Pills in hotel room, not the stomach, of Anna Nicole Smith, coroner says

DANIA BEACH, Fla. - Prescription drugs were found in Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room, but there were no pills in her stomach, and investigators said yesterday that they were awaiting tests that could tell whether the former centerfold died of an overdose, as some people close to her suspect.

Joshua Perper, the Broward County medical examiner who did the autopsy, said no illegal drugs were discovered in Smith's room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood after the 39-year-old pinup collapsed there Thursday. He would not identify the prescription drugs.

CNN quoted an unidentified law-enforcement source as saying there were large amounts of prescription drugs, including Valium and antibiotics, as well as over-the-counter cold and flu medication.

Perper said that there were no pills in Smith's stomach and no other immediate signs of an overdose but that officials "do not exclude any kind of contribution of medication to the death." He reported signs of inflammation in Smith's heart - calling them "a little bit unusual" - but added, "It may be nothing."

He said it would take three to five weeks to settle on a cause of death.

Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said there was no indication Smith was the victim of a crime, and Perper said the autopsy was able to exclude any kind of physical injury, such as blows to the body or asphyxiation.

Perper said she had been sick for several days with some kind of stomach flu.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a judge overseeing a paternity dispute over Smith's baby daughter ordered that the model's body be preserved for at least 10 days for a possible DNA test. That could interfere with plans for a funeral.

And in yet another twist in the case, a third man - the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, Prince Frederick von Anhalt - said yesterday that he might be the baby's father.

Smith, a small-town Texas girl who went from topless dancer to Playboy Playmate of the Year, Guess jeans model, and bride of an 89-year-old oilman, was found unconscious in her hotel room by a private nurse, officials said. A bodyguard performed CPR, Tiger said, but Smith was declared dead at a hospital.

On TV recently, Smith's speech was often slurred, and critics said she seemed drugged-out.

Michael Scott, a former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas, said he suspected drugs "featured in her death." And Smith's mother said yesterday that she believed her daughter died of an overdose. Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, died in September of what was believed to be an accidental drug overdose, around the time Smith gave birth to daughter Daniellyn.

"I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny," her mother, Vergie Arthur, said on ABC's Good Morning America.

Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, dismissed assertions her death was related to drugs as "a bunch of nonsense." Rale said that he had talked to her Tuesday or Wednesday and that she had flu symptoms and a fever and was still grieving over her son.

In Los Angeles, a judge ordered that Smith's body be preserved until a Feb. 20 hearing in the paternity case.

Normally, there is no need for DNA testing on the mother in a paternity case. But one of the men who is claiming to be the baby's father asked for genetic material from Smith to guard against a possible baby switch.

Two men have claimed to be the father: lawyer Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, and Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend. Then, yesterday, Anhalt announced that he had had an affair with Smith and might be the father.

At her death, Smith was waging a years-long court battle over the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, who died in 1995 at age 90. A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million, but that was later overturned.