The Death of Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy Playmate turned reality television star and widow of elderly Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshall, died on February 8, 2007, at a hotel in Hollywood, Florida. She was 39. The death came just five months after the sudden death of her 20-year-old son Daniel in the Bahamas, where Anna Nicole had given birth to her daughter Dannielynn just days before. A toxicological investigation revealed a massive accumulation of chloral hydrate and multiple prescription drugs in her system.
The official cause of death was ruled accidental — combined drug intoxication resulting from the interaction of multiple legally prescribed medications. However, the circumstances generated enormous legal and public scrutiny, partly because of the complex custody battle over Dannielynn and the question of who would inherit the fortune Smith had claimed entitlement to as Marshall's widow. Multiple men publicly claimed paternity of Dannielynn; DNA testing ultimately confirmed that former boyfriend Larry Birkhead was the father.
Smith's companion and lawyer, Howard K. Stern, and two physicians — Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich — were charged in 2009 in California with conspiracy and improperly prescribing medications to Smith under false names. The criminal case was extensively litigated; Stern and the doctors were ultimately acquitted or had charges dismissed after years of proceedings. The deaths of both Anna Nicole and her son Daniel were also separately investigated in the Bahamas with similarly inconclusive outcomes.
Anna Nicole Smith's death was a tabloid spectacle but also raised serious questions about the prescribing practices surrounding celebrities and the legal and medical systems that enabled them. Her life and death have been the subject of documentaries, a 2013 opera, and continuous retrospective coverage. Dannielynn Birkhead grew up with her father Larry and has periodically appeared in media. The questions surrounding the manner of Anna Nicole's death were never fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction.