RSSAnna Nicole Smith’s (Vickie Lynn Marshall) Will Creates Even More Questions … Howard K. Stern Executor
What a mess. Anna Nicole Smith’s 2001 Will was produced today and guess who was named as the executor? Howard K. Stern, what a surprise. In 2001, Howard K Stern would have been Smith’s attorney prior to any relationship that they would later have. Howard K. Stern now controls Anna’s assets of a Will that names her dead son Daniel as the sole heir. Exactly how did Stern allow that to happen?
The document said Smith’s lawyer and boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, should be her executor and hold her estate in trust for son Daniel Smith. But her son died last September at age 20 of apparently drug-related causes, days after the birth of the pinup’s daughter, Dannielynn.
(Click on document to enlarge)
And the will explicitly leaves out anything for anyone other than the son. (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)
(Will of Vickie Lynn Marshall: TMZ)
On page 5 of the Will, Anna Nicole Smith defines the break down and allocation of the trust assets; however, there is an interesting error in the wording of the Will. Instead of “child” the word children (plural) is used.
“Such that my children are distributed sufficient sums for the health, education …”
(Hat Tip: Klaas)
It is absolutely amazing how many times that Howard K. Stern’s name is around every corner. There is something just not right with any of this. In 2001 Stern is names the executor of Anna Nicole Smith (Vickie Lynn Marshall) Will. The Will was created around the same time that a judge reaffirmed a previous bankruptcy judges award.
Smith claimed J. Howard orally promised her half of his estate if she married him. In September 2000, a Los Angeles bankruptcy judge awarded her $449,754,134. In July 2001, Houston judge Mike Wood affirmed the jury findings in the probate case by ruling that Smith was entitled to nothing and ordered Smith to pay over $1 million in fees and expenses to Pierce’s legal team. The conflict between the Texas probate court and California bankruptcy court judgements forced the matter into federal court.[21]
It would make sense that Howard K. Stern is named executor; however, what 
follows does not. Howard K. Smith was Anna’s attorney. Stern would know exactly what was in the Will and the stipulations of his excutorship. He would have known that everything was left to Anna’s son Daniel.
If this is the case then how does an attorney not tell his client, let alone girl friend to change their Will when their son passes away? It has been stated that Anna Nicole Smith was obsessed with death. How could that be if she didn’t even care to update her Will knowing that it stated that she had left all to someone who had passed away? Why would Howard K. Stern not have this done as well? It was also alleged by Smith’s former nanny that Anna Nicole Smith had attempted suicide.
Imagine the following coincidences and one really begins to wonder how an attorney and the executor of Smith’s estate could have allowed no new Will to be drawn up after Daniel died. Howard K. Stern states that he is an attorney. How could be have missed something so obvious?
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2001 Howard K. Smith named executor of Anna Nicole Smith’s estate leaving everything to her son Daniel.
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September 7, 2006 Anna Nicole Smith gives birth in Bahamas to baby girl named Dannielynn.
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September 10, 2006 Daniel Smith dies in Bahama hospital room on drug overdose with Howard K. Stern present in room.
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Daniel Smith buried in Bahamas
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Sept. 26, 2006: Lawyer Howard K. Stern claims he is the father of Dannielynn. The following day, an ex-boyfriend, photographer Larry Birkhead, says he is the real father.
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How does Howard K. Stern not have Anna Nicole Smith change her Will to reflect that her son Daniel can no longer be the sole heir and instead leave all assets to her new born daughter? He is an attorney.
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February 8, 2007 Anna Nicole Smith found unconscious in hotel room with Howard K. Stern present. She later dies.
The legal ramifications of this case are astounding and there has not even been the paternity argued with the fact that Dannielynn is a citizen of the Bahamas, not US.
Posted February 16, 2007 by Scared Monkeys Anna Nicole Smith, Bizarre, Celebrity, Deceased | 43 comments |
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43 Responses to “Anna Nicole Smith’s (Vickie Lynn Marshall) Will Creates Even More Questions … Howard K. Stern Executor”
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Seems like, in my opinion, that he should be asked a lot of questions. Funny that he was present for both deaths…Vickie’s and Daniel’s. She may have been a bit over the top, but she deserved better than him. JMHO
I agree with you mrs. red, this guy is the only one left standing (alive) and i’m not seeing a proper investigation taking place.
