Anna Nicole Smith’s son died of a massive methadone overdose

THE son of Anna Nicole Smith died of a massive methadone overdose - and it was intentional, a court heard.

An expert told Daniel Smith's inquest in the Bahamas he had ingested so much of the painkiller it could not have been through "recreational" use. But the court was told it was not necessarily suicide.

Although he was found to have taken as many as eight tablets, these could have been dissolved in a liquid that could "camouflage" their taste, the court heard.

The inquest was also told Howard K Stern appeared to have flushed away two white tablets that fell out of Daniel's clothing after the death.

Daniel died mysteriously on September 10, 2006, in the Bahamas, three days after his sister Danielynn was born there.

He had been sleeping in a hospital room along with his late mother and Stern, her companion, when he was found unconscious.

As his inquest resumed at the Coroner's Court in Nassau, Bahamas, the man who conducted the toxicology reports on samples from his body discussed the lab's findings.

Dr Lee Hern, lab director for the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, said despite the presence of various anti-depressants in Daniel's system, it was the methadone alone that killed him. "But for the methadone he would not have died," he said.

He said he found a methadone concentration of 0.74mg per litre in his blood.

Dr Hern explained that, although resistance varies with each person, 0.15mg per litre could be enough to kill someone. The concentration is very rarely found to be above 1mg per litre, he said.

"This is the higher end," he said. "That's how I am able to say it is a lot."

The lab analysis found a residue that indicated the drug came from pills and not its liquid form.

As well as that concentration in the blood, there was still around 22mg of methadone in Daniel's stomach that had not yet been absorbed by his system when he died. That in itself would have been "enough to kill him".

Hern said he would have consumed at least two 10mg tablets but "it would not surprise me" if it had been four times that amount.

The amount was so large he could have passed out in as little as 10 minutes and died within two hours. "It's not common for people in recreational use to take large quantities all at once," Hern explained.

"In my study of drug abuse patients people don't take such a quantity of pills to get high.

"They take one or two and if the effects are not there they may take more."

He also indicated there were no "signs of tolerance" in Daniel's system to indicate he was a habitual user.

Based on his 21 years of experience in the field, Dr Hern said it was his opinion it was an "intentional ingestion."

But he said in order to suggest it amounted to suicide, Daniel's case would require "self destructive statements or suicidal thoughts heard by people that were close to him."

He added there is "certainly" the possibility that "one might not know what they were taking".

Dr Hern said the methadone tablet is "water soluble" and although such a high quantity would taste bitter in a liquid "this could have been camouflaged".

Speaking outside court, the attorney representing Anna Nicole's mother Virgie Arthur, said Daniel did not express any thoughts of self-harm. "So what we are left with is homicide," he said.

Ford Shelley, a friend of the late Anna Nicole Smith, also gave evidence at the inquest. He described Daniel as "brilliant" but frustrated about living in his mother's shadow.

Shelley told the court how in the days after Daniel's death he helped Stern move some of his clothes. As they did so, he said, two white tablets drop out of a pair of trousers.

"Howard picked the pills up, went into the bathroom," he said.  "He closes the door. He walks out and I can hear the toilet flushes. I said 'what happened?' he said 'I took care of the problem'."

He also told the court that Anna Nicole kept her drugs in a duffel bag, which he had seen in the Bahamas. He said he saw prescription bottles including methadone in pill and liquid forms.

The inquest continues.

By Matheus Sanchez, Jan 30 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy