Anna Nicole's son died from 'lethal' dose - Dec 12 2007
The dangerous amount of methadone taken by Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son was the main factor behind his death, the Bahamian police's forensics chief has told an inquest into his death.

Superintendent Quinn McCartney's conclusion differs slightly from the findings of two pathologists who said Daniel Smith was killed by an interaction of methadone and two antidepressants.

"Even if there were no other drugs present in (Smith's) bloodstream, the methadone level would be enough to set off alarms," said McCartney, who added that the young man had bloody froth in his lungs that he interpreted as a "clear sign of overdose".

Daniel Smith collapsed and died on September 10, 2006, as he visited his celebrity mother at a Nassau hospital where she had given birth three days earlier.

Police believe he came to the Bahamas the night before and went directly to the hospital where he spent the night with his mother, her boyfriend, Howard Stern, and his newborn half-sister.

McCartney said the methadone could have been in his system when he arrived.

Anna Nicole Smith, a reality TV star and former Playboy playmate, died on February 8 in Florida from an overdose of prescription drugs, including a sleep aid that she reportedly took to cope with grief over her son's death.

A lawyer for Mr Stern said that Daniel was taking medications including methadone, which is often prescribed as a pain reliever or to suppress drug withdrawal symptoms, to treat either depression or back pain.

Anna Nicole lawyer seeks share of estate - Oct 23 2007
Howard Stern, the companion of US model Anna Nicole Smith and executor of her will, has filed court papers seeking six per cent of whatever her estate might recover from her late husband’s fortune.

Stern filed his creditor’s claim on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing a contingent fee agreement on file in bankruptcy court.

Anna Nicole, who died in February in Florida, was the widow of Texas oil tycoon J Howard Marshall II.

She had been fighting Marshall’s family for years over his estimated 500 million dollar (£246 million) fortune.

Her 13-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, stands to inherit any portion of the money that might have gone to her mother.

In the court filing, first reported by the website CelebTV.com, Stern specifies that his six per cent payment "is conditioned upon recovery in the Marshall litigation".

Stern also filed papers last week seeking to make Dannielynn - who Anna Nicole had with former partner Larry Birkhead - the sole beneficiary of Anna Nicole’s estate, though the child is not mentioned in the will.



Police raids over Anna Nicole death - Oct 15 2007
Police investigating the death of former Playboy star Anna Nicole Smith have raided homes and offices in Los Angeles.

Anna Nicole, 39, died of an accidental drug overdose in February at a Florida hotel still in the middle of a legal battle over the estate of her late husband oil billionaire Howard Marshall, who was 63 years her senior. He died in 1995.

On Friday department of justice investigators began serving search warrants and California attorney general Jerry Brown was expected to make a statement later.

The raids are the first public signs that friends and associates of the starlet are under criminal investigation..

Several people close to the model have fallen under suspicion since her death, including her psychiatrist Dr Khristine Eroshevich.

The medical board of California said in April it was investigating Dr Eroshevich, who, according to documents, authorised all 11 prescription medications found in Smith’s hotel room the day she died.