Still in dispute (both the paternity and the fortune). A court needs to appoint a heavy-duty independent legal guardian for this poor little infant before sundown. And order round-the-clock security for her.
Problem is, the baby was left in the Bahamas. I doubt that US law can reach her there. Which makes all my bells and whistles go off.
Besides the photographer who claims to be the baby's father (and may well be, because she LOOKS LIKE him), there are TWO other claimants. One is her lawyer Howard K. Stern, which we all know about. The baby does not resemble him in any way.
The other surfaced just last night on Entertainment Tonight. Two middle aged (maybe 55 - 60 yrs old) FL men were interviewed in the Bahamas. One claimed to be the baby's father. One (perhaps the same one) owns the house that Anna Nicole rented in the Bahamas. In the interview, the owner of the house said he was evicting Anna Nicole because the house was being used for unspecified stuff he didn't approve of. Could have been lousy housekeeping, might have been bodies turning up in the pool. The fellow who claimed to be the baby's father had the right coloring and features, and he claimed to have been intimate with Anna Nicole, which also sounds right, because she was apparently very promiscuous. Maybe she got a deal on the house because she slept with him.
Details, details. The ugly puzzle I'm piecing together is Anna Nicole surrounded by three men who were much smarter than she was, saying they were taking care of her interests, but really only taking care of their own. Anyone close to her could see how at risk she was of dying from drugs or alcohol on purpose or accidentally. Were the two middle aged guys in cahoots with Howard K Stern? Did they plan to get Anna Nicole out of the Bahamas so she could fulfill her threats to commit suicide (which she might have been making...I recall seeing her on gossip tv recently saying she could just end it all.) By leaving the baby in the Bahamas, they've effectively removed her from US jurisdiction, I think.
Well, so much for my fertile imagination. Perhaps Anna Nicole was an avalanche on a path of self-destruction no one could have prevented. Maybe the people around her sincerely wanted to help. But this sleazy FL fellow claiming paternity just last night on tv makes me very suspicious that something nefariou is up. Or maybe it was just the last straw for Anna Nicole Smith who knowingly and willingly took a lethal dose of pills. But wasn't that predictable too?
I agree. I swear I saw this entire story at some point on Diagnosis Murder, or Murder She Wrote, or Columbo, or Perry Mason, or...