For Virgie Arthur – The Nightmare Continues

Imagine this:

1. Hearing via media that your precious 20 year old grandson died in the Bahamas of a drug overdose. You know for a fact that your grandson did not use or abuse drugs.

2. Later receiving a phone call from your incoherent  grieving world famous daughter telling you about his death and telling you that he will be back.

3. The phone goes dead in the middle of the message and you try in vain to call your daughter back and can not reach her ever again. You are hung up on and then the number is changed.

4. Having “someone” falsely make your drug addicted daughter believe that you accused her of murder.

5. When all means of contacting your daughter fail and you try the last resort by going on national television to warn her that you are worried about her and fear that she will die next.

6. Having your worst fears realized. Five months later, your daughter is dead. From a drug overdose.

7. Traveling to Florida to claim your unmarried daughters body. Florida law says next of kin over age 18 is you, but the court rules against you and basically in theory gives your daughter’s body to a grifter who is no relation.

8. Having to travel out of the country for your daughter’s funeral and not being allowed to participate in any way. Not being permitted even to place family pictures on display.

9. Having your surviving granddaughter in the custody of the person who you think is responsible for the deaths of your daughter and grandson. The DNA indicates who the real father is and he is in “cahoots” with the person who you think is responsible for the deaths of your daughter and grandson.

This is Virgie Arthur’s story.

In her own words, in a sworn declaration given in Howard K. Stern’s lawsuit against Mark Speer (case dismissed) and Jackie Hatten (still ongoing), Mrs Arthur describes her living nightmare…

I was only sixteen years old when Vickie was born and I married her father, Don Hogan. The marriage did not last. Don was abusive and he beat me when I was pregnant with Vickie. Not in my home, but in Liberty County, he raped my ten year-old sister and her young friend while I was married to him. I did not find out about this until I left him.

Don moved out of our house when Vickie was about four or five months old when I finally fought back. We weren’t divorced until just weeks before Vickie’s second birthday because I could not afford a divorce. I got the divorce as soon as I could. He was charged in connection with these crimes and served sixty days in jail and five years probation.

During Vickie’s childhood she had little to no connection with her father. I remarried and Vickie was primarily raised by me along with her stepfather.

Like a lot of Texas parents during this period, I whipped Vickie’s butt a few times, when she had earned it. All my children were disciplined the same way. I would discipline her with a leather belt, if I had one handy. The last time I recall doing so was when she was 13 and didn’t come home from school. I ultimately found her at a friend’s house at 3 a.m. and brought her home. When we got home, she received the belt.

I also have been made aware that Vickie claimed that both her biological father, Don Hogan, and her stepfather molested her. While living under my roof, she never made such a claim. Since Vickie was not around Don Hogan when she was growing up, it must have happened when they reunited many years later, after Vickie appeared in Playboy magazine in 1992. I do not know whether that did or did not happen.

As for her stepfather, I do not believe that ever happened. In my view Vickie had a decent childhood. When she started her career, she created the “poor pitiful me story,” because it worked better for the media.

Vickie dropped out of high school after her freshman year. At the age of 17, she married Billy Smith, and had her son Daniel that same year. I picked the name “Daniel” from the Bible. Vickie’s marriage to Billy didn’t last long, and they separated shortly after Daniel’s birth.

When Daniel was three months old, Vickie called me to come get her and the baby. I got them and they lived with me off and on for a while.

Daniel lived with me until he was six years old. During Daniel’s young years, until he was about six years old, he lived with me, and I raised him.

While Vickie was growing up, I worked as a sheriff’s deputy. When Vickie was a young mother, I learned from her boyfriend that she was stripping. I was understandably concerned, and so I went to see for myself, driving there in my sheriffs deputy patrol car. When I entered the club, I saw Vickie dancing in nothing but a g- string right in front of some old man’s face. I told the manager that she was my daughter and that he had better get her out of there and, if he continued to let her dance there, would be back regularly to check his license.

When we got home, I told Vickie she wasn’t going to strip, and she moved out of my house.

After Vickie moved out and later moved to Los Angeles, our relationship became more estranged. One issue was Vickie’s abuse of drugs. In 1995, I assisted in getting her help for her addiction, and she checked into the Betty Ford Clinic. But Vickie’s drug use continued. In my view, the estrangement increased when Howard Stern entered Vickie’s life as a friend and her attorney. He kept all of us from her, not just me. He kept the whole family away from her. People who loved her tried to help her. Those that didn’t love her, lived with her and lived off her.

Yes, I blamed Howard for keeping me out of Vickie’s life. I first learned of Daniel’s death from the media, not from Vickie. When Vickie called to tell me about Daniel’s death, it was several days after he had died, and I had already learned the news from reports on television. In the phone message received, Vickie’s speech was slurred, and she was mumbling like she was drunk.

She was in the middle of telling me that Daniel was gone, but that he would come back, when the phone went dead in the middle of her sentence. I tried to contact Vickie numerous times, but each time I called I was either hung up on or the
number had been changed. That message from Vickie was the last time I heard from my daughter.

I was not invited to Daniel’s funeral, which hurt a lot. About a week before Daniel’s funeral, I was interviewed by CNN. I was quoted as saying:

“I know that Danny had a trust fund…But if Howard marries Vickie and Daniel’s gone, that leaves Howard and the baby to inherit whatever money she has…: Vickie Lynn, you know I love you, always have. And be careful about who you hang around with, because you may be next.”

I firmly believed those opinions at the time, and still believe them today.

