by Rita Cosby
Anna replied that her mother wasn't in the Bahamas, or any family for that matter. Howard is "the lawyer," she said, pointing to him. He was in the Bahamas to "help her." Anna told the nanny that her boyfriend was away. And, according to the nanny, the situation in the house was not good. "Anna never talk to Howard," she said. Regarding the bedrooms where they slept, she said, "Separate."
"Notwithstanding the generally disreputable and unsuitable household in which I worked," Quethlie swore in her written statement, "My only concern was to do my absolute best to look after Dannielynn." She worked with Anna tending to the newborn, eight a.m. until ten p.m. seven days a week until Monday, November 27 . . . when everything changed.
"The whole domestic regime for Dannielynn is wild and unpredictable and her feeding is improper," Quethlie said in her sworn affidavit. "In addition, Ms. Marshall takes daily a lot of mood altering substances, with the result that she spends a lot of time asleep or resting in bed, and when she is up and about, her mood swings are extreme, and are very unsettling and I am therefore concerned for the baby's welfare."
Given Anna's state, the baby spent most of her time bonding with Quethlie and the two grew very close. Anna accused Quethlie of wanting Dannielynn to think of Quethlie as her mother rather than Anna. (A charge that Quethlie vehemently denies.) Anna put her concern very bluntly one day: "If I ever hear Dannielynn call you 'mummy,' I will have to shoot you." Quethlie says that "given Ms. Marshall's state of mind and general behavior, that I believed her."
She, however, continued her duties as nursery maid and nanny until the end of November, the day that a new washing machine was delivered to the Horizons house.
The new washing machine was fancy. It was a front-loading machine with a lot more switches than Ms. Alexis was accustomed, and she couldn't find the user manual. Anna, susceptible to remarkable mood swings and a quick temper, was livid and accused Quethlie of losing it. In a rage, Anna fired her on the spot.
Nadine Alexie, Quethlie's thirty-two-year-old sister-in-law and mother of two, was the "assistant baby minder" during the period, taking over from her sister-in-law at ten o'clock each night and staying until she was relieved in the morning. She signed a sworn affidavit saying that all Quethlie Alexis's charges were true. Despite this incident with the washing machine and what they believed were other drug induced outbursts, the nannies say Anna deep down was a very kind person. And they feel the real reason they were fired was because Howard K. Stern felt they knew too much, saw too much.
Both the nannies have repeatedly said that they overheard Anna telling Howard K. Stern around the time of Daniel's funeral: "You did this! You killed him! You caused this!" And that they had also heard Anna scream at him: "Get out of here! Just wait for the inquest!"
Wayne Munroe, Howard's Bahamian attorney, told me that the nannies were fired because "they were incompetent and insubordinate." When I asked him about their comments relating to Howard and Daniel's death, he said, "I don't expect anything more from ungrateful people."
But other employees have corroborated many of the nannie's sworn accusations. In fact, the employee confidante told me that Anna said that since she was heavily sedated she never really found out what happened, so she didn't know what to think. "But she thought there was something behind it, that it was strange that when Daniel came he was in good spirits, healthy, and then he just dropped dead.
"Someone poisoned him or give him drugs or something," she pointedly told him. "He didn't do drugs.
"Anna had a feeling that something went down," her employee said. "She repeated a couple of times that when Daniel came into the hospital he was okay, then 'Howard went to get something to eat and when he ate the food he just crapped out.'" And then she burst into tears and ran back to her room where she cried herself to sleep.
"She was afraid of Howard," he said. "You have to understand he had a strong hold on her. She didn't want to take any chances. He played a big role. She was scared and she didn't know what to do."
And, he says, the drugs were bad—both before Daniel's death when she was pregnant and after Daniel's death when she was not. He said he saw Anna using numerous drugs, including both methadone and cocaine while pregnant. "Every other day Howard would give her a little snort in the nose and get her high . . . Howard wanted to control her. He wanted her to get high and stay high. He'd say come get your medicine."
Anna would sweat a lot. She would suddenly break into cold sweats. "He was pushing her, until he couldn't push no more," he said. "He was killing her slowly." Bottles of methadone were, he says, kept on the left side of the refrigerator in her room. He says he saw her get injections in the arm both during and after her pregnancy. "Howard was doing it," he said. She'd take it every day, as well as numerous other prescription drugs that were often ground up and mixed into a glass of grapefruit juice.
This employee, like numerous others, also told me that Anna and Howard were having a tough time paying people. "I got paid the first month," he said. "But then I wasn't paid for four months. Other people weren't paid, lots of people. I guess there was no money. I wasn't there for the money. I was there for her. Money would come later. I'd spend my own money to make sure stuff was put in the refrigerator. I've never seen her with money. I think they got broke somewhere down the line."
Anna rarely left the house. Her trusted employee said she tried to outwardly put on a smile, but deep down she was hurting. "She put on a front a lot, but not with me. I knew something was going on . . . . He didn't want her to go anywhere, to see anybody. Mentally and physically controlling her. He just kept her in the house."
