Grace: Smith Surrounded By "Jackals"

The war in Iraq rages on, a scandal at Walter Reed hospital has come to light and candidates are starting to gear up their presidential campaigns.

But what topic is dominating the news? Anna Nicole Smith's death.

The reason, says Nancy Grace host of Court TV's "Nancy Grace: Closing Arguments" and a self-titled show on Headline News, is simple: Smith seemed to have everything and people are trying to understand how a charmed life ended so tragically.

"To look at Anna Nicole Smith — she is beautiful, beyond anything I could ever imagine being," Grace told CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras in an interview for Sunday Morning. "She has money; she has all these admirers, fame, fortune, a family, everything. And look what happened to her. And it's puzzling and confusing, and it's a mystery. You know, people want answers."

Another aspect that mystifies the public is the spectacle that has surrounded Smith since she was found dead Feb. 8 while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Her death came five months after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn, and the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel.

2"Then when you see parties surrounding her like jackals — literally, over her dead body — literally — it is a sight to behold," Grace said. "And again, that is why we have rules of evidence, which are to be used in court and, because there was a breakdown in the justice system, we saw that free-for-all. It's like 18 wet cats in a barrel. There were 18 lawyers in the courtroom instead of what should have been a dignified proceeding regarding her burial."

Grace spoke in reference to the initial Florida Circuit Court proceeding over custody of Smith's remains, which was presided over by judge Larry Seidlin. Many critics have said Seidlin has aspirations to be a star himself. Although the case may have spiraled into a circus, Grace says on her show that she covers it from a legal angle and does not "condone the besmirching of her (Smith's) name."

"I really think that is wrong," she said. "People laughing about her and mocking her and airing her dirty laundry in a court of law of all places. I rail against that and have railed against it since day one."

On March 2, Smith was finally laid to rest next to her son in Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Nassau, Bahamas.