Sure enough, just a few months later on February 8, 2007, Vickie died. The Florida hearings that were held to determine where Vickie would be buried were very painful for me. I was angry with Judge Seidlin’s behavior during the court case in Florida. I thought he acted like a clown and made the proceedings into a circus.

After the ruling (during which he broke down crying) he came up to me, tried to hug me, and told me, “I did the best I could.” I was furious, and remembered that he had talked about his six-year old daughter in court. I told him, “Look at my face. I want you to remember my face because one day your daughter is going to have trouble, and you’re going to need help.” I told him that when he can’t help her, he should remember my face.

I tried to help Dannielynn before I went to Florida. I thought she was going to be the next dead person. Then, after the Florida hearing, I sought access to my granddaughter, Dannielynn, in the Bahamian courts. At that point, Howard (Howard K. Stern) had custody of the baby and was involved in a bitter fight with Larry Birkhead over who was the baby’s biological father. Howard was refusing to have his DNA tested. During this period, my relationship with Larry was not antagonistic, and as I believed at that time he was the father and that he shared the goal of doing what was best for Dannielynn.

Before Vickie’s funeral in the Bahamas, a Bahamian judge ruled that I should be allowed to see my granddaughter. I was also continuing to press my claim in the Bahamas that Vickie should be buried in Texas. I went to Horizons to see her for a visit that lasted only about twenty-five minutes due to the tension between me and Howard Stern.

When I went to touch the baby, Howard stopped me, and said that “the judge said you could see her, not touch her.” He then offered to let me hold her and kiss her if I let Vickie be buried in the Bahamas. I refused to drop my legal action, and left the house without ever touching Dannielynn. During the visit, my former attorney, Debra Rose, and the babysitter, Gibson, got into a screaming fight and Dannielynn never moved.

During that trip, I met with Larry Birkhead at the Hilton Hotel. I told him that I believed in him, that he seemed like a good, decent guy; that I believed at the time that he was the baby’s father, and that I would help him in any way I could against Howard. Larry appeared to be so nervous and desperate. It didn’t make sense that Larry seemed to be now listening to Howard. I asked him what Howard had on him. Larry told me that Howard had so much “stuff” on him, and I asked what kind of “stuff”, He said “that they were fixing to tell all about him, that they say they caught him dating men.” I told him, “I don’t care if you have men or women in your life. I don’t care if you were caught fucking a sheep. If you are the baby’s daddy, and I believe you are at this time, it doesn’t matter what they say, I will stand by you, son, one hundred percent.” He said he was tired, and he just wanted to take his daughter and go home.

On the day of Vickie’s funeral in the Bahamas, I got caught in a traffic jam and arrived to the funeral late. When I got out of my car, there was a large crowd of people, all booing and jeering at me. It was the worst feeling in the world. But I knew my daughter was supporting me, even if no one else was. My feet felt like they weighed fifty pounds, and the walk into the church felt like it was a mile long.

At the funeral in the church, Howard would not let my son be one of the pallbearers, and refused to let me put out any of my family photographs. At the grave site, Mr. Birkhead and Mr. Stern’s so-called friends and pallbearers placed their flowers on the casket.   After everyone else had put roses on the coffin, and they were lowering the coffin, I threw a 8×10 picture of me and Vickie onto her coffin. I waited until the casket was low enough so that no one could remove the picture without crawling into the hole, then I threw the picture on top of her casket. Everyone put a shovel of dirt on the casket. I was the last one, so I filled the entire grave with all the dirt. I remember thinking to myself, “I brought you into this world, and I’m going to be the last to send you out.” I shoveled a lot of dirt, quickly, onto the coffin, so that no one could take the photo out. I’m still glad that I did.

I saw Larry Birkhead only three times outside the court house. After Larry left the Bahamas, his attitude toward me changed.

Howard had put Larry through a costly legal battle, had not let Larry see his daughter for months, and then abruptly dropped all challenges to Larry having custody. After that, Larry completely cut me out. Howard then supported Larry getting sole custody. I was furious, and I wanted to know why Howard had suddenly become Larry’s biggest supporter. I asked Larry what was going on, what deal was he working, and why Howard was suddenly helping him. Larry denied it, told me that he wasn’t doing anything, that Howard was just being nice. But Larry was obviously nervous and couldn’t look me in the eye while he talked to me.

I believed he had cut a deal with Howard. I filed paperwork asking to be named Dannielynn’s guardian. All I ever cared about is the safety and well being of my granddaughter. I was very angry at Larry for being in cahoots with Howard, but I tried to stay optimistic when I spoke to the press. I said that I looked forward to working with Larry to help raise Dannielynn, and do what’s best for her.

I don’t believe that Larry has shown that he’s responsible enough to manage Dannielynn’s affairs with Howard by his side.

After Larry got sole custody, I urged him to put the millions of dollars he was receiving through media deals into a trust for the baby, and have an independent company monitor it. I told Larry that he can live on it, but he should not squander it. After I told him that, he called me to threaten me that if I didn’t drop the guardianship suit in the Bahamas, he’ll make sure the court fines me and that I will have to pay for his legal fees and flights to and from the Bahamas.

I wish all the money tied to Vickie’s late husband was gone. I think the money is tainted for any greedy person who grabs it.

J. Howard Marshall is dead. My grandson Daniel is dead, my daughter is dead, Pierce Marshall is dead. If Dannielynn ever gets this money, it should be put in trust until she is 25 years of age. The prospect of the money has brought my family nothing but grief. I think about Ron Goldman’s family and the O.J. Simpson case all the time. I see how much pain they are still going through and that’s what my life has become.

*Thanks so much to “Sizzles” for sharing this document.

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