Anna Nicole Smith found in hotel room unresponsive

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by Sarah

so what have the tabloids been saying over the last 2 days?

and.. it is sad, indeed.

Anna Nicole: The New Witnesses

Our ANNA NICOLE SMITH investigation takes a whole new turn on tonight's "Insider," as we talk to the two men who say they were witnesses to the events following the death of Anna's 20-year-old son, DANIEL.

BEN THOMPSON and his son-in-law, FORD SHELLY, who claim they bought the home in the Bahamas that Anna was living in at the time of Daniel's passing, say they were at the hospital soon after a deadly mix of Zoloft, Lexapro and methadone killed Daniel just three days after the birth of Anna's daughter, DANNIELYNN.

The fact that methadone was found in Daniel's body has been the source of much speculation, with tabloids even making accusations linking Anna's partner, HOWARD K. STERN, to the drug. A claim that Howard vehemently denies.

"I never gave it to him," insists Howard. "I would have never hurt Daniel. I loved Daniel. He was my family."

With regard to the methadone, "The Insider" asks Thompson and Ford: "With your own eyes, did you see Howard flush or dispose of pills or methadone down the toilet?"

"No, I was not there at that time, or maybe I was in another room, but I wasn't privy to any of that," says Thompson.

"But you need to know one thing," Ford points out. "I heard the toilet flush and the pills didn't come back."

Thompson also opens up about having, what he calls, a "short, romantic relationship" with Anna that eventually led to "a genuine friendship."

"It was very short-lived, a month maybe, but you've got to understand, she lived in California, I lived here," recalls Thompson. "We were more friends than anything I would say."

And it was that friendship that he claims Anna turned to just prior to giving birth to Dannielynn.

"Anna wanted to put my name on the birth certificate as the father," says Thompson. "I never commited to her, but I sort of went along with her to appease her. But when the baby came and finally she had to put a father on the birth certificate, I told her I would not do it. I knew it was a lie, I knew I was not the father and I did not want to go on record that I was."

And while Anna insists Howard is the father, photographer LARRY BIRKHEAD has maintained that he too had a relationship with Anna, and that Dannielynn is his.

It was announced Wednesday that a California judge has set a new date -- February 21, 2007 -- for Anna to complete a DNA test to determine the paternity of the child.