The Death of Anna Nicole Smith: A Resolving Scandal

Anna Nicole Smith’s death was shrouded in mystery and reeked of a scandal, but it seems that now, things are beginning to straighten out for those who know her the best. Howard K. Stern, Anna’s lawyer and later, unofficial husband, has decided to spend as much time in the Bahamas as possible in order to be near the remains of Anna and her son Daniel who died only a few short months before his mother.

While many fans have drawn parallels between the lives of Anna Nicole and another famous blonde, Marilyn Monroe, Stern points out that Anna Nicole felt that way as well. Stern said that Daniel was Anna Nicole’s entire reason for living, which was the one thing she thought separated herself from Monroe, and thought would ultimately save her from an early death. Unfortunately, her plans failed after Daniel died and her reason for living was gone. Anna Nicole would die a short time later of complications which resulted from drug interactions.

The baby daughter named Danielynn who Anna Nicole gave birth to shortly before her own untimely death is now living with paternal father Larry Birkhead. The paternity battle between Birkhead and Stern was finally settled upon the use of a DNA test to establish true paternity. Despite losing the paternity case, Stern was congenial about Birkhead’s new role as father to baby Danielynn whom Stern had been treating as his own child.

It seems that there are only two scandals left in this story. The first is the still unanswered question of the money and who will get it. Anna Nicole was in litigation with the son of her billionaire ex-husband, whom she says promised her a hefty inheritance of millions of dollars after his death. A complex case, it will likely be several years before any significant gains are made in establishing the true heir to the money at stake in the inheritance battle.

The other controversial scandal relates to a South Carolina businessman named G. Ben Thompson who Stern states, broke into Anna Nicole’s home in the Bahamas on the day after her death. Thompson, a friend of Anna Nicole’s and some say legal owner of the house there, maintains that he was collecting objects for safe-keeping and the hearing date is set for August 28, 2007.