Jane Devin

In the last couple of weeks, I have seen three televised interviews with Virgie Arthur, and in all three a crucial element was lacking – and that was a substantial story, or anything approaching investigative reporting.

A brazen and out-of-control media took journalism to a new low when the subject was Howard K. Stern, but now that same media has put on blinders and kid gloves for Arthur. Not only are they not investigating, they’re not asking even the most obvious questions – and I want to know why.

I suspect that Arthur is granting interviews only to “friendly” media sources, who provide questions in advance so that answers can be rehearsed. That’s probably to be expected. What’s less expected is the total grinding halt of investigative journalism, even in the absence of a personal interview.

I would not wish upon Arthur, or anybody else, the spree of ugly and malicious gossip that was so carelessly spent on Stern. My involvement in the Anna Nicole story came about solely because I found that type of reporting repugnant. The news should be trusted to bring the public accurate information – when it fails to do that, and instead embarks on a campaign of pumping up facts with fictional theories, the news is tainted and can no longer be relied upon as a source of good information.

So, no, I don’t wish Arthur’s backstory or present motives to be a source of raw speculation. I don’t desire that broadcasters exchange one media victim for another – I simply want them to do the job of investigative journalism. I want them to tell the Arthur story with integrity. I want facts and – call me demanding – I want some substance.

What I don’t want is another fluff piece that seems almost desperate in its attempts to not ask any crucial questions.

As a writer, a survivor of abuse, a news buff, and simply as a part of the public that has heard this case played out in the media, I want to know more –

*About the cycle of abuse in the Arthur, Hogan and Hart families.
*About the criminal records of members of those families.
*About who specifically Anna was speaking of when she said she was abused.
*About who Dannielynn may be in contact with should she visit Texas

I want to know more about Virgie’s marriages, particularly her first three. I want to know about all of the half-siblings and stepchildren Anna had contact with growing up, in and out of Arthur’s home.

I want to know about three year old Donald Hart, Jr’s head injury. Internet buzz says that a gun went off when a purse was dropped, lodging a bullet in Jr’s forehead. If this is true, was it a service revolver, an automatic? Single or double action? Was it cocked? Was the safety off? What was the trigger pull? 2.5 pounds? 3.5 pounds? I want to know if the injury was in fact caused by a gun, or if there’s some other explanation. If the story is true, I want to know the circumstances. (Virgie’s testimony to Seidlin regarding the injury is in comment 15).

In her interview with Greta VanSusteren, Virgie accused those in Anna’s after-family life of being “hanger-ons.” I want to know how Virgie would view those in her own family who reportedly hung on to Anna in Houston – including Virgie’s own sister Kay Beale and her daughter Shelley. Didn’t they, as well as Beale’s husband, live in Anna’s Houston apartment, room and board-free? Did Shelley Beale not beseech Anna for money and dental expenses? And what of the reports of the step-sister with cancer? Was the family not angry that Anna did not contribute money for medical expenses?

What of Donna Hogan’s report that Virgie turned down an opportunity for a televised reunion with Daniel because it didn’t pay enough? True or not?

Speaking of Daniel, what attempts if any did Virgie make to see him after he turned eighteen? What record, if any, does she have of previous correspondence with him? Virgie has maintained that she “knows” Daniel did not do drugs. Where did this “knowledge” come from?

Virgie claims she spoke with people “around Anna” to ask how she was doing. No reports from people employed by or around Anna have verified this claim. Whom did she speak to? When?

Virgie says that she last talked with Anna after Daniel died. Reports have said that this was not a conversation, but a message left on an answering machine. Which is factual? Virgie says that Anna was “obviously drugged up” during that talk or message – would Virgie, or anybody, be able to differentiate between deep grief and drugged up during a brief call or a taped message?

Virgie says it was the drugs and Howard K. Stern that kept her away from Anna. Yet Anna had a history of drug use, including one overdose and a DUI, prior to meeting Stern. In addition, Anna testified at the Marshall hearing that she was estranged from her mother at nineteen years of age. At fifteen, Anna left Arthur’s home to live with the Beale’s. It would seem that neither estrangement or drugs was new. What is Virgie’s response to this?

