An expert hired by Anna Nicole Smith to perform a second autopsy on her dead
son has returned an inconclusive verdict.

Cyril Wecht, a Pittsburgh-based forensic pathologist, carried out the
examination on Sunday (09.17.06) in the Bahamas.

Daniel Smith, 20, was found dead on a chair while visiting his mother in a
hospital situated on the Caribbean island last week, three days after she
gave birth to his baby sister.



Wecht - who has previously worked on investigations into the deaths of Elvis
Presley and John F. Kennedy - ruled out a number of potential natural
causes, including heart disease, cancer, systemic infection or a pulmonary
embolism.

Wecht also concurred with medical experts who carried out the initial
autopsy last week that foul play was not suspected.

He said: "I find nothing to suggest to me any kind of foul play.

"I think that we have a tragic death of a young man and ultimately the cause
is going to be determined."

Wecht added it could take weeks to determine a cause and he has taken more
samples for toxicology tests.

Anna Nicole's attorney, Michael Scott, who accompanied Wecht to the autopsy,
said: "Anna Nicole is doing well, she is getting better and wants everyone
to stop jumping to conclusions."

Last week, Bahamian government officials revealed they were treating
Daniel's death as "suspicious".

Daniel's body has been released to a funeral home in Nassau, before it is
returned to California.

A jury inquest is scheduled for October 23.

This is just so sad. I feel so bad for her. I cannot even fathom what she must be going through. Gob bless her and her new daughter.

I love how the press says the death was not “natural”...what could be natural about dying at 20 yrs old?

Man i hope they find out soon and i hope it wasn’t drugs. But what conclusion is everybody jumping to?

parissucksliterally…I work with cardiac and forensic pathologists.  You would be surprised as to how many young people die from natural causes.  There could be a number of things; abnormalities (many not even detected until after autopsy), disease processes, etc.

This is a fucked up situation. It is more sad that there has not been an official reason to why he died. Whatever happens, I hope everyone will be peaceful & get through this tragedy

Im sickened about this…I have been since the story first broke.  Does anyone else think this is just to hard for the human mind to comprehend?

I mean ...how do you give birth to new baby girl and then lose your son that is an adult that has been your ROCK through everything!  Its too much to handle…my brain cant handle the emotions that she must be feeling!  Ugh. Thats rough.

thanks for the info, I had no idea.

I don’t understand why a jury needs to be pulled. What possible charges could they bring? On the news they said something about anna or howard being charged, thats crazy. The media is taking this too far. I feel so bad for Anna.

No problem parissucks!

It’s possible that Daniel could have had a congenital heart defect that was previously undiscovered.  That’s what happened to John Ritter.  Nobody had any clue until it was too late, and it happened quite suddenly. 

I am puzzled, however, about the insistence by her lawyer that nobody jumps to conclusions.  If she is in fact innocent, and I’m sure she is, why even insinuate that anyone would think otherwise?  Many people who die at a young age succumb to natural causes.  I’m not a big Anna Nicole fan, but I don’t believe she or anyone close to her had anything to do with his death.

Dude, poor woman. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes.

POOR ANNA.

keep your head up, it will get better.

I hope Anna finds comfort in her new baby. It’s a shame that as she gave life to another child, her baby boy had to be taken away. I can’t even imagine the pain she must be suffering at all this, but I’m praying for her and her family.

Great point Damaris.  I watched the bio on Anna Nicole and it said that Daniel was sick a lot as a baby.  He may have something that no one will find until they autopsy him.  I feel so bad for Anna, being caught up in so many different emotions I hope she hangs in there.