US: Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend testified yesterday that he tried to curb the former centrefold's drug use and the judge referred to her long-time companion, Howard K Stern, as "maybe an enabler".
Florida circuit judge Larry Seidlin began the sixth day of a hearing to decide the fate of Smith's body with a long diatribe, saying she lacked a strong support system and speculated that her relationships with estranged mother Virgie Arthur and ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead soured because of her overuse of prescription drugs.
"We have Stern. Is he a bad guy or is he a fellow that has some form of a love for her? We don't know," Judge Seidlin said. "Whatever relationship he had with her, he would be called maybe an enabler." Mr Stern's attorney, Krista Barth, rose in objection, but the judge continued in what promised to be a long day of testimony.
The judge set a self-imposed deadline to rule by today, so Smith's embalmed body will not decompose too much for a public viewing.
Ms Arthur wants to bring Ms Smith home to her native Texas, and attorney-turned-boyfriend Mr Stern wants a burial in the Bahamas, where her son, Daniel, died of apparent drug-related causes last year.
Mr Birkhead testified that when he visited the Bahamas home Ms Smith and Mr Stern shared last year, he became increasingly concerned about her drug use. "They kept bringing more and more drugs in the house," he said, adding that Mr Stern told him Ms Smith needed the prescriptions to live.
Mr Birkhead said he suggested she enter drug rehabilitation, but that she told him: "I'm not a drug addict and quit calling me one."
Ms Smith (39) died on February 8th in a Florida hotel, but the cause is still unknown.
So far, the testimony has been peppered with details of her sexual liaisons and the deals allegedly being pursued to profit from her death and the death of her son.
On Wednesday Ms Arthur was questioned about any compensation she has or would receive from news organisations for access to interviews after the deaths of her daughter and grandson. She frequently said no to questions about arrangements with specific media outlets, and sidestepped other questions or claimed she did not understand them. Mr Stern and Mr Birkhead denied getting paid.
Ms Arthur said her last conversation with her daughter about burial was more than 10 years ago, when Ms Smith said she wanted to be interred near her idol Marilyn Monroe, whose body is in a Los Angeles crypt. Mr Birkhead testified he had had a similar conversation with her in recent years.
Even Mr Stern acknowledged the former Playboy model had hoped to be buried near Monroe, though he said she settled on a Bahamian site after her son died.