Battle over body of Anna Nicole Smith

Written by Deloris Jones

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

As Anna Nicole Smith’s body sits in the Broward County medical examiner’s office, both Howard K. Stern and Virgie Arthur are fighting over the release of the body. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy, Dr. Joshua Perper, says the body should be released as soon as possible because it is decomposing as days go by.

A California judged ordered the body be preserved until a court hearing determining what will happen with the paternity lawsuit takes place on February 20th, 2007. Howard K. Stern has asked Dr. Perper to release the body to him. Smith’s Florida attorney, Krista Barth, says Smith wants to honor Anna’s wishes and bury her next to Daniel in the Bahamas. According to Barth, Anna Nicole Smith purchased a double side-by-side plot accommodating up to four caskets. She wanted to be next to Daniel and the other two spots would be for her late husband J. Howard Marshall’s ashes and for Howard K. Stern.

In the meantime, Smith’s mother Virgie Arthur’s attorney contacted Dr. Perper asking that the body be released to Arthur. According to Stern’s people, she wants to bury her daughter in Texas. Arthur has also filed a court order to keep the baby in the Bahamas, preventing Stern from leaving with her. Virgie Arthur blames Howard K. Stern for the death of Daniel and Anna. She is fearful for Dannielynn to be in his custody.

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

Larry Birkhead’s attorney filed paperwork at the Broward County Courthouse on Tuesday requesting that the body is not released until after the paternity hearing.

Either way, Dr. Perper cannot release the body until a court order tells him too. He has made it clear that the body should be released soon and that he has collected enough DNA samples including DNA cards, bone marrow, and vials of Smith’s blood.

"We have plenty of her DNA. We don't need to keep her body," said Perper. "Any further delay might affect the integrity of the body and its aesthetic appearance following embalming."

Hollywood police released the 911 call on Tuesday. Seminole police called Hollywood fire-rescue asking for assistance. A woman’s voice is heard saying, “We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive . . . actually it's Anna Nicole Smith."

They arrived shortly after and found Smith unresponsive and not breathing. She was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 2:49 p.m.