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DANIA BEACH - Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs including sedatives, officials said today, ending weeks of uncertainty over the tabloid star's sudden death.
There was no evidence that illegal drugs or foul play had a role in the death of the former Playboy Playmate, who collapsed on February 8 in a Florida hotel, triggering a media frenzy.
Her death also sparked a legal feud over her burial and a custody and paternity battle over her 6-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, who could one day inherit millions as the only surviving offspring of the 39-year-old widow of a billionaire.
"We are convinced, based on an extensive view of the evidence, that this case is an accidental overdose with no other criminal elements present," said Police Chief Charlie Tiger. "We found nothing to indicate any foul play."
Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper gave an account of events leading up to Smith's collapse and said she suffered severe depression after the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, who died of a drug overdose in September at a Bahamas hospital after Dannielynn was born.
Smith complained of chills when she arrived in Florida on February 5 and was later found to be running a 105 degree (40.5 Celsius) fever caused by the perforation of an abscess in her left buttock, Perper said.
"It is our determination that the cause of death is combined drug toxicity as a result of chloral hydrate and a therapeutic concentration of other medications," he said.
"A bacterial infection, a viral intestinal infection and possibly flu were contributory causes of death," he added.
Platinum blonde
The nine drugs found in her blood included anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications and the sedative chloral hydrate, Perper said. Other drugs included Valium and Ativan.
Smith, a voluptuous platinum blonde who idolised screen legend Marilyn Monroe, gained fame as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1993 and as a model for Guess? jeans.
She was buried in the Bahamas on March 2 after a colourful funeral where mourners included longtime companion and lawyer Howard K. Stern, listed as Dannielynn's father on her birth certificate, and Los Angeles photographer Larry Birkhead, who also claims paternity.
At least one other man claims to be Dannielynn's father. The results of a DNA swab of the child have been placed under seal by a judge in the Bahamas, pending an appeal against the DNA test by Stern.
In 1994, Smith married oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, when she was 26 and he was 89. Marshall, who was worth $1.6 billion, died 14 months later and Smith spent much of the following decade battling his family over the estate. Marshall's family called her a gold digger.
- REUTERS
