Police raid homes over Nicole Smith death

Police investigating the death of former Playboy star Anna Nicole Smith raided homes and offices in Los Angeles today.

Smith ,39, died of an accidental drug overdose in February at a Florida hotel still in the middle of a legal battle over the estate of her late husband oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, 63 years her senior. He died in 1995.

Today Department of Justice investigators began serving search warrants and California Attorney General Jerry Brown was expected to make a statement later.

The raids are the first public signs that friends and associates of the starlet are under criminal investigation.

Several people close to the model have fallen under suspicion since her death, including her psychiatrist Dr Khristine Eroshevich.

The Medical Board of California said in April it was investigating Dr Eroshevich, who, according to documents, authorised all 11 prescription medications found in Smith’s hotel room the day she died.

The doctor had travelled with Smith to Florida.

More than 600 pills, including 450 muscle relaxants, were missing from prescriptions that were no more than five weeks old.

The California medical board also began an inquiry to determine if there was any misconduct by Dr Sandeep Kapoor, who reportedly prescribed heroin substitute methadone to Smith.