| Anna Nicole Smith: Body heads to Bahamas for Funeral |
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| Written by Deloris Jones | |||||||
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Thursday, 01 March 2007
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 Anna Nicole Smith’s body will leave for the Bahamas early Friday morning. Broward Count Medical Examiner Dr. Perper and Richard Milstein, the court appointed guardian at litem for Dannielynn, will accompany the body to the Bahamas by a private plane. Law enforcement will escort a hearse to Miami International airport at 5:30 a.m.The funeral is set to take place hours later at an undisclosed church in Nassau. More than 300 people will be in attendance. Patrick Simpson, a close friend of Anna Nicole, is helping to organize an “over the top” memorial service. There will be an abundance of pink flowers and singing from a well-known performer who’s named has not been released. "It will be a very beautiful, Anna Nicole Smith send-off," Simpson told The Associated Press. "Of course it will be over the top because it's Anna Nicole." All three parties including Howard K Stern, Larry Birkhead, and Virgie Arthur will be at the funeral. Each group had to submit a guest list in advance limited to 100 people. Following the memorial service, the burial will take place at Lakeview Memorial Gardens and Mausoleums. This service will be more intimate, only having 30 people present. Both services are closed to the public. Smith’s mother, Virgir Arthur, wanted her daughter to be buried in Texas and filed an appeal following Judge Seidlin decision to bury Anna Nicole in the Bahamas. However, a Florida appeals court upheld Seidlin’s ruling on Wednesday, leading Virgie Arthur to drop her challenge. Howard K. Stern wanted Smith to be buried in the Bahamas next to her son Daniel, who died of a drug overdose last year. Stern made it clear that Anna wanted to be with Daniel. Both Larry Birkhead and Richard Milstein agreed. Smith will be buried in a custom-made dress designed by a former friend, Pol Atteu. He refused to describe the dress. The casket will most likely be closed. Dr. Perper was not sure if Smith’s body would be suitable for viewing. Her body was decomposing more rapidly than he expected during the hearing. The battle over Anna Nicole Smith’s body has ended, but the battle over her baby girl Dannielynn is about to begin. In Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, Judge Lawrence Korda ordered DNA samples from Smith’s body to be turned over to Larry Birkhead’s attorneys. A Bahamian court has scheduled a hearing in the custody dispute for mid-March. Bodog.com has posted odds on who will a court ordered paternity test reveal is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby Dannielynn?
Larry Birkhead: 2/3
Howard K. Stern: 10/11
Other: 6/1 Anna Nicole Smith died February 8th at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Florida. The medical examiner is still awaiting toxicology reports to determine the cause of Smith’s death.                        |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 March 2007 ) | |||||||