Virgie claimed that Anna called Howard her “purse-holder” or some other demeaning phrase. What kind of so-called purse-holder could wield such power and control over Anna that she would forsake her family for him?

Virgie claims that Howard lost no one. That he did not lose Daniel or Anna because they were not his to lose. Yet, Howard was in Daniel’s life for twelve years to Virgie’s six, spending twice as many years caring for him and watching him grow.

Howard was with Anna for her last twelve adult years and was, according to Anna, her best friend and trusted companion. Virgie was with Anna for the first fifteen years of her childhood, and had not seen her for over ten years. Anna had no kind words for Virgie and, in fact, called her evil. How does such an estranged mother’s loss trump that of her long-time, in-person, companion, lover, and fiancé?

Virgie says that when Anna called as “Vicki” that meant she was fine. When she called as “Anna”, Virgie knew something was wrong. Yet, it has been steadfastly reported by other family members that “Vicki Hogan” called herself “Nikki Hart” for a time as a child – and that when she was very young and into her teens, she often fantasized of having not just a different name, but a different mother. As a child, Anna expressed her desire and belief that she was either Marilyn Monroe’s daughter, or the daughter of Virgie’s sister, Kay Beale. Did Virgie believe that her daughter was fine then? Did she have any concern about the state of her and her Anna’s relationship in those years? What was it that Anna was so desperate to escape from even as a child?

Many books about Anna Nicole Smith are in the works. Maurice Brighthaupt and Joyce Wagner have promised future readers “new details” about the life of Anna, including her childhood. I would think that if anything was truly new or relevant, this would be the time to bring it forth – when Virgie Arthur is attempting to wrangle some control from Larry Birkhead in the matter of his daughter, Dannielynn. I don’t believe either of these books will provide the full-story of Anna’s life – nor would I believe a book written by a Splash-sponsored Arthur.

What I would believe are some hard facts – the kind that investigative journalists, with all the resources afforded them by their media companies, usually bring to a substantial public interest story.

It was my first question in this article, and now my last: Where are the investigative journalists in this story?

With her pocketbook (or John O’Quinn’s wallet) made lighter by a $3000 fine, Virgie Arthur’s appeal to a Bahamian court was denied in no short order today. Calling the appeal “frivolous” the court made quick business of Arthur’s questionable desire to keep Dannielynn Birkhead in the Bahamas, despite her father’s wish to return with her to the States.

One can only hope that the wisdom the court showed today will continue in June, when there is a scheduled hearing to address Arthur’s un-grandmotherly demands regarding written visitation, full custody in the event of Birkhead’s death, the right to sue on behalf of her late daughter’s estate, and more. There always seems to be “more” where Arthur is concerned.

Will Birkhead return for the June 8th hearing? Will he be manage to get the case transfered to California? Some believe this would be for the best. Others believe that the Bahamian courts, having caught on to the full breadth and scope of Arthur’s intentions, are unlikely to decide any issue in her favor.

No matter where the matter is heard, it seems likely that with appeals this case may drag on for quite sometime. Will Birkhead trade a court room for a bargaining table, or will he go the full course in protecting his daughter, her best interests, and his rights as a father? If character is forged through struggle, this battle will test and prove Birkhead’s true mettle.

(Updated 5/12/07, see **).

Virgie Mae Arthur was just 14 years old when she gave birth to her first child, David Tacker, Jr. The father of the boy was 17, and Virgie’s (non-blood related) stepbrother**. Some reports say that Arthur and Tacker, Sr. married before their son was born; others list only Arthur’s five marriages afterwards.

Seventeen is the age of consent in Texas. One might argue that regardless of whether Arthur married her stepbrother while pregnant, she could technically be considered a victim of statutory rape, a fact which seems bolstered by the senior Tacker’s arrest record. In 1982, Tacker was arrested for the rape of a child, and convicted for incest.

