Private Autopsy Says Drug Combo Killed Anna Nicole's Son

Sept. 27, 2006 — -- Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son died from a "classical" combination of methadone and two antidepressant drugs, according to Cyril Wecht, a U.S. pathologist who conducted a private autopsy.

Daniel Smith had methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro in his system, which produced a lethal "cumulative effect on the central nervous system," leading to his death on Sept. 10, said Wecht.

"The fact that we have these drugs and the levels of the drugs overwhelmingly and most logically point to this being a tragic, accidental, drug-related death," Wecht told The Associated Press from his home in the Pittsburgh area.

Zoloft and Lexapro are antidepressants commonly prescribed for patients suffering anxiety and panic disorders.

Methadone, a pain reliever, is also commonly used by people recovering from drug addictions. Wecht told the AP, "No one has suggested anything having to do with drug addiction in this boy."

Smith was reportedly suffering from depression in the weeks before he went to the Bahamas to visit his reality TV star mom, who had just given birth to a daughter. He died in the hospital room where his mother was recuperating.

In the meantime, Smith's attorney and her former boyfriend have begun a paternity fight over Smith's newborn, Danilynne Hope, which she named after her son.

Howard K. Stern, Smith's attorney, told a cable news program Monday night that he plans to marry the former Playboy playmate.

"We will never get over Daniel not being with us, but at the same time we have a big responsibility and a big bundle of joy that hopefully, hopefully, will not be affected at all by what we are going through right now,'' Stern said on "Larry King Live."

He became the second person to claim parental rights. A day earlier, Smith's former boyfriend, photographer Larry Birkhead, told another news program that he believes he is the father. He dated Smith until June and told Fox he learned about the pregnancy in February.

Smith turns 39 in November and married Bill Smith, Daniel's father, in 1985, but they divorced two years later.