at 22:15 on September 26, 2006, EST.

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - A lawyer for Anna Nicole Smith said Tuesday that he was the father of the reality TV star's newborn girl, who has been the couple's one "ray of hope" as they have grieved the death of her 20-year-old son in the Bahamas.

Howard K. Stern, who was with the family in the hospital the night that Daniel Smith died, told CNN's "Larry King Live" they had named their daughter Dannie Lynn Hope.

"Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through," he said. "And I'll tell you, our baby is the one ray of hope."

Daniel Smith, 20, died Sept. 10 while visiting his mother as she recuperated from giving birth three days earlier. Authorities have said there was no sign of suicide or foul play, and they were awaiting toxicology results to determine the cause of death.

"We're still waiting to find out what the cause is," Stern said. "We also now have an indication that there may have been other prescriptive medication in his system but we don't know, you know, if that would have contributed to his death or not."

Stern said he and Anna Nicole Smith planned to stay in the Bahamas long term.

"She wanted to be here to get away from the media and to start a new life and to give her daughter, you know, a chance to live a normal life," said Stern, who described himself as a "proud father."

He said Anna Nicole Smith was having a difficult time.

"It's been very rough, you know, she said that she didn't want to trade out children, meaning she didn't want one to be born and another to die," he said.


©The Canadian Press, 2006

I always thought he was kind of dishy.

Doesn't he have his own chat show?!

k either he was looking at larry that was on a tv that was on the left of the camera or the man was drugged out of his mind.

So he finally wore her down, huh?

drugs

CalhounSq said:

his nickname is spats

On perezhilton, they have a few other quotes from him, one of them mentioning that they were selling photos of anna nicoles sons last moments, and putting the money towards some sort of charity in his honor. I hope that was some sort of typo or missunderstanding, because that's pretty morbid.

That's interesting she's hooking up with her lawyer though, I never got any vibes between the two during the show, always figured he was just there for the money.

Tom said:

lets not forget the who could eat more contest tween Anna and Howard on the first season of her show...

Wow, talk about a conflict of interest.

gemini13 said:

If i'm not mistaken, I believe he was fired from his law firm because of the Anna Nicole show

purplerein said:

Ooops!!

CalhounSq said:

I don't think it's takes much to wear Anna down. Just my .02

uPtoWnNY said:

oh Uptown....i bet she's a master controller

I do hope she finds peace of mind!

susannah said:

perhaps you are confusing Howard K. Stern with the king of all media Howard Stern? 2 different dudes.

Shorty said:

Yeah, because they're totally different names!

susannah said:

Howard Stern is the father of Anna Nicole's baby. I love that. Damn, I wish I had Sirius right now. Howie must be having a field day with this.

I knew it was him. Who else could it have been? I think they've been hiding their relationship for a long time now.

susannah said:

I don't get it

uPtoWnNY said:

I have sirius. Actually Howard is being pretty good about it. The last time Anna was on was a big ol fight too and they never have anything good to say about her since then but..they've been very civil about this whole thing. Howard did say today as they played clips of howard k stern from larry king that he can't believe that guy has the same name. The were kinda questioning the apperance on larry king and the photos in the papers but all in all they've been pretty good.

Howard says "You know" alot. Not that that matters, but it was just something I noticed when reading the interview.

sleeping with a client?

'goldigger' karma is a bitch...

PeteZarustica said:

wow...you're a cold hearted muthafucka that's for sure.

Stax said:

Wheres your sense of adventure?

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

i'm saving it up.

And now the saga continues with a possible twist in the story

Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend wants to prove he fathered her baby

at 17:01 on September 27, 2006, EST.

NEW YORK (AP) - Photographer Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, tells Us Weekly magazine that, no matter what a national TV audience was told Tuesday night, he's the real father of the reality TV star's newborn girl. And he's seeking a DNA test to prove it.

Smith's lawyer, Howard K. Stern, told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday that he is the "proud father" of the girl, Dannie Ray Hope, born Sept. 7, and he plans to marry Smith "at some point."

"Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through," said Stern, referring to the Sept. 10 death of Smith's son, Daniel Smith. The 20-year-old Smith died of unknown causes at his mother's hospital bedside in the Bahamas.

"And I'll tell you, our baby is the one ray of hope," Stern said.

In an interview on the magazine's website, Birkhead calls Stern's remarks "laughable."

"I am not surprised he would say this but I am laughing at it," he says. "Larry King didn't even believe Howard."

Birkhead says science can settle the matter. "I have asked for a DNA test and I welcome it," he says.

He's confident about what the results would be, saying, "I know I am the father of the child. I look forward to having a relationship with my new daughter."

Stern did not immediately respond to a call by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

-

On the Net:

www.usmagazine.com/


©The Canadian Press, 2006

*****8

Followed by cause of death results of her deceased son

Private pathologist: Anna Nicole's' son died from lethal combination of drugs

at 21:54 on September 27, 2006, EST.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son died from a lethal combination of methadone and two antidepressant drugs, a U.S.-based pathologist who conducted a private autopsy said Wednesday.

Toxicology tests showed Daniel Smith had methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro in his system when he died Sept. 10 in a hospital room in the Bahamas where his former Playboy playmate mother was recuperating from giving birth to a daughter, according to Cyril Wecht.

"The fact that we have these drugs and the levels of the drugs overwhelmingly and most logically point to this being a tragic, accidental, drug-related death," Wecht told The Associated Press from his home in the Pittsburgh area.

Wecht, who performed the autopsy in the Bahamas, said Smith apparently died from a "classical" combination of the drugs which had a lethal "cumulative effect on the central nervous system."

"Coroners working around the country, we see this in people taking two or three drugs or more," he said. The low levels of each drug suggest he did not die from an overdose, he added.

Smith had been reported to be suffering from depression in the weeks before he went to the Bahamas to visit his reality TV star mom and his newborn half-sister. Zoloft and Lexapro are antidepressants commonly prescribed for patients with anxiety and panic disorders.

Methadone, a pain-reliever, is also commonly used by people recovering from drug addictions.

"It is used for people who have been on heroin or morphine," Wecht said. "I have made those inquiries. I can only say to you no one has suggested anything having to do with drug addiction in this boy."

Wecht said he would share his results Thursday with the pathologist who conducted the official autopsy in the Bahamas, but did not know whether they would issue a joint report on the death.

In Nassau, Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez said he has not yet received official toxicology results, which will determine whether or not a jury inquest into the death is necessary.

Smith's body remained at a Bahamas funeral home hired by the family Wednesday.

Howard K. Stern, a lawyer for Anna Nicole Smith who was in the hospital room when Daniel died, told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday that he is the father of the three-week-old baby girl, Dannie Lynn Hope.

But photographer Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, told Us Weekly magazine that he's the father and is seeking a DNA test to prove it.

Stern said he plans to marry Smith "at some point."

"Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through," said Stern, adding: "And I'll tell you, our baby is the one ray of hope."

Daniel Smith, who appeared several times on the E! reality series "The Anna Nicole Show," was the son of Anna Nicole and Bill Smith, who married in 1985 and divorced two years later.

Anna Nicole married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year and she has since been involved in legal disputes over the estate.


©The Canadian Press, 2006


What's next

'I can't wait to have Anna Nicole finally on the Sybian.....

Shorty said:

I was being sarcastic - theyre the same name! How am I supposed to know theyre different people!