Arthur’s second husband, Donald Hogan, was alleged in the book “Big Beautiful Doll” to have molested a ten year old Kay Beale. Donald Hogan fathered Arthur’s daughter, Vicki Lynn Hogan, better known as Anna Nicole, in 1967. Arthur divorced Hogan when Anna was two years old, and according to Donna Hogan, he was ordered by the courts to stay away from the family.

Arthur then went on to marry Donald Ray Hart. They had a son, Donald Ray Hart, Jr. in 1972. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, a thirty-nine year old Anna referred to abuse perpetrated by her mother, stepfather and stepbrother, but did not specify which brother. In “Big Beautiful Doll,” Anna is reported as saying that her mother used to handcuff her to the bed as punishment for leaving the house.

Not much is known about the elder Hart, but the younger one later served six years in prison for assisting in the kidnap and planned murder of a paraplegic woman. People who have interviewed Donald Hart, Jr. say that he appears to have an extremely low IQ and may be borderline retarded. Donald Hart suffered a brain injury when he was three years old.

When Anna was 15, she was sent to live with her aunt Kay Beale’s family in Mexia, Texas. Beale is the mother of “cousin Shelley” who would later make an appearance on Anna Nicole Show. While author Eric Redding made claims of prescription drug abuse by Beale, and methamphetamine use by Shelley, these claims were not backed with solid proof. What is not refuted is that the family was extremely poor. When interviewed by Redding, Kay Beale stated that she would give Anna five dollars of her food stamps in exchange for Anna cleaning the house.

One of Anna’s early boyfriends, Al Bolt, said that when Anna’s career began taking off, she invited the Beale family to live with her. Bolt said, “Her Aunt Kay was very large, very sloppy. Vickie invited her to come from Mexia to Houston to watch out for Daniel. So the whole family just moved in. They were all living there and none of them worked. Vicki was the only breadwinner.”

Anna dropped out of high school after going to live with the Beale family. She had a history of learning difficulties and there are no reports to indicate that this was addressed in any way by her family or the school system. In later years, a judge would make note of her illiteracy in court papers, and the publication and broadcast of Anna’s private diaries and e-mails would open the door to sad and unfortunate public ridicule.

After leaving high school, Anna went to work for Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken. She married cook Billy Wayne Smith in April 1985, when she was seven months shy of her 18th year. Their son Daniel was born in January 1986, nine months later. The pair separated in 1987 and officially divorced in 1993. The father did not have a relationship with his son. Anna worked a variety of minimum wage jobs before becoming a stripper, and then embarking on a career as model, spokesperson and actress.

Reports vary as to the extent of mother Virgie Arthur’s role in Anna and Daniel’s life in pre-Playmate days. Virgie has made claims that she raised Daniel until he was six years old. Others dispute this, and say that Virgie is exaggerating, and that it was more like four years and that Anna was also present in the home for much of that time, and lived with her mother and son when she was not traveling. Anna’s diary excerpts show that Virgie and daughter “partied” together during this time, so it seems likely that contrary to other claims, Daniel was not abandoned solely to Virgie’s care except in short spurts.

The relationship between Virgie Arthur and her daughter seems to have ebbed and flowed between closeness and estrangement since Anna’s teens. While the last estrangement was the longest, it was not the first, as indicated by Anna’s testimony in the Marshall case.

While Anna’s half-sister Donna Hogan stated that she was “envious” of Anna’s early years, it is apparent that Hogan, who was never in Anna’s childhood home, had no basis for her belief that Anna had a good childhood. Hogan was never close to Anna as a child or as an adult. Her “tell-all” book is useless as a biography about Anna’s true life, but it does have value in exploring the paternal side of Anna’s Texas family.

