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Judge Larry Seidlin Interview
(The Killing of Anna Nicole Smith)
She was called the “Marilyn Monroe of her generation” and like Marilyn Monroe she too met an untimely death that remains shrouded in mystery to this day.
We are speaking of course about Anna Nicole Smith.
Was Anna Nicole Smith murdered? Or did she commit suicide?
If she died from a drug overdose, was it accidental or intentional?
And, what about Anna Nicole’s 20 year old son, who did not have a drug problem but strangely enough, died just a few months before from a methadone overdose. Was Daniel murdered?
Was his overdose accidental or intentional?
The man who captivated America and the world during the six day trial in which he explored the other side of show business – prescription drug abuse among celebrities and the role their hanger-ons play in their addiction and sometimes their death – has written a book.
The man is Judge Larry Seidlin.
Judge Larry Seidlin is absolutely convinced the original investigations into the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son were seriously flawed.
He believes that someone committed manslaughter through reckless conduct in the death of Anna Nicole Smith. He also believes that reckless conduct led to the death of her son.
In his book “The Killing of Anna Nicole Smith”, Judge Seidlin, presents damning evidence and explains for the very first time why justice has not been served in the Anna Nicole Smith case.
Q – Judge Seidlin, there was a lot of talk that you were looking to become a star of Reality T.V. But, you never got your own t.v. show, did you?
A – What it was, was I’m out of the box as a judge. I’m not a traditional judge. I’m a judge that leaves it all out on the playing field. I show my compassion, my sympathy and my sensitivity. This was also a judge trial. It wasn’t a jury trial. In a judge trial the count can be a lot more involved in the questioning of the witnesses and the questioning of the parties. It’s interesting to note that since that case, since the Anna Nicole case, there’s been sensitivity courses for judges throughout the country, in different states for judges to start to show empathy and sympathy towards the people in their courtroom. That’s the way I always am. The way you saw me is the way I always am.
Q – I have to admit I’d never seen a judge act the way you acted. You could tell there was great concern for the case you were handling.
A – Yes. The great concern was the welfare of Dannilynn. That was my greatest concern, that Dannilynn would have a good life.
Q – If you’re no longer a judge, what do you spend your time doing? Making guest appearances on t.v. shows like Geraldo?
A – Yes. I’ve been a judicial analyst, for the last 3 years. I’ve been on Larry King, CNN with Wolf Blitzer, Jane Velez Mitchell, the Today Show. I was doing a Michael Jackson analysis and other cases. Good Morning America. Extra. Entertainment Tonight. Access Hollywood. These days I spend a lot of time with my daughter. Then I spent a long time and a lot of energy writing the book. I felt like I left a piece of my soul on the pages of that book, and I think you feel it when you read it.
Q – After reading your book, I come away with a better understanding of what happened. There is still the matter of Justice. That needs to be served.
A – Yes. I felt that Anna Nicole was knocking at my door. I felt that Justice was not served, that this true crime is not finished. It’s unfinished business. I called for in the book and I called for it on the t.v. screen or with you, print media, radio - there must be an investigation into the deaths of both Anna Nicole and Daniel, her son.
Q – Given your background, and you know about Anna Nicole Smith’s background, she was a stripper and a Playboy Centerfold, do you have an understanding of how in the end she found herself in the position she was in? Can you even begin to understand how a woman who has everything, finds herself dead on the floor of a hotel room at the age of 39?
A – She was always afraid she would die the same age as Marilyn Monroe (36). I understand it, yes. I felt I always understood it. What happens is, and I think you would agree with me in this lifetime you need mentors. You need people that advise and guide and recommend and that they do this in your best interest. They do it in what’s best for you. I said it in the book: sometimes it’s your father and mother, but, sometimes it’s beyond their group, it’s beyond their comprehension. It’s too sophisticated for them. But what happens is, unfortunately, sports figures, entertainers, they’re thrust into this land, into this water of barracudas and sharks. They’re not prepared for it. They have an entourage like the old heavy-weight fighters. When they divvy up their purse, there’s about $2.00 left for a chicken salad.