Sounds like Aruba Huh???
What spooks me about this guy is that the demise of Smith’s son Daniel after the birth Smith’s daughter Dannielynn changed the legal order of succession to who can inherit the estate of Anna Nicole Smith and that the new order of succession now places Howard K. Stern second in line by proximity of blood to Dannielynn.
The estate goes to Dannielynn but if demise comes to that child, the closest in kinship and next in line is this creepy lawyer Howard K. Stern, who bogarted his way into the order of succession by signing the declaration of paternity to get his name on the birth certificate as Dannielynn’s legal father. I am suspecting that sealed Daniel’s fate.
My attorney called and it seems, I too may be the father of
Anna Nicole Smiths baby. It kinda’ like a lottery. Seriously, something does not appear “kosher” as they say regarding one Mr. Howard K Stern. First off, if I knew I was the baby’s father, I would be first in line to submit to a DNA test, so that ALL others could be disqualified.
Next, the BABY becomes the most important thing. If Nicole’s mama wants Nicoles body buried in Texas, you grant the families wishes and then take care of the baby.
Didn’t he make some off handed comment about “I hope they don’t switch the babies”??????
Something smells fishy here and it ain’t the CHICKEN!
This poor baby girl has become the new tabloid tabby, a victim really. Protect the child!
Now you know why Anna had so many legal problems and issues. Howard did not write this will, it was drawn up by another person. ( lawyer ). This is very badly written.
The state of California has the juristiction over the will and I hope it gets thrown out in probate. Then maybe some sensible people can be appointed to administer the estate and be trustees for the child.
According to the State Laws of Texas, Anna’s mother should at the very least be under investigation by CPS and Law Enforcement for her claimed criminal acts against Anna as a child. See definitions listed below for Child Abuse. Because her mother was a police officer, her awareness of the law makes this even worse, in my opinion. Further, those around Anna had to know something was going on, they to can be prosecuted for the failure to protect Anna from her mother.
We are all talking about HKS. Let’s talk about the criminal acts of her mother. These acts caused great emotional harm that had a deadly cause and effect to Anna. In a sense, her mother killed her, it just took 39 years to accomplish her goal.
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_protection/about_child_protective_services/
FAMILY CODE
SUBTITLE E. PROTECTION OF THE CHILD
CHAPTER 261. INVESTIGATION OF REPORT OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 261.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) “Abuse” includes the following acts or omissions
by a person:
(A) mental or emotional injury to a child that
results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s
growth, development, or psychological functioning;
(B) causing or permitting the child to be in a
situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury
that results in an observable and material impairment in the
child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning;
(C) physical injury that results in substantial
harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from
physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at
variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an
accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or
managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child
to a substantial risk of harm;
(D) failure to make a reasonable effort to
prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury
that results in substantial harm to the child;
#7
Guess personal responsibility counts for nothing.
Guess hanging around people who only want to use and exploit you means nothing.
I think we all know what caused Anna’s demise.
R
I’m surprised Howard K Stern didn’t want Anna Nicole Smith creamated to end the dna testing. But I guess he’s not done sucking up all the money publicity as he shoots for the funeral publicity with Trimspa attendance.
He’s a sicko or very shrewed attorney. Some called her a golddigger, she found her match!
Has anyone questioned whether Anna Nicole Smith is REALLY Dannielynne’s birth mother? No methadone addiction at birth, no pictures of Anna pregnant and why all these issues of dna…look out she might have adopted or bought that child. Hmmmmmmmm????????????????
How does a lawyer (Stern) allow Anna to manitain a Will that gives everything to her dead son?
Makes you wonder seeing that he controlled everything she did … why wasn’t the new born daughter added to the Will?
Maybe because Daniellyn wasn’t Stern’s daughter after all.
R
Faith,
Cop outs, you know how many so call abused kids refuse to let abuse be an excuse for them?
