Hot Topic (3/14): Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, doctors charged - Do you think they killed her?

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Do you think they killed Anna Nicole Smith and her son?

 

Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, doctors charged

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer - Fri Mar 13, 1:40 pm ET

AP - In this Oct. 2, 2000 file photo, Anna Nicole Smith, right, smiles as she walks to the courthouse with ...

• Play Video Video:Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, doctors charged AP

LOS ANGELES - Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer-turned-boyfriend and two doctors conspired to provide the Playboy Playmate with thousands of prescription pills before her 2007 fatal overdose, California's attorney general said Friday.

"What we have in this case is a conspiracy among three individuals," Jerry Brown said at a news conference Friday. "Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler. Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor are prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict and using false and fictitious names all in violation of the law and all in furtherance of a conspiracy."

Brown added, "This was done knowingly and it's done with tragic consequences."

Howard K. Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were released late Thursday after posting $20,000 bond. Charges include conspiracy, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich was expected to surrender Monday. Her attorney, Adam Braun, acknowledged Eroshevich wrote some of the prescriptions using fictitious names for Smith, but it wasn't intended to commit fraud.

"It was done for privacy reasons," Braun told The Associated Press. "She did the best she could under difficult circumstances in the best interest of the patient."

Prosecutors see it differently.

"These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose," Brown said in a statement Thursday.

Prosecutors said the doctors gave thousands of prescription drugs - including opiates and sedatives - to Stern, who then gave them to Smith.

Messages left with attorneys for Stern and Kapoor on Thursday were not returned.

The prescriptions were issued between June 2004 and January 2007, just weeks before her death on Feb. 8, 2007.

Medical examiners have said Eroshevich, a Los Angeles psychiatrist and friend of Smith's, authorized all 11 of the prescription medications found in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel room where the 39-year-old model was found unresponsive shortly before her death.

An arraignment date was not immediately set and prosecutors were unsure how much prison time the three would face if convicted. Stern faces six felony counts and the doctors face seven each.

Braun said Eroshevich began treating Smith in September 2006 when she suffered a nervous breakdown stemming from the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, who died of an accidental drug overdose three days after his mother gave birth to a girl.

Eroshevich traveled several times over six months to the Bahamas, where Smith was living with Stern and wrote the prescriptions.

The criminal complaint also alleges Kapoor gave her excessive amounts of sleep aids, opiates, muscle relaxants and methadone-like drugs used to treat addiction, knowing she was an addict. Kapoor saw Smith in the spring of 2006 when she was treated at a Los Angeles County hospital for opiate withdrawal and prenatal care for the pregnancy of her daughter Dannielynn, according to the complaint.

Rumors swirled for weeks after Smith's death, but police cleared those around her of any wrongdoing and medical examiners ruled she died of an accidental overdose.

Documents obtained by the AP after her death showed most of the drugs found in her hotel room were prescribed in Stern's name and none were prescribed in Smith's own name.

The quantity was staggering. More than 600 pills - including about 450 muscle relaxants - were missing from prescriptions that were no more than 5 weeks old. Ultimately, it was a syrup - the powerful sleeping aid chloral hydrate - blamed with tipping the balance in the toxic mix of drugs and causing her death.

Stern, who initially claimed he was the father of Dannielynn, appeared distraught as he spoke last year at a memorial marking the one-year anniversary of Smith's death.

"Few people who knew Anna might not realize how smart she actually was because unless she wanted you to know you didn't know," Stern said.

Stern later gave up custody of Dannielynn after DNA tests proved Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead was the father.

The little girl has been named the sole heir of her late mother's estate, with Birkhead and Stern as co-trustees. Dannielynn could inherit millions of dollars if the estate wins an ongoing court fight over the oil fortune of Smith's late second husband, J. Howard Marshall.

 

 

[alaskamoma]

I knew this the moment that they had announced her death at the time.  It was too obvious and I feel in my heart the same had happened to her son. 

[miche11e]

I most certainly think Stern knew what he was doing.  I do not think he wanted her dead.   I think he wanted her to stay so "high" and out of sorts he would control everything.   Her being an addict kept her dependent upon him for everything.   He should be charged with murder if this be the case.   Feeding her all those drugs was a slow death.  The doctors are just as guilty in my opinion for writing scripts in this amounts no matter what excuses they come out with.  .  Luckily Stern was not granted custody of the baby.  If found guilty, Stern will lose any part of overseeing anything for Dannielynn once and for all hopefully.   I hope anyone responsible for Anna's death or that of her sons, is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

[JJTaylor]

I have mixed feelings about this one.  I am not sure if the doctors and Mr. Stern intentionally set out to kill Anna, however I do think they abused their power and manipulated Smith and were definite enablers!  I honestly am not sure what to think of her son's death, I think there is clearly more then meets the eye with regards to the mystery behind both Anna and her son's death. 