Q – You write in your book that doctors want to be part of the celebrity glitz and glamour that surrounds someone like Anna Nicole Smith. I don’t think she was all that famous. It’s not like she was a big t.v. or movie star.
A – But, every step she took there was paparazzi around. There were camera bulbs flashing. There was plenty of activity. Whatever she did there was always eyes watching. She made newspaper, t.v. all the time. Someone goes to medical school and they’re sitting in their little office and no one’s noticing them. All of a sudden they’re thrust into the environment of a media star and they’re sharing in that. It’s like a high for them. They enjoy that environment. Also, when you look at some of the doctors like Dr. Murray (Michael Jackson’s doctor), when you look at his income, his income became what? Over $100,000 a month carrying for Michael Jackson. He had terrible financial strain prior to that.
Q – And here we are well over a year later and we still don’t know what really happened to Michael Jackson.
A – Yeah. I called Michael Jackson Anna Nicole Two. There’s similar circumstances. Similar problems. An entourage around them giving them candy anytime they wanted it. Never saying no. You asked me why do doctors do it? They do it to be in the eye of the media, to be with the stars, to be with the entertainers. Some of ‘em do it for financial reasons, but, all these ulterior motives are not what’s in the best interest of the entertainer. When you have fame and fortune, I said in the book, like Socrates, is there one honest man here? You need one person that has impeccable integrity to be a bodyguard, to protect you.
Q – Why didn’t law enforcement in the Bahamas, reach out for assistance to the F.B.I. in the investigation of Anna Nicole Smith’s death?
A – They don’t want to do it on a number of levels. They can call in the F.B.I. When an American citizen dies on foreign soil, if you go to the F.B.I. website it says that they will investigate an American dying in another country. Anna Nicole died in the Hard Rock Casino on Seminole land. She died on the Indian reservation.
Q – Which is another country?
A - Basically, yes. It’s another world. You ask why? They don’t want negative publicity. They don’t want a murder investigation. Look how bad it is for them when it’s just an accidental death. Number Two, they don’t want to lose control and power. To call in another authority, a different agency you give up the power. You give up the authority. They’re not doing that either. They lose control. That’s the two primary reasons. I was the Legal Advisor to the Sherriff’s Department in Broward County and we would only be called in through invitation from a little police department. Some of them would call us in, many times they didn’t. It’s ego.
Q – The reasoning would probably be, we don’t want to admit were not smart enough to figure out this case.
A – They don’t have the equipment, the experts, the labs. I talked about it in the book, the Police Chief from the Seminole Indians said, ‘I looked at all the tapes that were in the hotel’. Well, that’s great. She never left her room, Anna Nicole. When she checked in, she was leaning against the wall. When she went into that room, she never left that room, 607.
Q – You say that room no longer exists. The Seminole Tribe refurbished that room, changed the number and that screams of a cover-up. Is that really evidence of a cover-up or did they do that because they didn’t want to take calls from every nut in the world reserving Room 607.
A – Yes. I think that would be the right explanation. That’s the reasoning, yes. They had a Medicine Man going in there to get out the evil spirits. They want 100% positive publicity.
Q – So, how are the numbers running these days?
A – (Laughs). They just moved all the room numbers around. They moved it around like Bingo.
Q – So, Room Number 605 might now be 607. You wouldn’t know, but they would know.
A – Right. They would know. The Indian Chiefs know. When I went to the Bahamas, to the hospital where Anna Nicole gave birth and also the room where Daniel died, I went in that room. That room is still there. There were two women in there, who had just delivered their babies. I was trying to get a picture of that room to show how small that room is. It’s a tiny little room in the maternity section of the hospital.
Q – On Page 264 of your book you write, “We’re still trying to get full details in the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. What happened to the old fashioned news reporters who would roll up their sleeves, get a good reading light, put on a soft pair of shoes, hit the pavement and get all sides of the story with no prior agenda, but to seek the truth?
A – (Laughs).
Q – I’m glad you posed that question in your book? You know why? ‘Cause I know the answer. All of the news reporters today are trying to get on the A list of the exclusive parties whether they be held in Washington, D.C. or Hollywood. They want to be buddies with the people they cover. That’s what’s wrong with the coverage today. That’s the problem.