I know a man who his step father used to punish him by putting his head in the toliet and beat him just as soon as look at him. The step father would buy his own kids ice cream and candy and have them eat the ice cream and candy in front of this wonderful man ( when he was a small child) but never giving or offering any to him. Pure and simple hate for this child.
This child became a man and then when he became a father of twelve, his wife died when he was forty, with they youngest being two and the oldest being 18. Raised his children alone with out ever striking or abusing, verbally or physically, no drink, no drugs, just plain hard work and take care of his family.
This man chose not to derail. He never blamed anyone for anything, if something happened, here is what he said ” I screwed up” Not his step father not his mother, no one it was he responsiblity. Life is all about choices.
Anna made hers, Howard made his, and Anna’s mom made hers.
When drugs are involved, even if Howard abaded Anna or simply turned the other way with the drug use, it was Anna’s choice.
Old saying is we all have to pay the piper.
I think I take an unpopular stand on this issue. The fact is Howard K. Stern [i]lived[/i] with Anna Nicole. As far as i know he did not keep a separate residence. HKS was always with ANS particularly when she traveled. I don’t find it unusual that he would be there at the death of Daniel, or even at the death of Anna herself. The woman that injected John Belushi with the “speedball”(combination heroin/cocaine) did not intend to kill him , yet his death resulted. I think such is the case with ANSmith and HKS. Anna was an habitual drug user, who having suffered the extreme pain at the loss of her son sought reliefin substances, which this lead to her demise. Methadone-to the best of my knowledge- can be purchased without prescription at pharmacy in the Bahamas, and both deaths IMO likely caused by this use. Use by an unskilled non-medical person (HKS)with the full knowledge of the recepient(s) of the medication, IMO likely cause both deaths. Autopsy will tell…..
Has anyone tested the baby for addition? If the baby’s blood is free and clear then Houston, we have a problem. I have done a lot of volunteer work with children born to addicted parents and it always affects the baby. I need to know if Dannielynn’s little body is wrecked with addiction… if not, then my theory for the so-called boyfriend, HKS is right on… again, jmho.
Faith, what did Anna’s Mother do to her as a child ?
I am not doubting you, just do not know alot about Anna’s early life.
Why did Daniel live with Virgie for six years ?
This whole group of ppl is just so dysfunctional it is just unbelievable.
Anna was on a destructive path and had been for a long time. Howard and the others around her just sped up the process and Daniel’s death escalated her final breakdown.
None of the ppl I have seen on the TV are qualified to raise the baby. Virgie, good or bad, I do not know, but she is way too old and if you toss in child abuse claims, then she is out of the picture. In her life, Anna did not seem to have one true friend. Hopefully someone with some sense will see that and put the best interests of the child first. But unless it is a court who makes that decision and the baby is raised by any one of these leeches, the pattern will continue and the baby will grow up with an abundance of issues and problems.
I’m glad to see you all are wondering the same things I’m wondering! But why aren’t the authorities asking these same questions?? It’s obvious that HKS put himself in the “catbird seat” legally speaking… It also raises questions about the, not one but TWO, untimely but terribly “convenient” (for him) deaths where he’s been present!
#12 Bleachedblack …
you are not following the gist of the WILL. HKS would have been around ANS agreed. He put himself into that controlling position, not by accident. ANS obviously needed all the guidance in the world … question is did she really get it from HKS?
The real question I have is how does a trained professional lawyer who’s sole client ANS and who was the executor of her WILL allow it to stay the same after Daniel died?
That makes ZERO sense.
However, HKS certainly managed to gain control of Anna’s assets.
Why wasn’t the new born girl ever added? How does one’s personal atty not do this? HKS was supposed to be like ANS’s husband. Who doesn’t put their child in the WILL?
Maybe because Danielynn is not his??? Just not normal.
Red
Here is another twist. Daniel dies and laid in the morgue a few weeks until a plot is bought in Nassau, but heres the rub, not one but 2 burial plots are bought. Who knew they were going to need two of them?? I’d like to know if Anna knew about this second plot purchase coz it just seems ODD that after the commitment ceramony you would ONLY buy 2 plots.
One for the dead son Daniel and one for who?