Besides Donald Hogan, previously mentioned, Hogan’s second wife, Wanda Atkinson (the mother of Donna, Amy and Donald, Jr.) has spent time in and out of mental institutions. All three of her and Hogan’s children have a history of drug use. Donna Hogan, in a Cindy Adams interview, says, “Well, yeah, I’ve done drugs . . . we’ve both had a wild, crazy life . . . and like her, I worked in gentlemen’s clubs. There’s perverts who just want you to get drunk with them. So I’d sit and drink. You could make $2000 a night.” For Amy Hogan, drugs were more than a recreational habit. According to Donna, Amy lost custody of her children due to gross neglect, and spent time homeless due to a pervasive methamphetamine addiction.

Donna Hogan also claims in “Train Wreck” that she once tried to initiate an on-air reunion between Virgie Arthur and the estranged grandson she had not seen in several years. According to Hogan, Virgie was offered $20,000 by the network for her participation, but Virgie wanted more money and turned the opportunity down when her demands were not met. Her claim has not been verified or denied by any network.

As of this writing, Virgie Mae Arthur is in the Bahamas, seeking rights not normally bestowed upon a grandmother. She is seeking the right to sue for wrongful death on behalf of Anna’s estate, and partial custody and/or court-ordered visitation rights. She is also asking that she be made sole custodian of Dannielynn in the event of Larry Birkhead’s death. To this end, she has hired infamous Texas attorney John O’Quinn, whose specialty is multi-million dollar lawsuits and class action cases, not family law. O’Quinn is no stranger to controversy. His firm hired the lead FBI agent that was supposed to be investigating O’Quinn’s possible malfeasance in a tobacco settlement. Presently, he is being taken to court for not paying out to victims the millions he won on their behalf in a judgement against a breast implant manufacturer.

Arthur posits herself as a stable personality. She points to her twenty-eight year career in law enforcement and middle-class status as proof of her ability to care for and nurture a child. It should be noted that Arthur had this same career and status while her own children were growing up, and that it saved none of them from what appears to be an intense, pervasive and long-term cycle of family abuse. Arthur was clearly unable to break that cycle in her own life. Neither her career nor income status produced an ability to break free from the torments of familial victimization.

As a longtime advocate of children’s issues, I understand that Arthur was also once a victim. I have no desire to publicly admonish her for being unable to break a cycle of abuse. Many people in similar situations never find the tools to do so. It takes an enormous amount of strength, courage and will to end an habitually abusive family culture, especially when that is the only one structure a person has ever known. I do not, as some others do, find Virgie Arthur “evil.” However, given her history and her recent demands, I do not believe she is acting in the best interests of her granddaughter, or that her motives are purely well-intentioned. Instead, it appears to me that Arthur, whether conscious of it or not, is acting within a structure founded on the principles of abuse.

By demanding rights not normally afforded to a grandmother, she is seeking not only some control over her granddaughter’s destiny, but of Larry Birkhead’s as well. In seeking joint custody or court-ordered visitation, and labeling her own household and family as “good,” it is clear that Arthur has not come to terms with the extent of her own family’s torturous cycle. Left with unsupervised visits, there is no telling whose lap Dannielynn will fall into, and given the family’s history this should be a cause for great concern, if not outright alarm.

Lastly, as the father of Dannielynn, it is Birkhead’s decision whether to pursue legal claims on her behalf. By aligning herself with an attorney like O’Quinn and seeking to file a separate wrongful death claim of her own, Arthur is clearly acting for her own motives, without true regard for Dannielynn or the child’s father. A grandmother who once said that “all she wanted” was for Dannielynn to live with her biological father, and to be able to “be a grandma” has morphed into a woman seeking to no small amount of control over a granddaughter, a father, and a deceased daughter’s estate. One of the hallmarks of an abusive personality is the attempt to exercise inappropriate control over the lives of others. I believe that Arthur’s attempts to wrestle control from Birkhead, and those whom Anna trusted to oversee her affairs, show that Arthur has not recovered from her past, but is still actively perpetuating the cycle of abuse that has dominated her family for at least several decades.

**5/12/2007 CORRECTION: Virgie’s mother Paralee and David Tacker’s father George were not married at the time of David Tacker, Jr.’s birth. Their marriage occured 10 months later.