Anna Nicole Smith's mother seeks burial in Texas

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 at a hearing on where the former centerfold should be laid to rest.

Photo: Anna Nicole Smith's mother seeks burial in Texas

Howard K. Stern is locked in a dispute with Smith's estranged mother. Stern Tuesday 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, Bahamas. 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." He said after the young man died, Smith sometimes cuddled with a poster-size picture of him.

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.

Stern said Smith "always thought she was going to die young," at 36 or 37, and had hoped to be buried next to her hero, Marilyn Monroe, in California.

Stern said he investigated the idea for Smith years ago and again after Daniel died. Stern said Smith later asked him to look into burial sites in the Bahamas.

"She talked about death, really, from the time that I met her," he said.

Stern is listed on the birth certificate as the father of Smith's daughter, 5-month-old Dannielynn.

Arthur also took the stand Tuesday, testifying that drugs soured her relationship with her daughter. Arthur said the two talked only every few months and that Smith often called her in the middle of the night sounding "drugged."

"She was on Valium. She liked downers," Arthur said. "She didn't like uppers."

Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper told the judge by phone that Smith's body was decomposing rapidly.

"The viewing should be done this week, Saturday or before," Perper said. "If it's next week, then I'm not sure."

In Los Angeles, Stern's lawyers argued with attorneys for photographer Larry Birkhead, who claims he fathered the girl. Dannielyn could be worth millions of dollars, depending on how Smith's estate is divided up, reports AP.

Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider declined to relinquish the paternity case but suggested there were still questions to be resolved before the courts can determine which state has jurisdiction.

Smith was the widow of Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. The two married in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. She had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million (EUR380.37 million) fortune since his death in 1995.