That is until it was time for a paid photo opportunity. In that case, the whole world could see her.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The "bride" wore a white dress and carried a bouquet of red roses. The "groom" wore a black suit with a white shirt. It wasn't a real wedding with a marriage certificate or anything. Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern held an informal commitment ceremony floating in the waters off the coast of the Bahamas aboard Margaritaville, a 41-foot catamaran.
Michael Scott, one of their growing entourage of attorneys, told the media, "They needed a little adrenaline boost because things have been so hectic and devastating in their life recently." Perhaps more than an adrenaline boost, it was the financially bankable shots that would bring the couple an injection of cash that they desperately needed to keep their life afloat.
The "ceremony" was decidedly low key and simple. Anna Nicole was barefooted and wearing fake eyelashes that looked like she had a black moth wing stuck atop each eyelid. A cross necklace was nestled into her cleavage and her face was puffy. Though not a real wedding, she and Howard exchanged vows and temporary rings in front of a Baptist minister, as well as a small group of friends and beautiful Dannielynn, Anna Nicole's newborn daughter.
According to the press release, the couple dispatched to the media, they had "escaped their house" at three o'clock in the morning "and boarded a boat to quietly sail the ocean around Nassau . . . on a clandestine sail to recapture simple pleasures— fresh salt air on the face, a sunrise on the ocean, and wind in their hair. And then a good thing happened: during the sail, Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern made a commitment before God to be there for one another, to be each other's strength during this difficult time."
The release further said, "By mid-morning, helicopters flew overhead, speed boats approached, and camera-equipped scuba divers invaded what had been an otherwise perfect moment of peace, solitude, and hope. The event was intended to be totally private between two adults deeply in love with each other and needing simple reassurances that they could count on one another through life's ups and downs. The outing was never expected to be shared with anyone other than Howard, Anna, [her newborn daughter] Dannielynn Hope and a few close friends and family."
• • •
After the ceremony, they landed on the island of Sandy Cay and the newly committed couple took the plunge into the temp
erate waters off the coast of the island. "Howard and Anna were both crying and kissing and holding hands," friend and former "Dynasty" actor John James told People magazine. The fifteen or so guests celebrated with champagne, apple cider, and Anna's favorite food, Kentucky Fried Chicken, which had been brought over for the occasion by sailboat.
But rather than being an outing that was, as their press release stated, "never expected to be shared with anyone," the bittersweet "wedding" photos of the whole affair and story were conveniently given to and sold by photo broker Getty Images to People magazine for a reported one million dollars.
Michael Scott, the attorney who had become their de facto Bahamian spokesperson in the aftermath of Daniel's death, towed the party line by announcing to the press, "This was intended to be a lift to steel them for Daniel's funeral." But behind the scenes, Michael Scott had vehemently argued against doing the ceremony. When Howard told the attorneys working with him and Anna that he wanted to do a commitment ceremony, they strongly advised him against it, saying they knew it would hurt Anna especially in the public's perception if they were seen selling their story and frolicking on a boat before her son was even buried.
That wasn't the only moneymaking idea the couple had around a wedding that was in questionable taste. According to the website TMZ, Anna Nicole and Howard were shopping a reality show featuring Anna's quest to find a husband, similar in concept to VH1's "Flavor of Love." Their production partner in the deal was Hallock Healey Entertainment, producers of "Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty," the "$25 Million Dollar Hoax," and the ironically titled "Who's Your Daddy?" In the 2005 Fox reality TV special, a grown adoptee, who happens to be a stunning blonde actress named "T.J." who also had played a stripper, had to choose her biological father from a panel of eight men.
Anna's show would have had men, "young and old, of different ethnicities and orientations," vying for Anna's affections. The "winner" would have gotten to marry her.
Although their commitment ceremony was officiated by the Baptist minister, no marriage certificate was issued, leading many to speculate that the "commitment" was certainly more for show than it was for substance. Had they actually wanted to get a marriage license, it is a relatively easy process in the Bahamas, much easier, in fact, than getting permanent residency on the island. It's a $40.00 fee with no blood test and only requires that both parties be in the Bahamas at the time of application. The two would have had to provide a form of identification and apply during business hours Monday through Friday at the nearby Office of the Registrar General in Nassau. The only other thing they would have needed was a copy of the death certificate for J. Howard Marshall, since Anna Nicole was widowed.
If Anna and Howard had wanted to go that route, it would have been entirely possible. But they didn't.
After the ceremony, Howard blocked outraged attorney Michael Scott and his co-counsel Tracy Ferguson from seeing Anna at the house. Michael Scott sent a note to Howard and Anna reminding them that too much time was passing after Daniel's death without proper burial and that it didn't look good. Arrangements for the next deal, the exclusive on Anna's C-section birth and Anna talking about Daniel's death, were being worked out with Entertainment Tonight. A person privy to the behind the scenes negotiations said, "After Anna and Howard were officially cleared to have Daniel buried, he laid there while they worked out their deals. It was disgusting, but it happened."
