Howard K. Stern Charged With Felony
More than two years after Anna Nicole Smith’s death, Howard K. Stern and two psychiatrists were charged today with conspiring to furnish her drugs in the years leading up to her death. Raise your hand if you are surprised. Then, take a trip down memory lane with an updated timeline below.
2006
May 1: Anna Nicole wins battle before the U.S. Supreme Court that allows her to continue to fight for part of her late husband’s oil fortune.
Sept. 7: Anna Nicole gives birth to daughter Dannielynn in Nassau, Bahamas.
Sept. 10: Anna Nicole’s 20-year-old son Daniel dies in her Bahamas hospital room.
Sept. 26: Anna Nicole’s lawyer/companion Howard K. Stern announces to Larry King that he is the father of her baby.
Sept. 28: Anna Nicole and Stern exchange vows in a “commitment ceremony.”
Oct. 2: Larry Birkhead files a paternity suit to establish that he is Dannielynn’s father.
2007
Feb. 7: Judge orders Anna Nicole to submit to DNA testing in Birkhead paternity suit by no later than Feb. 21.
Feb. 8: Anna Nicole dies in Hollywood, Florida.
Feb. 14: Court hearing begins to determine where Anna Nicole should be buried.
Feb. 15: Judge decides that court-appointed guardian for Dannielynn should decide Anna Nicole’s burial location.
Feb. 16: Anna Nicole’s will is released, and Frederic von Anhalt (Zsa Zsa Gabor’s eighth husband) files court papers in paternity suit claiming he is the father.
Feb. 22: Tearful judge rules that Anna Nicole should be buried in Nassau, Bahamas.
March 2: Anna Nicole is buried next to her son in Nassau, Bahamas.
March 26: Florida medical examiner says her death was caused by “accidental overdose,” with methadone, valium and a sedative among at least nine medications in her system.
March 29: Bahamian inquest into Daniel Smith’s death is expected to begin, but is postponed.
April 10: DNA results establish that Birkhead is Dannielynn’s baby daddy.
June 19: Birkhead and Stern sit side-by-side in a Los Angeles courtroom as a commissioner places Anna Nicole’s will in probate. Birkhead is ordered to be guardian of the estate while Stern serves as executor of the will.
Sept. 24: Bahamian inquest into Daniel’s death is re-set for October.
Nov. 19: The inquest finally begins.
2008
March 4: a Los Angeles judge declares Dannielynn the sole heir to Anna Nicole’s estate.
March 17: Birkhead testifies in the inquest that: (a) five months before his death, Daniel stole a bottle of methadone from his mother; (b) in July 2006, Daniel was admitted to a hospital due to valium abuse; (c) Anna Nicole was concerned about her son’s drinking, use of drugs and his recent 20-pound weight loss; and (d) Anna Nicole preferred to have Daniel do drugs in her presence instead of “running around experimenting with his friends.”
March 18: Stern testifies in the inquest, denying: (a) that Daniel was taking any medications; (b) the existence of a duffel bag full of drugs in Anna Nicole’s hospital room; (c) he gave Daniel any drugs or broght any drugs into the hospital; and (d) that he witnessed Anna Nicole giving Daniel any drugs.
March 31: The inquest is over. After deliberating for less than two hours, the seven-person jury concluded that his death was the result of an accidental drug overdose.
Sept. 2: Stern files a defamation lawsuit against Mark Speer and Jackie Hatten, whom he claims invented a web of lies that served as the basis for Rita Cosby’s Anna Nicole Smith tell-all, “Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death.”
Oct. 4: A judge prohibits a doctor from distributing video of Anna Nicole’s breast augmentation surgery.
2009
Feb. 5: Authorities raid the offices of a doctor who prescribed methadone to Anna Nicole.
Feb. 8: Two year anniversary of Anna Nicole’s death.
March 12: Howard K. Stern and two psychiatrists are charged with felonies for allegedly conspiring to furnish drugs to Anna Nicole, among other things.
[Janet Mayer / PR Photos]
