Celebrity Justice
Anna Nicole Death Timeline

TMZ has pieced together some of the events that ended in the discovery that Anna Nicole Smith was dead.
Stern, Smith, And Big MOe
Rewind to the morning of February 8. Anna Nicole Smith was in bed in her suite at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Tasma "Taz" Brighthaupt, the wife of bodyguard Big Moe, was tending to Anna. Taz believed Smith was sleeping. Mid-morning, she left the suite and went with Big Moe to the airport to pick up some people.

We're told that just before noon, Big Moe, his wife and several others entered the hotel lobby. As they approached the elevator, Howard K. Stern came down the elevator from Anna's room. They all chatted and all went upstairs. Moe and his wife went into their room in the suite, leaving Howard in the living room. We don't know if Howard entered Anna's room.

We're told that a short time later (just after 12 noon), Moe was getting ready to leave. Howard asked Taz if she would stay and tend to Anna. She remained and Moe and Howard left.

We're told once in the lobby, Howard began pacing as he used his cellphone. Moe left the hotel.

We're told Taz never spoke with Anna that day. Taz assumed she was sleeping. Taz was using a computer near Anna's bed, never knowing there was trouble. At around 1:30, Taz realized something was wrong and called her husband. Moe then called the hotel, and someone on the staff then called 911.

It is unclear what Stern was doing between 12:00 and 1:30, but we're told he did not go back to the room during this timeframe.

Reader Comments

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16. He gave her the drugs and got out of there thinking we would not be suspect if he is not there.

Posted at 2:02PM on Mar 8th 2007 by penny

17. I don't believe this for one second. This is what Big Moe said...

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," February 26, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: What happened to Anna Nicole ? What went on in that room at that Hard Rock hotel and casino? Big Moe was there when she was dying and when she died. He was Anna Nicole's friend and also her bodyguard. Big Moe talked to us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: When did you first meet up? Was it on the Monday.

BIG MOE, ANNA NICOLE'S FORMER BODYGUARD: On the Monday. Monday evening, I think it was, late afternoon.

VAN SUSTEREN: What was her condition when you saw her that late afternoon?

BIG MOE: Well, when she came in, she was shivering. She had every sign of a flu that I know. She was a little sick. She was shivering. She was - couldn't eat. And when we put her to bed, I checked her temperature, and her temperature was up to 105. And I told her, I said - I told her, I said, Baby girl, I'm about to call - you know, I'm about to call 911. You knead to go to the hospital. And she begged me not to. And I said, Well, this is just - it's - this is not acceptable to me. I mean, we have to do something.

(Story continues below)

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So we picked her up and put her in, like, some water, put some ice in the water and broke her temperature, and the temperature went back to 98. And then she took some flu medicine, which was prescribed by a doctor, a local doctor. I don't know who the doctor was, but it was provided by Hard Rock.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you put her in the cold water. Is that in part because - I mean, you spend - your living is saving lives. Is this part of your training a little bit?

BIG MOE: Well, that's the part - that's something that I knew in knowledge from what my grandmother told me, you know, just some common knowledge that you - you know, first of all, if your fever is too high, you can, you know, spasm out, catch a - get a stroke, or you know - or have a seizure. So we knew we had to bring her temperature down. And then she - after we brought it down, you know, Anna being who Anna is, and you know, she begged not to go to the hospital. So we monitored all night and the next day, and her fever never really broke - I mean, went up anymore, so...

VAN SUSTEREN: When you say "we," who's "we"?

BIG MOE: Well, her friends that was in the room. It was me, Howard, and her long-time friend, Chris Rasovitch (ph).

VAN SUSTEREN: Is that the psychiatrist from Los Angeles ?

BIG MOE: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: She was in the room, too?

BIG MOE: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know why she was there?

BIG MOE: Friends.

VAN SUSTEREN: Not in a professional...