Excellent point Mayan…
#16
What you say is true Red. HKS definately was not doing his job as ANS’s lawyer. His actions were highly questionable, but why? Despite ANS’s public persona, she was not a stupid person. HKS has been her lawyer for years. IMO, having watched most of the recent news videos since the death of Daniel, HKS appears to be having an addiction problem of his own. The person who was recently seen, partially functioning, compared with the articulate lawyer seen on past shows/interviews ie Howard Stern(the DJ) are 2 very different men. I mention this not as an excuse but for possible consideration apart from the devious intentions being suggested by some.
#17
People are redinf suspicion and wrong into things that are not sinister at all….. It is not uncommon for a whole family to buy a “plot” that they may be buried in the same spot. When Daniel died perhaps ANS purchased the additional grave for herself or for Danielynn. I recall reading somewhere that Anna always wanted to buried in the same cemetary as Marilyn Monroe, and infact may have purchased a plot next to hers though about this I am not certain.
This woman had to be completely overwhelmed with grief after the death of her son. And her little daughter is only 5 months old. How would it have looked for Howard K. Stern to be shoving a new will in her face yet? Doesn’t he lose either way? He’s the irresponsible lawyer who didn’t make up a new will…or…he is the boyfriend who was giving Anna Nicole time to grieve and adjust before making her think about legal matters but that was wrong also. I think anyone who is close to a celebrity will always be open to criticism even though they are only trying to help. I’m not saying that is what was going on in this case but no one knows what goes on behind the closed doors of two people.
Once they finally bought a plot for Daniel it was reported as a single plot unless i missed it when they said FAMILY PLOT. We didn’t hear about a second plot purchased until the will was read.
My point is i just want to know IF Anna was aware of the second plot purchase.
Mayan! You hit the nail on the head!!
1.) Why were only TWO plots purchased, even after the “committment ceremony”?
2.) With so much money at stake why not update the will to include Dannielyn, especially after Daniel’s unexpected death?
3.) Why were they not legally married? Why a “committment ceremony”?
4.) Why doesn’t HKS take the DNA test and PROVE that he’s the baby’s father?
HKS is hiding in plain sight!!
Stern put himself in various positions of conflict of interest and should receive nothing other than burying Anna in the Bahamas, which probably was her wish. His position will greatly weaken when he is thrown out of the house in the Bahamas, and is made to take a paternity test back in the US and it is verified that he is not Danielynn’s father. Furhermore, a person of any character would have discouraged Anna’s drug habit and sought help when she attempted suicide.
#14 Kat_Gram
The allegations of childhood abuse comes from Entertainment Tonight interviews with Anna Nicole Smith last October in response to questions about the relationship and rift between Smith and her mother Vergie Arthur. At the court hearing for control of Smith’s body, the attorneys for Howard K. Stern presented a transcript of the ET interviews in which Anna Nicole Smith said, “You want to hear all the things she did to me? You want to hear all the things she let my father do to me or my brother do to me? Or my sister? All the beatings and the whippin’s and the rape? That’s my mother. That’s my mom.” Of her relationship with her mother, Smith said that Vergie is her birth mother and nothing more.
If there is substance to the allegations of childhood abuse, it would have been while she was a child in the house of a step-father and half-siblings and might be the reason why Smith was sent to live with her aunt in Mexia, Texas. But Anna Nicole’s relationship with her mother was friendly enough, after the birth of Daniel, to move back to Houston and trust her mother Vergie to care for Daniel the first 6 years of his life when Anna Nicole was working as a stripper.
I have no way of knowing if there is real substance to Anna Nicole’s allegations of childhood abuse, though I don’t doubt that there is a strong possibility. But if there is real substance to Anna Nicole’s allegations, I do doubt that all the hate and spiteful meanness Anna Nicole directed toward her mother and all the drugs, fame and money in the world could have ever soothed the painful savage beast in her and given her peace of mind.