A – They want to be in the Font Row of the news conference. They don’t want to be banned from entering that news room like we’ve seen some of The New York Times reporters over time.
Q – The Walter Cronkite’s of the world are no longer with us.
A – Yes. Like Geraldo. To me, Geraldo is a throw-back to that time. He’s been doing it for 37 years. He doesn’t take any prisoners. He’s prepared to disclose and state what he believes took place.
Q – One person in particular, who was close to Anna Nicole does not come out looking so good in this book. Was that intentional? How did you set things up?
A – I laid out the essential elements, transcripts of my trial. Then I gave you my thoughts on key points of the trial. Then, I presented new evidence. I gave you the Bahamian Inquest which I was able to get, which would have cost me a fortune to get through the Bahamian Governor and I would’ve been rejected. They would never have turned it over to me, because when you look at it, it has more holes than Swiss cheese. Then I gave you other statements that were given by essential parties and witnesses in this case. Then I turned the reader into the juror and let the reader decide the guilt or innocence of other parties and what crimes if any should be charged.
Q – What if anything is going to happen with the death of Anna Nicole’s son, Daniel?
A – I’m asking for an investigation into the death of Daniel. I felt it was foul play. I felt the circumstances were very unusual that a boy who comes from L.A. that night to visit his mother, to convince his mother to come back to L.A., also to visit his new-born sister and he’s excited. He’s happy to be there. In the middle of the night he wakes up and says, ‘Why am I so tired’? and then he dies of the drug methadone that is foreign to his body. He never took methadone before. How can he have all this methadone in him? Even when he’s dead there’s so much more in him that his body hasn’t processed the remainder of it.
Q – That’s an Unsolved Mystery if there ever was one.
A – Yes. It’s sad. It’s sickening. And Virgie, Anna Nicole’s mother when she was in my courtroom had just lost her grandson to suspicious circumstances and just lost her daughter to suspicious circumstances.
Q – Did Anna Nicole ever question the circumstances surrounding her son’s death?
A – She made some statements that she couldn’t understand how her son died. She raised some red flags. But, what I did with this book is, I stayed with the evidence. I didn’t want to get into He Said, She Said. I wanted to give you the reader, you the commentator, I wanted to give you the hard, cold facts. Not. I speak to these people and they tell you one thing one day and something else the next day.
Everything you have is Sworn Testimony. And that’s what I wanted you to have. What I get in the courtroom is what I wanted you to get as a reader. I wanted this book to be a trial, a Super Trial and for you to decide what it is. Also, what I did is I think this book is a roadmap into the trial. It’s going to tell you how the trial is going to proceed.
Q – The title of the book alone, “The Killing of Anna Nicole Smith” is going to grab people’s attention.
A – Yes. I believe that both she was killed and Daniel were killed by over-prescription of drugs. Too many prescription drugs, whatever that means murder or lesser included offenses of manslaughter or lesser crimes is up to the juror to decide. What I’m asking for and what law enforcement is asking for and they’ve turned to me and said we want a National Registry. We want a National Registry where the people, the patients, have the drugs they’re taking, the doctors that are prescribing these drugs and the pharmacies that are filling these prescriptions. The time has come.
Q – Of course you’ll find some resistance from the pharmacies.
A – 70% of all these pain drugs are coming out of my town, Broward County. 70% of all these pain pills are coming out of South Florida. It’s wild. We got the blood on our hands of entertainers and the average person, the common folk.
Q – What kind of feedback are you getting about the book?
A – Its funny, everybody approaches the book differently. I had a Police Chief call me last night from Pennsylvania. He said to me ‘I took a weeks vacation. I was on the Virginia Beach and I couldn’t put the book down. He took it from a criminal justice view point. What goes on in a courtroom? He liked that I was telling him what goes on in a courtroom. It’s interesting. Other members call about members of their family that are on drugs or addicted to drugs. I talk to them. It’s a form of Tough Love, saying ‘Look, you gotta stop this’. It’s very fascinating. People have different takes on the book.
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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