BIG MOE: No, no. Anyone that was there was strictly there as friends. I was there as a strict friend.

VAN SUSTEREN: You weren't working as a bodyguard, total friend.

BIG MOE: I was not working - total friend. I told you, from this point now - from point now to when Daniel died - I got there the day after Daniel died, September 11 . Of course, I remember that because of the tragedy that my fellow men went through.

VAN SUSTEREN: Fellow firefighters.

BIG MOE: Fellow firefighters went through. And up to the day she died, I didn't get paid one cent to work with her. Even when we was at the Hard Rock and she went to that boxing match, I was there strictly as a friend. She was going through a lot of legal problems, so you know, I didn't want to bug her with that.

VAN SUSTEREN: On that Monday night, February 5, when the temperature's 105 - Chris, her friend, is also an M.D. Did she say anything, like, this temperature is really high?

BIG MOE: Oh, of course.

VAN SUSTEREN: And what was Anna - what was the interaction between Anna and Chris, who is an M.D.?

BIG MOE: Well, she had the same interaction like she had with me. She just did not want to go to the doctor. She didn't want to go to the hospital. She said she'd be all right. But by the time we - we was going to take her. As a matter of fact, I had to force her to get in the tub because I told I her if she didn't get in the tub, I'm going to call the ambulance. You can get upset with me and we don't talk for a week, if you want. That's fine. But my main goal is to make sure you're healthy. And she agreed to let me pick her up and put her in the tub.

VAN SUSTEREN: Tuesday, February 6, any better?

BIG MOE: She was a lot better. I mean, you know, she was a lot better. Still sick, though. You know, fever was maybe, maybe 100, but controllable, you know? And she would wake up, you know, eat, walk around the room, and then, you know, go back to sleep...

VAN SUSTEREN: Leave the room at all?

BIG MOE: ... watch TV - no, no. We had - we was in the suite, so you had - she had a bedroom, and then she had the living room area. So she would walk out there, we'd watch some movies, you know, eat her favorite meal. She loved chocolate strawberries, so we'd get chocolate strawberries for her and we'd all eat it together.

VAN SUSTEREN: But wouldn't leave the suite. Or I mean, she wouldn't go down...

BIG MOE: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: ... and gamble in the casino or...

BIG MOE: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: ... nothing...

BIG MOE: I heard the stories that she was drinking before. None of that. All that is...

VAN SUSTEREN: I hadn't heard those.

BIG MOE: ... wrong. Well, I heard the story. I mean, you know, I watched a lot of the news before I - I remember a couple days ago, before I went and interviewed with someone else, I stayed up until about 3:00 in the morning - I had to wake up at 6:00 in the morning - trying to see if anyone would say anything positive about this situation. And that's why I'm out here now because I feel that I have to be an advocate for her because she cannot speak for herself now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: What did Big Moe do when Anna Nicole stopped breathing? Much more of his account is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAN SUSTEREN: What happened to Anna Nicole inside that Hard Rock Hotel room? Her bodyguard and friend, "Big Moe," was there for her last moments alive. "Big Moe" shared his account with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: On February 8, that's the day she died. Do you remember about what time you woke up?

BIG MOE: Yeah. I decided to sleep in the room. It was an open room, and I knew she wasn't feeling well and Howard and her just asked me, "Hey, can you just stay over?" I said, "Oh, no problem." So, I woke up. I stayed that night prior, on the 7th, and woke up the next morning around, I don't know, 9:30, 10:00, and I went in the room to check on them.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, stop right there. Who's sleeping in the suite at this point? It's Anna and Howard?

BIG MOE: Anna and Howard.

VAN SUSTEREN: They're in one room in the suite?

BIG MOE: They're in one room in a suite.

VAN SUSTEREN: They're sharing a room.

BIG MOE: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, where's Chris at this point?

BIG MOE: Chris had went back to L.A. the day before, on the 7th. That's why the room was open. She was there on the 5th and 6th and then she left to go back to her own practice on the 7th.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, so - and so you were there. Who else was there?