I do think a little focus on a non grudging way of life and grace might have helped though, like it did Oprah Winfrey, who was born into a dysfunctional home of unwed parents and spent the first 6 years of her life living in dirt poor southern poverty on a Mississippi farm with her grandmother before being sent to live with her mother in a Milwaukee getto, where, between the ages of 9 and 13, she was raped by a cousin and molested by an uncle and by a friend of her mother. In anger and pain Oprah rebelled, getting into trouble repeatedly and repeatedly ran away from home until, as an alternative to being placed in a childrens detention home, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville. But before giving up her rebellious wild ways and vowing to live by her father’s rules and strict curfew, she became pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn child when she was only 14-years-old. That was the turning point in Oprah’s life and when Oprah began to find soothing relief from the painful savage beast in her and peace of mind by focusing on grace and a non grudging way of life.
So, all that said, hopefully without seeming to excuse or defend Anna Nicole’s mother Vergie if there is substance to Anna Nicole’s allegations of childhood abuse, I agree with Red. Responsibility for what Anna Nicole made of the adult years of her life lies squarely and soundly on the shoulders of Anna Nicole Smith.
#16/#20 Are you sure HKS wrote the will? He may have, but the actual will was ostensibly prepared by Eric Lund, esq, of the Lund Law Corporation (http://www.courttv.com/people/anna-nicole-smith/docs/will.html).
Of interest, is that three other executors of the will two attorneys (and a 4th a banker). The third being the apparent writer of this will (Oh my! another twist). The second and third executors are appointed in case the first or second ‘fail to qualify’ (There goes the conspiracy theory).
So your accusations are rather weak. Whether HKS wrote the will or not is immaterial. What is material is that Lund appears to have reviewed (if not wrote) the will as the will indicates his firm prepared it.
His apparent preparation of the will, from an ethical standpoint, would require that he honored his client’s wishes as long as they were legal and ethical. That would include naming HKS as executor of the will, if that were Anna’s wish and desire.
Therefore, the argument that HKS had a conflict of interest (as #25 indicated) are a frank grasping at straws in a futile attempt to disparage HKS’s reputation.
Of Further Note (regarding Anna’s will).
1. The will was executed in July 2001.
2. She specifically stated that the sole heir was her son and that no other child (known or unknown to her) was an heir. Standard boilerplate language.
3. HKS was appointed executor at that time and also legal guardian for her then minor son.
4. The will also intentionally ‘disinherited’ any spouse — existing or future.
Assuming AKS was knew she was pregnant during the bulk of 2006, why didn’t SHE have her will updated? During that nine month period of time, there was no emotional overhang of a sudden loss of a child. Thus, her not updating the will were either intentional or she chose to put an update off for some reason.
Updating her will was her responsibility. Stern had no duty or responsibility to do so. For all we know, he might have suggested that she do so and his reccomendation fell on deaf ears.
Sheesh, if there was such a conspiracy why didn’t HKS convince her to change her will to INCLUDE a future spouse and/or children.
Sorry, but the will is very clear and reduces much of the conspiracy theory to not much more than pablum for the simple minded.
See the will here http://www.courttv.com/people/anna-nicole-smith/docs/will.html
Ronnie2Shoes:
HKS was smart enough to realize how it would look if he drafted the will himself. He got his buddy, Eric Lund to write it up with (conveniently) HKS as the person directing traffic! HKS was able to draw a salary as Anna’s attorney AND would benefit later, if say… She and Daniel met untimely deaths (oh, whoops did I say that outloud?).
He would NOT have benefitted by being her legal husband – which is why they had a “committment ceremony” whatever that is… Bottomline: Why is HKS spending money hand over fist to prevent this DNA test? ANSWER: Because he already had one done, privately, months ago and he KNOWS he’s not Dannielyn’s biological parent. He had it tested early so he would know how to play his hand.
TY for the info about Anna’s childhood.
The one thing that I can’t get out of my mind:
Who’s the camera buff?
Who took the pictures of Anna Nicole Smith with the
Minister of Immagration?
Who took the pictures of Daniel, as he sat dead in the
chair next to his mother’s bedside at the hospital?
Who took the pictures of the refridgerator and its’
contents?
Obviously, these pictures can be sold at an enormous
profit ~ but ~ Who benefits from the onslaught of bad publicity against Anna Nicole Smith?
P.S.
Since the will omitted any future spouses and future
children; isn’t the will, in essence, over-ruled as
a matter of law and forced to go to probate?
If that’s the case:
Howard K. Stern is sure to pull a rabbit out of his hat!