I think Anna Nicole had an addictive personality, you can look at her history and see she became this famous bomb shell; people compared her to Marilyn Monroe and she was unfortunately, given whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it.  She abused alcohol, drugs and food numerous times over her life span.  I didn't much care for her personality, however, I have always felt sad for her; it always seemed like she was looking for a father figure in her men she dated, and when she couldn't find that she used alcohol or drugs to numb her world.

With or w/o Mr. Stern's help, I think Anna Nicole would have still come to this unfortunate demise eventually.  Even after giving birth to her daughter, after loosing her son she tried a few times to commit suicide, she was deeply depressed and I wonder if she felt ultimately responsible for his death because she knew deep down she was taking so many drugs so much and so often that she missed out on his life. 

I think she had way too many yes men around her that were more then willing to ride the money train and supplied her with all sorts of over the counter medications.

[Pattyeb12]

I am not sure they meant to kill her, Howard Stern liked his position with her too much.  And the doctors were making lots of money off her, they all were, so to kill her would kill the gravy train.  They just gave in to her too much, when they should have said NO, NO, NO, you are going to rehab.  Larry Birkhead said there were lots of drugs all the time, and that is why she got mad at him, he wanted her to get help.  She did not want to hear that.  She wanted what she wanted.  I too, think eventually she would have overdosed, cause somebody would have given her the drugs, if not Howard.  But the boy I have doubts about his "accidental" death.

[tiggerrrt]

I don't think he intended to kill her...why kill the goose that lays the golden egg?  BUT I do think he wanted to keep her out of it so he could control her and her $$ better.

However you look at it~~~its a sad story.

 

[emily351982]

I agree.

Quoting tiggerrrt:

I don't think he intended to kill her...why kill the goose that lays the golden egg?  BUT I do think he wanted to keep her out of it so he could control her and her $$ better.

However you look at it~~~its a sad story.

 

[CharmaineL]

Oh absolutely.  Keeping her drugged out was an easy way to control her.  Think Britney would have had the same fate with shady Sam Lufti if her Dad hadn't stepped in and saved her life.  Howard and Sam are the same person, shady and evil. The faux doctor should never be allowed to practice medicine again.

[Momof3cuties]

I always thought he was shady and that he had something to do with her death.   

[dr_m]

 

with regard to this conspiracy theory....

"What we have in this case is a conspiracy among three individuals," Jerry Brown said at a news conference Friday. "Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler. Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor are prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict and using false and fictitious names all in violation of the law and all in furtherance of a conspiracy."

 

i have no idea, she is obviously not around to defend what she was taking, and, addict or not, she was very distraught and most likely felt she NEEDED some of the drugs..  But, they should have been only written in HER name..  any proof Stern needed or wanted them himself ??

 

Medical examiners have said Eroshevich, a Los Angeles psychiatrist and friend of Smith's, authorized all 11 of the prescription medications found in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel room where the 39-year-old model was found unresponsive shortly before her death.

The psychiatrists are, unfortunately likely to prescribe MULTIPLE medications to many of their patients....  not just Anna, I think it's terrible, and even lazy.. they DO just often reflexly write and add another med to someone already on 5 or 10..  seriously..  especially after a breakdown..  maybe she should have been back in hospital if things were this bad... or, maybe she refused...  

 

Braun said Eroshevich began treating Smith in September 2006 when she suffered a nervous breakdown stemming from the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, who died of an accidental drug overdose three days after his mother gave birth to a girl. (little Dannielynn.. .)

This is the very saddest thing..  how could she get over the loss of her son.. ???  NO, she probably could no, and was reported also suicidal, maybe more often than anyone knows, and again, obviously she is not here...   I think it would be hard to prove a conspiracy, when she had been possible having another breakdown or two..  obviously she took too much and maybe they gave her too much...  but we dont know the straw that broke the camel's back..  Maybe they did want her dead.. ???   I doubt it..  She needed more help, but maybe just could not handle stuff.. and maybe they were trying to help...   i guess we'll see what else they can come up with to prove a conspiracy...  The above quote from the article, is i think going to make a conspiracy to kill a suicidal person hard to prove...

 

 

[aajsluckymommy]

It's so sad that this woman was an addict. It's no surprise that her son was an addict.  I think she would have died sooner than she did if Stearn had  not tried to regulate the pills that the doctors gave her.  She herself said many times "she wanted to go out like Marilyn."  It was obvious that Anna-Nicole had mental problems.  I do not think they killed her, I think they assisted her in her death wish. She wanted fame & everlasting notoriety. She got what she wanted, now Howard pays a price for being a bad friend & her doc's are justly convicted for over writing rx's.