Murder and Intrigue from Beyond the Grave!

If you were foolish enough to allow yourself to believe that Anna Nicole Smith's life and death were "case closed", thing again... and again... I admit I was one of the people who thought something along the lines of "Well, she's dead, there's an inquest into her death and all the skeletons are pretty much out of the closet". But I have to admit I might have spoken too soon. You see, this is just one of those long-winded stories that seem to go on for ever and ever, and at every twist and turn in the road there's a new revelation, a new set of unanswered questions, a new character who gives a different take on the whole unfortunate affair. This is the case now, and again - this piece of news (once more) managed to change what I thought I knew about the men in Anna Nicole Smith's life, and about one man in particular.

Mark Hatten is a man who claims he's been Anna Nicole's lover and life partner for two years before her life was taken over by the big bad shark also known as Howard K. Stern, the man who claimed he was Anna Nicole's everything - from lover to best friend to soul mate to lawyer. Hatten's story comes via lifestyle / celebrity site InOutStar.com, which contacted Hatten himself after his release from prison at the end of last year and provides extensive, well-documented coverage of his involvement in Anna Nicole's life. And yes, I just said Hatten was in jail for a while, all the time claiming his innocence and trying to let the world know that he was in fact a victim of an alleged plot to separate him from Anna, the woman he claims he loved and to whom he was reportedly married.

So, if "dead son", "accidental, mysterious death", "paternity battle for her surviving daughter" don't make for an extremely tangled story, add "jailed husband" and "framed for crimes he did not commit" into the mix and it all gets even more complicated. So, apart from framing him and sending him to jail, Hatten also claims that Howard Stern effectively killed Anna's son Daniel and eventually Anna herself. "Howard had seven life insurance policies on Anna. [...] He ultimately made the decision to kill Anna Nicole when Anna figured out and blamed him of killing Daniel. [...] I believe she remembered and she told Howard, she said 'You know Howard, you killed my son, you killed Daniel'. And Howard knew that Anna would put him away", he states in his interview with InOutStar. So, now we also have a murder charge thrown into the mix for good measure. I do wonder what will happen next - well, hold on tight to your seats and we'll keep you posted.