#32 — ALL wills are probated. Probate simply means that the document is authentic or valid.
I doubt all of this is an effort for Stern to pull a rabbit out of his hat. The fact that there is no living heir (as provided for in the will) means that the will is likely to be contested. Either that or the administrator will ask the court to intervene in the matter.
The fact is, a court of competent jurisdiction will likely scrutinize the will and make a determination as to the disposition of the estate. IF Stern is awarded custody of the minor child (I believe he was named guardian for Daniel in the original 2001 will, so there is the liklihood that he might be appointed guardian of the girl — unless a DNA Daddy appears) it will be by the court or with the court’s approval, not Stern. If Stern is given custody, he will likely have control of the estate as well. Perhaps as a court appointed trustee.
However, prior to getting one’s panties all uncomfortably wadded, a court appointed Trustee operates within well defined parameters for the benefit of the trust. Appointment as a trustee carriers a significant fiduciary responsibility as well — meaning that the trustee can incur civil and/or criminal penalities for failing his/her fiduciary responsibility. Thus, there should be little fear that some nefarious plan has been hatched by Stern or anyone else, for that matter.
#33 – Thanks!
Any possibility that the estate goes to Daniel’s next of kin, having that clause about intentionally omitting future spouses and future children? Not that it would be right to exclude Daniellyn, but that is how it reads.
And… What’s your take on the pictures of Anna Nicole Smith and the Minister? Why would anyone take a picture like that? Do you think there may have been a little blackmailing going on to secure Bahamian citizenship? What about G. Ben Thompson, the other man with which she was having an affair? Do you think he, actually, “gave” the mansion in Nassau to her? That whole situation looks shady, at best.
I have understood that the Will, we prolly be contested based on omissions. I understand that you would have to state children by name that you will not be bequesting to.
I think maybe sometimes this is done to stop someone from coming up and stating they are a child to hold the process, this now with DNA is easy to prove, however someone could stall the process saying they are her child.
I heard Howard is being questioned by the police.
BTW Howard should contest the Will for the sake of his and Anna’s child.
Then again, in HKS’s defense… He may have been trying to help Anna Nicole from destroying herself. Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until he/she is proven guilty. Maybe the media has caught HKS in the crossfire to “build the story”, and he has been maligned and misunderstood. I may have jumped the gun. Nevermind what something “looks like”, we should base on our opinions on the facts.
And if the daughter turns out to be from frozen sperm of her late husband, Stern could end up with both estates!
I have a problem though, if HKS saw what happened to Daniel, I sure would have put her but into rehab so that I WOULD NOT be under scrunity again.
here’s my question in all this mess.
from all accounts stern was nothing more than a glorified personal secretary for anna nichole.
birkhead claims that he even went to prenatal visits with anna nichole. while it may seem nearly impossible for birkhead to file a paternity suite in the bahamas, couldn’t he file some sort of fraud charges against stern in the u.s.? it went had to be one way or the other. either stern conspired with anna to decieve birkhead into thinking he was the father or stern has lied about the paternity.
there has to be another way around this.
I can not help and wonder why everyone has not noticed that howard stearn was always with anna, and that is the way she wanted it I watched the show when it was on and he was always with danny. She also admited that he was the only one she could trust. I always said that he was in love with anna. everyone keeps talking about the softness of his voiceand calmness, but he is very sad at every thing that has happen to him in the past 6 months. And yes he was the only one that really knew anna he was with her more then anyone
iths strange to me that you never saw her unless he was there. he seemed to want to keep her away from everyone he kept her drugged so he could rule her that poor baby girl needs to be taken by the bahamian authorities until the dna is complete before she winds up like her mother and brother dead then that heartless thing will surely have it all seems like hes good at getting by with getting rid of people
It is kind of funny that Howard K. Stern was present at both Anna and her son’s death. I’m sensing some undue influence here. Maybe he intentionally didn’t advise Anna to Change her will, because he knew that it was a possibility that he was not the father, and If not, he wouldn’t get any ties into the money that her daughter inherits. But just in case he is, and the money goes to her daughter, he would have ties to it. He’s sneaky. He needs to be disbarred.