Anna Nicole Smith Mystery SOLVED 18 Years After Her Death: Autopsy Coroner Tells All — Including Why Blonde Bombshell Didn't Have to Die and Truth Behind Her Battered Body
Anna Nicole Smith took flu medication and copious amounts of chloral hydrate the night of her death.
Feb. 7 2025, Published 1:45 p.m. ET
The truth behind Anna Nicole Smith's tragic death is finally coming to light after 18 years.
Smith passed away from a drug overdose at the age of 39 in a Florida hotel room – and sources now claim the overconsumption was tied to her desperate search for a peaceful night's sleep, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
A coroner's report showed Smith was most likely attempting to get a restful night's sleep before she died.
The blonde pinup consumed large quantities of the prescription sleep aid chloral hydrate, and when combined with a cocktail of other medications and a severe infection, it tragically led to her untimely death, according to coroner Dr. Joshua Perper.
Unfortunately, the iconic beauty ignored pleas from friends urging her to get medical help for her flu-like symptoms and soaring fever, which reached a dangerously high 105 degrees.
A private nurse discovered the late actress unresponsive in bed inside a Florida hotel room.
Perper said: "If she would have gone to the hospital, she wouldn't have died because she wouldn't have had the opportunity to take the excessive amount of chloral hydrate."
The onetime Playboy Playmate of the Year arrived at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Feb. 5, 2007, for a four-day stay.
Still reeling from the tragic drug overdose death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, just five months earlier – three days after giving birth to her daughter, Dannielynn – she had been relying on a mix of medications to manage her grief.
Shortly after arriving at the hotel, Smith was hit with a severe stomach bug, and she was also plagued by a large, pus-filled abscess on her buttocks that doctors said came from repeated unsterile drug injections.
On the morning of February 8, the model was given an ice bath, which brought the raging fever down to 97 degrees.
Once out of danger from that threat, she took Tamiflu, the powerful antibiotic ciprofloxacin, and copious amounts of chloral hydrate before going to sleep.
At 1 p.m., a private nurse discovered Smith unresponsive in bed. She instructed hotel security to call paramedics and performed CPR.
The 39-year-old was quickly taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The autopsy on Smith's body noted bruises and injuries, breast-enhancement scars, and tattoos.
Smith, who gained notorious fame in 1994 by marrying 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall – seemingly for his wealth – had been spiraling ever since the death of her son Daniel, from her first marriage to childhood sweetheart Billy Wayne Smith.
She was reportedly so distraught that she tried to climb into the casket with him.
Howard K.Stern, who was Anna Nicole's boyfriend and agent in her final days, said: "Emotionally, she died when Daniel died."
Following Daniel's death, Smith was treated by psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and internist Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.
Despite already having addiction problems, she was prescribed numerous medications, including Valium, Klonopin, Nordazepam, and other anti-depression and anti-anxiety drugs.
Witnesses testified Stern and Dr. Eroshevich crushed and heated some of the drugs to turn them into an injectable liquid. One witness said the drugs left Smith "unable to walk" and "unable to handle her talking."
But Perper, the late Broward County Chief Medical Examiner who performed Smith's autopsy, stressed it was the chloral hydrate that did her in.
He said she "drank indiscriminately from those bottles of chloral hydrate," adding: "There were other therapeutic drugs (in her body), but they were not in toxic or high levels."
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Smith was sill reeling from the tragic drug overdose death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, just five months earlier.
Perper said the other meds "wouldn't have killed her, but in aggregate they caused acute combined drug intoxication."
The autopsy also noted bruises and injuries, breast-enhancement scars, and tattoos, including a Playboy bunny, a Bible intertwined with a heart and shooting flames, and the smiling face of her idol Marilyn Monroe – who also died from a chloral hydrate overdose.
A source said: "Anna Nicole and Marilyn were worshiped for their beauty but were still tortured souls.
"It's ironic that they both died from the same drug while trying to find a short respite from their demons."
