Anna Nicole Smith Bahamas Mansion Changes Lock Twice in 24 Hours
The locks at the Bahamas mansion where Anna Nicole Smith had been living were changed for the second time in 24 hours on Saturday as an ownership dispute heated up between her estate and a U.S. developer who had a brief relationship with her.
Outside the gated mansion in Nassau, Smith’s attorney Wayne Munroe told reporters he had retaken possession of the estate and filed a robbery complaint with police over computer equipment and other personal effects allegedly taken out.
Earlier on Saturday, the attorney for a U.S. developer who also claims ownership of the waterfront mansion, said he had the locks changed on Friday, put a chain on the gate and had taken control of the residence on behalf of his client.
The South Carolina developer, G. Ben Thompson, had a brief relationship with Smith and was embroiled in an ownership dispute with the 39-year-old former Playboy playmate before she died Thursday in Florida.
Smith had claimed that Thompson bought her the house as a gift.
Thompson’s attorney, Godfrey Pinder, has said the house was on loan to Smith. He said Smith’s death meant her claims to the mansion were no longer legitimate.
Munroe, standing beside Pinder outside the home as he spoke, said the former Playboy playmate bought the mansion in July for $900,000. Her ownership of the home was the basis of Smith’s claim to residency in the Bahamas. Smith had filed a lawsuit asking a Bahamas court to recognize her purchase and reject Thompson’s claim to the house.
The Bahamas Supreme Court has scheduled a Feb. 26 hearing on the matter, Munroe said.
The cause of Smith’s death has not yet been determined. Broward County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper, who performed an autopsy on Friday, said afterward it could take weeks to determine why she died. He said no illegal drugs were discovered in Smith’s room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. where she collapsed Thursday. But prescription drugs were found.
Smith’s 5-month-old baby, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, was not with Smith when she died and is believed to be in the Bahamas. But the exact whereabouts of the baby, who is at the center of a broadening custody battle, were unknown Saturday.
Munroe said he did not know where the child was but stressed that Howard K. Stern, Smith’s most recent companion, is due custody of the baby. A birth certificate for Dannielynn lists Stern as the girl’s father.
“As the other registered parent, Howard Stern has the right to speak to the custody of Dannielynn. That has to be respected unless and until a court - not a person - says otherwise,” Munroe said.
Witnesses reported seeing Stern inside the mansion with TV crews shortly before the attorneys spoke to reporters, and Munroe confirmed that he was in Nassau. Several SUVS with black-tinted windows exited the grounds earlier.
Pinder said earlier that Bahamian Immigration Minister Shane Gibson’s mother was permitted into the waterfront home late Friday to remove some of Smith’s personal effects. The government official was a friend of Smith’s.
The baby’s paternity has been challenged by two other men.
A former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, has filed suit claiming he is the father. On Friday, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, announced he had a decade-long affair with Smith and may be the father.
Smith was in a long legal battle over the fortune of her late husband, Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, and experts say the decision on custody could determine the child’s inheritance.
Smith’s mother, Vergie Arthur, arrived Friday in Nassau to check on the welfare of her granddaughter, police said. Arthur could not be reached for comment Saturday.
On Friday, she told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that she believes drugs played a role in her daughter’s death.
Smith gave birth to Dannielynn on Sept. 7. Three days later, her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, died while visiting her in the hospital. The cause of his death is still under investigation in the Bahamas. A private medical examiner hired by the family concluded he died from an accidental, lethal combination of methadone and antidepressants.
By Jessica Robertson
