Exclusive: Smith's Bodyguard Says Baby's Father Is Howard K. Stern

By
ABC News
February 23, 2007, 4:25 PM ET
3 min read

Feb. 23, 2007 — -- Through the end of Anna Nicole Smith's life and in the moments before her death, Moe Brighthaupt was one of the few people by her side.

Brighthaupt protected Smith for four years as her bodyguard. In an exclusive interview with ABC's Chris Cuomo, he talked about how he had tried to save Smith's life in her final moments, what she wanted in death, and who he believes fathered Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall.

Brighthaupt agreed with Florida Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin's ruling that Smith be buried in the Bahamas with her son, Daniel. He said Smith's breakdown at Daniel's grave proved that she wanted to lie next to him.

"She just said, 'I want to be with my baby. If something were to happen with me, I want to be right next to my baby,'" he said.

Brighthaupt also said that before she died, Smith told him that Howard K. Stern was the father of 6-month-old Dannielynn.

"I believe that I'm going to believe anything that Anna tells me," he said. "She told me that Howard's the father."

Lips Said Something Was Wrong

Brighthaupt recounted the night that Smith died. He found her on the bathroom floor of her Florida hotel room and saw that her lips were discolored.

"I looked at her lips. If you know Anna, she has the most beautiful pink, full lips. … [But] they were blue. I knew I had to go to action," he said.

In an attempt to revive her, Brighthaupt began administering CPR. It wasn't the first time he had tried to save Smith's life: A few weeks after Daniel's death, she fell into a pool and Brighthaupt rescued her with CPR.

After numerous attempts in her Florida hotel room, the veteran bodyguard realized that he couldn't bring Smith back.

Brighthaupt traveled with Smith to the emergency room. When they got to the hospital, he requested a chaplain and prayed for her.

"I leaned down next to her and asked her to keep going and I said a long prayer for her," he said.

Brighthaupt believes that Smith died to go to a better place. He said that the stress and depression induced by her son's death was too much for her to handle.

"I really do believe the loss of her son, depression [caused her death.] Her heart was broken," he said. "It was time for her to rest. It was time for her to let it go, to let her be with her son."