a public formal inquest for the week of Oct. 23, and indicated autopsy and toxicology reports will not released until then. "It would not be fair to the Bahamian public simply because we need to take our jurors from that pool and you do not wish to contaminate them," she said.
An announcement on Anna Nicole's site said she is "absolutely devastated by the loss of her son. He was her pride and joy and an amazing human being." Diet supplement company TRIMSPA's CEO Alex Goen, for whom Smith has been a spokesperson since 2003 — losing a reported 80 pounds in the process — said in a statement that Daniel "was a great kid, quiet and unassuming, and very bright. When Daniel walked into a room, Anna would literally light up - he was the apple of her eye. It’s just an incredibly sad time."
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Cletus
I wonder if she murdered her son so she could have the fairytale life/family? It's not like she hasn't displayed her selfishness in the past. Of course I never got the impression that she and her son were really close. What better way to send a message to dear old mom than to kill yourself during such a joyous event. I had a cousin that did that.
It isn't hard to guess that the baby's father was the 3rd person in the room. It certainly isn't likely to have been the post man. Oh wait... we're talking about ANS. Maybe it was the postman?
2 - Eric Olsen
whoa Cletus, I hope it's nothing THAT insane
3 - Carol
Dispite the lifestyle this woman selected, she is successful at it. Anna Nicole loved her son dearly. There is no way to hide such a love as that of a mother for her child. Please be considerate of your attacks against the mother's love. My guess, she choose this lifestyle to provide for her son, who would be an heir to her fortune.
4 - joanne
As a mother, I can only imagine this is a nightmare beyond any other. At a time like this somehow Anna Nicole isn't anyone other than a mother in pain. How tragic. She'll never be able to celebrate her daughter's birthday without incredible heartache. Rest in peace, Daniel.
5 - cletus
You guys slay me. "Attacks against a mother's love"?? If she loved her son so much why did she give him(as a minor) nude photographs of herself and tell him to distribute them among his friends? Look it up. It's all true by her own admission. And calling ANS a success is open to debate. Yeah.... she's eye candy but fairly brainless. And it's clear she has a substance abuse problem. A blind man could have seen from the word go that there was something suspicious about the whole affair. So it's not an attack. It's empirical observation.
6 - Mohjho
Cletus, thats as low as it gets.
7 - STM
It's a pretty tragic turn of events, really. Whatever you think of her, it's not something we should giggling about, Cletus.
Hope you're never in the same situation.
8 - Eric Olsen
it's grim, now they're saying she tried to revive him, had to be sedated and was so traumatized she had to be reminded what had happened later. They are also "clarifying" that "suspicious" simply means when a seemingly healthy 20-year-old dies suddenly it's always suspicious.
And it appears that her pal/lawyer Howard Stern (not of the radio) was the third person in the room
9 - Nancy
Cletus' remarks are justified, IMO. Possibly he died of shame: if my mother had just given birth to a bastard, I would. Of course since she appears to have the morals of an alley cat, I'm not surprised that it wouldn't occur to her to die of shame.
10 - Michael J. West
Nancy, generally you're interesting and entertaining in your comments. In comment 9, you are not.
11 - Matthew T. Sussman
Let us all deconstruct the brilliant pennings of a man named Cletus.
12 - Eric Olsen
do they still use the term "bastard"? How about "love child"?
13 - Nancy
"Love child" is just a polite euphamism, a politically correct term for the hard, honest truth, i.e. bastard. Kind of like they now call a janitor a mainentance engineer so's not to hurt anybody's feelings. It's still actually a correct legal term for any child born outside of legal wedlock.
14 - Eric Olsen
And a song by the Supremes
15 - Cletus
Stop it! You guys are killing me. (LOL) So it appears painfully obvious that none of you ever watched the "ANS Show" on A&E. I think it's tragic her son died. That sucks. But it's clear she acts pretty much exclusively in her own interest. And I noticed not a single 1 of you even attempted to rebuke my statement about her nude photographs being distributed to her son's friends. Why is that? Was the death of her son tragic... of course. Is she a total dyed in the wool bimbo... of course. I dont see how 1 has anything to do with the other. If you dont' like what I have to say that's fine. But not 1 of you can say it's inaccurate(excepting my guess about the 3rd person which was most reasonable). Anyone care to argue that when she's in front of a camera she isnt' her own worst enemy? Take a look at Cindy Crawford... now there's beauty AND brains. And it's proof that the 2 attributes dont' have to be mutally exclusive. Lastly, if she loved her son so much why was he (basically) absent from he life? Anyone want to argue she was a good mother... now's the time to step up.
16 - Matthew T. Sussman
Unless you're saying that the nude pictures killed her son, I don't think any of us give a dippity shit about whether it's true.
17 - Cletus
Matt! My man! I'm making the obvious allusion that her behavior towards her son was anything but normal. Unless of course you think it's normal and appropriate to give nude photographs of yourself to your CHILDREN and his friends. Unfortunate you needed it spelled out for you. Do you have any other keen and worthwhile observations or did you just feel like showing everyone that you couldn't put 2 + 2 together? You're not related to ANS by any chance are you? (LOL)
18 - lori
Laughing out loud in parentheses is a paradox.
19 - STM
I can't believe the heartlessness of some of the posters here. It's sickening.
There's a big difference here between being a bleeding heart and actually having a heart. She's a mother who's lost a son. Does anyone have any idea of what that might be like? How about a bit of empathy compassion for both of them, whatever you think of Ms Smith??
20 - JJ
Maybe it would be best to wait and see what the coroner has to say before passing judgement on anyone.
21 - Eric Olsen
that's where I am JJ
22 - me
Maybe Howard K. Stern had something to do with his untimely death. He does have a weird obsession with the buxom blonde. The baby girl is probably his, he feels some sort of resentment/jealousy to the son, and kills him. This all seems just a little too weird. I always thought that guy was odd anyway. She did love her son, she's just a lot different compared to.......well a lot of society. People do weird things. I would look into old Howie a little further. Does he ever represent anybody other than Anna Nicole?
23 - DonnaH
My theory is that this isn't the first time. It also seems much more logical than most. Anna Nicole and her attorney Howard both Loved Daniel beyond words.
My Niece was married in Nassau Bahamas less than a year ago. While there, her younger brother stirred some trouble. He liked to do drugs from time to time. He went out looking for drugs and apparently found them. The next day his parents recieved a call from a "Local" who claimed to have found their son the previous night passed out with some undesirable people. This person claimed to have "rescued the young man by taking care of him and paying for a cab to return him to his hotel and get him to his room. The "local" requested that he be paid for all of his trouble. When the request was not granted the man called my parents (who share the same last name as my nephew) and made the same demand. The man became very irrate and made threats against the family and my 22yr old nephew. I truly believe that this may have been what happened to Daniel. Or that he was killed for not paying for drugs. Of course my theory is completely empty till the toxicology reports are released.
24 - cletus
Well what do you know. All you "mother lovers" out there that chided me for my "attack".. ANS just pocketed over 300K pounds for the last pictures of her son while he was alive.
So I guess we know what a mother's love is worth... 300,000 pounds.
25 - Nancy
Truly a class act.