BIG MOE: On the 7th. Just me.

VAN SUSTEREN: Just you. About what - I mean, some time late morning, early afternoon, one of you - somebody noticed that she was in terrible distress?

BIG MOE: We was - are you talking about during the...

VAN SUSTEREN: Thursday, the day she died.

BIG MOE: OK, when I woke up, I went in and checked with them.

VAN SUSTEREN: She seemed how?

BIG MOE: She was - I saw her moving around a little bit and she seemed tired, she was sleeping. I mean, she don't wake up, she - her routine was, especially since her son died, is sleep for a couple hours, wake up for a couple hours, and move around, eat, watch TV or whatever, and then go back to sleep. So, I figured that she was just tired. I said, "look," I stuck my head in. I said, "look, I'm going downstairs to eat - will eat breakfast with my wife. I'll be back up." Because I knew Howard had to go get the boat because the day prior Anna was like, can you get our boat so we can ride back because we all was going - I was going to ride back with them.

VAN SUSTEREN: They were taking delivery of their boat.

BIG MOE: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK.

BIG MOE: We was going to get the boat and then we'll go back to the Bahamas to her new house that's being built, to dock it in her dock. She had her own dock back there. So, Howard went - after I ate my breakfast, I came back upstairs and Howard, along with the captain, King Eric, who is Shane Gibson's dad, came over to captain the boat to help go back. And I had to leave, you know, I had to leave to do an errand for about 20 minutes. So, I asked my wife to just sit there and if she needed - because I knew she wasn't feeling well. I asked if she needed something to drink or if she needed help going to the bathroom, can you help her? She was like, no problem. Because Anna knew my whole family like that. And about five minutes into it, well, not five minutes, but about 15 minutes after, I think it was 15 - yeah, it was about 15 - 10 or 15 minutes I called my wife to check on her.

VAN SUSTEREN: About what time was this about?

BIG MOE: I can't tell you the time. I can't remember exactly the time. I'm just saying like 15 minutes after I left, I called and checked on her and I said, "How's she doing?" She said "Oh, she's still sleeping." I said, “Oh, OK." And then I went on doing what I was doing and then about five minutes after that, I got a frantic call from my wife, saying, "Hurry up, get back. Something's wrong with Anna. I don't think she's breathing. I'm over here trying to breathe for her and I'm doing CPR ." And then...

VAN SUSTEREN: She knew how to do CPR?

BIG MOE: Yes, she's a nurse.

VAN SUSTEREN: Just coincidentally?

BIG MOE: Just coincidentally.

VAN SUSTEREN: She's not there to be a nurse...

BIG MOE: She's not her private nurse.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. OK.

BIG MOE: Just coincidentally, she's a nurse and she was there and she started administering CPR and giving rescue breaths and, of course, when you hear something like that, first thing is disbelief, what? What do you say? Said, "Just get back here and call 911 on your way." I said OK and I hung up. When we hung up, the first thing I did was call Howard, but that took about 30 seconds to a minute. "Howard, you got to get back something's wrong is wrong with Anna." And then, you know, he was in disbelief, I just say, "Get back." And then the next thing I did was call the liaison because my phone is registered in Dade - my cell phone is registered in Dade. I knew if I dialed 911 then possibly Dade rescue would pick up, so - and I didn't know the address to the Hard Rock, so I had our liaison that helped us out in the Hard Rock to call 911. Then I rushed back.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, just explain, Dade is another county away from where you were?

BIG MOE: Yes, where we were, we were in Broward County . Well, my phone is registered under is Dade County .

VAN SUSTEREN: So, you wanted a 911 in Broward County where the hotel was.

