Smith wanted burial with son, Stern says

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A grief-stricken Anna Nicole Smith threw herself over her son’s body last fall as he lay in a coffin in the Bahamas, wailing, “If Daniel has to be buried, I want to buried with him,” her boyfriend testified Tuesday at a hearing on where the former centerfold should be laid to rest.

Howard K. Stern is locked in a dispute with Smith’s estranged mother. Stern said that Smith made it clear during her son’s funeral that she wanted to be buried in the Bahamas, while Smith’s mother wants the pinup laid to rest in her native Texas.

Without written proof of Smith’s wishes, Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin was forced to hear testimony from those who claim to know what she wanted. Seidlin said he would decide by the end of the week.

Separately, a California judge refused to give up the paternity case involving Smith’s baby daughter.

In Fort Lauderdale, Stern recounted Smith’s actions at her 20-year-old son Daniel’s funeral after he died of apparent drug-related causes.

“She had the people open the casket and she was just inconsolable and hugging Daniel and grabbing onto him, and she wanted to go down with Daniel right there,” Stern testified. “She said, ‘If Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him.’ “

Smith died in Florida on Feb. 8 at age 39. The cause of death is under investigation.

A bodyguard, doctor, neighbor and friend all have submitted affidavits claiming Smith told them she wanted to be buried next to her son.

Stern’s attorney, Krista Barth, said she had bank documentation proving Smith had agreed to pay for two cemetery plots in Nassau. Barth showed an “Entertainment Tonight” interview in which Smith expressed hatred for her estranged mother. Barth also questioned Stern about Smith’s relationship with her late son.

“Anna and Daniel were inseparable,” Stern said. “Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna’s life.”

Stern testified Smith “was my best friend, lover, the mother of my daughter – everything to me.” But he conceded that Smith had other lovers. “I wanted her to be happy,” he said.

He also said he was not looking for any money from her estate and would waive his fee as executor of her will. “I do not intend to get one penny,” Stern said.