The week after the commitment ceremony, Michael Scott announced he was withdrawing as her counsel. "A disagreement on a commercial transaction made it difficult for us to remain as counsel," Scott told the Associated Press. He was very bothered by the People magazine pictorial and the fact that the event was held prior to making funeral arrangements for Daniel.
As of June 2007 there remained a $113,000 unpaid bill for Callender & Co.'s legal services.
October 2, 2006
The Monday following Anna Nicole and Howard's Bahamian commitment ceremony, the baby drama kicked into high gear. Larry Birkhead officially filed his paternity suit against Anna Nicole Smith, requesting a judge to order Anna Nicole to return "their" daughter Dannielynn to California and immediately submit to a paternity test. He also demanded that both mother and daughter be tested for drugs.
Larry Birkhead's high-powered attorney Debra Opri said they were asking for legal and physical custody of the little girl Larry vehemently claimed to be his biological daughter. Opri said that Birkhead is "a first time father and he is responding to allegations made by attorney Howard K. Stern on behalf of Anna Nicole Smith, and believes beyond any doubt that he is the father."
Larry Birkhead appeared with me live on MSNBC's Scarborough Country that night and declared that he was definitely the father. He made some shocking allegations and claimed that Anna Nicole deliberately fled to the Bahamas to avoid custody and visitation issues. It was an eye-opener and it went like this:
rita cosby, host: We have just learned that, in just the last few hours, Larry Birkhead has filed suit against Anna Nicole Smith and is demanding that a paternity test be ordered to prove his claim that he's the father. Sources tell me that the court filing is explosive, Joe, with some very damning claims against Anna Nicole Smith.
I've learned that it alleges Anna Nicole Smith was taking methadone and that Howard K. Stern, her attorney, was allegedly facilitating her prescription drug habit, that she fled to the Bahamas after Birkhead suggested that the baby be tested for drugs, and that the filing says Howard K. Stern is claiming paternity for his own financial gain.
And this one is a real shocker: It alleges that Anna Nicole previously tried to get another man, a third guy, to claim it was his baby several months ago. But get this: That man had a vasectomy.
Joining me now exclusively is the man who filed this legal action, the man who says he's the real father of Anna Nicole Smith's new baby girl, Larry Birkhead. Larry, why are you taking this legal action now? larry birkhead, claims he's the father of anna nicole's baby: Well, I have to say, Rita, I was outraged and angry over Howard K. Stern's remarks on Larry King Live, where he claimed to be the father of my baby girl. And that really upset me, and I was outraged that he tried to hoodwink the American public—and Larry King, as well—into thinking and believing his story, which was filled with inconsistencies. And it lacked coherency. And it was just outrageous.
cosby: You know, by doing this action, it appears that you feel she's intentionally fleeing to the Bahamas so you can't be a part of this baby's life. Is that how you feel? And how so?
birkhead: I feel that she has deliberately fled to the Bahamas to avoid any talks of custody and visitation. And this was all a highly orchestrated event between herself and her attorney, Howard K. Stern. And I feel that it has to be stopped and the truth needs to be told to the American public that I am the father of this child and all of Howard Stern's lies need to stop right now.
cosby: You know, these allegations against Anna Nicole that I'm told by other sources are in the lawsuit filing are very strong, including the allegation of a drug addiction, these allegations against Anna Nicole, and that the baby may be damaged.
I spoke with your attorney, Debra Opri, obviously very well known. She's represented a lot of high-profile folks before you. And she had a pretty strong statement I want to show. This is what she said to me. She said, "The public will be very surprised when they learn the details of the lifestyle this baby is going to be faced with if she remains in the current situation."
Do you believe that the baby's health is at risk, that you're doing what's best for the baby now?
birkhead: Well, I'll let my attorney, you know, stick with the statement that my attorney gave, but I will say that I'm fighting for what I believe in, and that's that I am the father of my baby girl. And I want her to return to the States so that I can maintain a relationship with her and have a relationship with her.
Right now, I have no rights, no visitation, no rights whatsoever. They were all stripped from me. And again, this was orchestrat
ed between herself and the attorney, and I think that it's time to get to the bottom of it.
cosby: Is there any way Howard K. Stern, who went on national television last week . . .
birkhead: There is absolutely no way that Howard Stern is the father of this child. He knows it; I know it. And that's all there is to it.
He challenged me on live television to get an attorney, and so I have taken him up on his offer. And it's time to get to the bottom of it, and we will soon see all the lies surrounding this circus that he's taken and he's made out of my birth of my baby daughter.
cosby: You know, in the court filing, I understand from other sources outside of you and your attorney — I understand that Anna Nicole was pregnant with another baby of yours but miscarried last year. Is that true?
birkhead: Well, I'll let the—I think that will come out in time. And I'd rather not comment on that, you know, at this time.
cosby: What do you want to say about your credibility, because he's attacked your credibility? And why are you speaking here tonight?