BIG MOE: Plus, the hotel liaison knows the hotel address. So, that what happened. So, I rushed back. I was maybe about 15 minutes away and I ran every light and franticly got in there. Made it upstairs, opened up the door and I saw my wife on top of her and I gently moved her out of the way. Pulled the cover back and looked at Anna's face. Now, Anna has the most beautiful lips that you see, very pink and beautiful and when I saw them, they were like palish and blue and I knew something was wrong. And I just - I felt for a pulse. I don't know if it was my, you know, just hoping and wanting. I thought I felt a faint pulse, so the first thing did - thought about, was picking her up and putting her on the floor so I could properly do the CPR if I had to. So then I gave her a couple of breathes, they went in, but they blew back out in a way that - like a spring, you know, when you hit a spring it bounce back out, so I knew something was wrong then. And I felt for a pulse again, and then I thought I felt one, but I wasn't sure so I started administering CPR and at that time I was waiting on rescue to get there and when the first units came, they didn't have a monitor at the time. so I stood and was administering CPR and then everyone else came and we started working and then I stepped off and let professionals do their job and that's when Howard came in the room, very hectic and screaming and they was calming him down. They wouldn't let him in and he was screaming, "Moe, is Anna all right?" and I was like, "She is in good hands." And we was - and we took - I rode with Anna to the hospital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: What happened after Anna Nicole was taken to the hospital? We have much more with "Big Moe," just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAN SUSTEREN: So what really happened the day Anna Nicole died? Here is more of our talk with "Big Moe."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: She died in the hospital - I mean, she died in the hotel room, you think? I mean, you're a professional. This is sort of your business, unfortunately.

BIG MOE: Yeah. I thought maybe she was gone but, you know, through my arrogance, and I did it before and I just thought I could bring her back again. But, you know, I didn't have such a good result as I did prior.

VAN SUSTEREN: Who had to tell Howard?

BIG MOE: Oh, I had to - I called him, but I think - I called him but I believe when they brought - he didn't really find out until they brought him into the hospital and then, you know, he was really informed then. You know, it was kind of sad that, you know, Anna, I mean although I feel like I'm her brother, that I treated her like a brother that she didn't really have any real family member in there during that time, I was in the actual E.R. room when they was pushing her with drugs and trying to revive her with CPR and all of that. And the doctor came to me and told me that was the only family, I guess, she had around that did I want them to stop. My first thought was, I believe she needed a - some type of priest or a chaplain. I asked for the chaplain of the hospital to come. And it took about 15, 20 minutes, the chaplain wasn't there, so I just asked them could I lay down - lean down and say a prayer, so, you know, I said - I gave her - I'm no priest, but I gave her what I thought were her last, you know, last rite and I prayed for her. And then, you know, told them to just let her go be with her son.

VAN SUSTEREN: Terribly tragic, isn't it?

BIG MOE: Yes. And, you know, I've had plenty of conversations with Anna. And now I see it took the death to understand what she was telling me how people, you know, was treating her during life. And now in death she can't rest where she wanted to rest without a fight.

VAN SUSTEREN: She created quite an effect in her life and created quite an effect in her death.

BIG MOE: As I said, I'm just, you know, as I said before, I'm out here because I have to be advocate for her. I can't - I sit back and, you know, it's unusual for someone of my other profession, bodyguard, to come out and speak, but someone has to speak for her, just like I protected her in life. I have to protect her in death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Content and Programming Copyright 2007 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2007 Voxant, Inc. ( www.voxant.com ), which takes


Posted at 2:18PM on Mar 8th 2007 by c_dorsey_mills@yahoo.com

18. Howard was out dumping the dope & trying to fiqure out what to do next. He knew she was dead. Hope they get the proof on him.

Posted at 2:03PM on Mar 8th 2007 by SteveO

19. I think he may have known that she passed away but didn't want to be the one to call 911 and be found the only one in the room bc of the inquest with him being involved in daniel's death. So he set it up where someone else would be there to find her. I don't think he killed her though, intentionally anyway.

Posted at 3:25PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Ellie

20. If you have been on top of this story, TMZ, you would know that HKS was out purchasing the yacht that both ANS and HKS came to Florida in the first place. No one has yet disputed that the plan was for ANS & HKS to come to Florida to purchase a yacht that they planned to name "The Cracker." That is where HKS was when Big Mo called him and advised ANS was unresponsive and needed medical attention. There have already been interviews at the yacht dealership, verifying that HKS was there and in the process of paperwork when he got that fateful call from Big Mo.

Posted at 2:03PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Rina

21. You know everyone wants to blame someone for her death. Anna did what Anna wanted to do...she took pills to cover the loss & heartache from loosing her son...I would probably do the same thing. They say they could control the pills she was taken...no they couldn't...if I wanted to take pills, noone is going to tell me I can't. She has been with Howard for a VERY long time and if he was doing something that she didn't like then he wouldn't be around. I wish everyone would just let it go and let her RIP.

Posted at 4:30PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Shelly

22. You mean to tell me no one wanted to wake her up that morning, three people in her hotel room and not a one person to touch her and maybe see if she wanted something to eat or some water. Something is so wrong about this, the truth needs to come out and fast. Had someone just made an effort to wake her up, then she could have had a chance, not watching this circus from her grave.

Posted at 3:50PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Rochelle

23. Big ol "Mo" doesn't seem too believalbe. He did an interview with Greta Van Sustern last week and insisted he had never seen Anna take any drugs, never saw anyone give her drugs. Then, he commented on the video where Anna was painted up as a clown and cleary out of it. He insisted that, no, she wasn't on drugs - she was an actress and "playing a part". C'mon people! There seems to be noone telling the truth here.

Posted at 2:05PM on Mar 8th 2007 by CJ

24. If there was foul play involved, it will come out eventually. I believe h loved her, I also believe if he loved her more he would have helped her find help for her problems. I think everyone loved her money more............................

Posted at 2:15PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Carrie

25. How can the police leave that poor baby with this crime family ? Stern's sister is a complete wack job, she must be involved. It's like someone said yesterday, Stern is putting a curse on the island. I for one wouldn't go there to visit after I've seen how they operate there.

Posted at 2:19PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Gram 6

26. Oh boy! This does not look good for Howard. I think he did have something to do with the death of her son without a doubt. I don't get why he would want to kill Anna if he "loved" her so much?

Posted at 2:26PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Lysa

27. finally, the dirt is coming out of the wash, so to speak...sometimes it just takes a few cycles..

I got a feeling the canaries will start singing..(everyone is going to be trying to cover their own behinds now)

Posted at 2:05PM on Mar 8th 2007 by olivias

28. if he dumped the dope, how come they found so many different pills/bottles in her room? Seems to me like he would have gotten rid of all the evidence, doesn't it? He WAS a lawyer, ya know!

Posted at 2:18PM on Mar 8th 2007 by angi

29. Can someone who understands this explain to me why it was originally stated that the police did not suspect foul play and now the autopsy results are being held up due to completion of the police investigation? Does that mean that they NOW suspect foul play could have caoused ANS death?

Posted at 2:06PM on Mar 8th 2007 by Joyce

30. TMZ is so full of CRAP. The guy at the boat place has already stated that Howard was with him finishing up the paperwork on the boat when he received the phone call about Anna (when she died). People can die so quickly, before you can even help them. I don't think Howard had anything to do with her death. Do I think they did drugs together, yeah I do. She wouldn't hang with anybody other then people like that to support her habit. BUT EVERYONE HAS TO REMEMBER, IT WAS ANNA CHOICE TO DO DRUGS. She was a big girl, nobody forced her down on the bed with ties and opened her mouth and poured them down her. She had a drug problem long before Howard came into the picture and guarantee that if Howard try to stop her, she would have kicked him out of her life just like everyone else.

Posted at 3:22PM on Mar 8th 2007 by My thoughts

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