Anna Nicole Burial Battle Resumes Tuesday
As the fight continues over where Anna Nicole Smith is to be buried and who will have custody of her baby daughter - the furor over the late model and reality TV star's activities has led to a resignation of a top official in the government of the Bahamas.
Immigration Minister Shane Gibson resigned Sunday night as a result of the controversy over photos that surfaced after Smith's death, showing him months earlier with the former Playboy pinup – fully clothed, but in bed together and in a very friendly embrace.
The photos of Smith and Gibson stoked a scandal because Gibson was the one who fast-tracked the model's application for permanent residency in the country.
"I want to apologize to all persons who may - in any way - may have been offended by anything that I have said, done, or perceived to have said or done," Gibson said on state TV Sunday, announcing his resignation.
Gibson has denied any wrongdoing in Smith's residency case, said they did not have a sexual relationship, and insists that he is the victim of "vicious and wicked lies."
"I unconditionally deny," said Gibson, "that I ever abused my ministerial office by granting Anna Nicole Smith any permit of which she was undeserving, or for which she was not qualified, under the laws of the Bahamas."
The court hearing on where Smith is to be buried - which has already clocked three days - is to resume on Tuesday.
In Florida Saturday, Smith's body was embalmed, under the terms of a court order issued a day earlier. The embalmers had to promise not to discuss, write about, photograph or allow anyone to draw pictures of the body.
The body remains at the medical examiner's, awaiting developments in a Fort Lauderdale courthouse, where Smith's estranged mother Virgie Arthur and her companion Howard K. Stern are fighting over where Smith should be buried.
"I want every loose end tied up," said Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin as Friday's hearings drew to a close. "I want peace and tranquility."
Friday's proceedings moved out of Seidlin's chambers and into a courtroom to accommodate the horde of media and attorneys.
On Thursday, Seidlin ordered that additional DNA be taken from Smith's body, saying he wanted to make sure her body wouldn't have to be exhumed.
"When we bury her, I want it to be forever," Seidlin said.
Seidlin has warned attorneys he would schedule as many sessions as it takes to resolve the issue. He ordered Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, to appear in court Tuesday.Photos: Anna Nicole Smith - Tragedy Strikes
Photos: Anna Nicole Smith - Her Life
Also Friday - the contents of Smith's will were revealed. The document - which appears to predate Daniel Smith's death - names Stern as her executor and says he should hold her property in trust for Daniel.
Stern, who is no relation to the radio host with a similar name, wants to bury Smith next to Daniel in the Bahamas. Her estranged mother, Vergie Arthur, wants her buried in Smith's home state of Texas.
Photographer Larry Birkhead hopes DNA taken from Smith will help prove he fathered the former centerfold's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, who could inherit millions.
Anna Nicole Smith, 39, died Feb. 8 after collapsing at a Florida hotel.
In California, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, filed legal documents Thursday seeking a DNA test to determine if he fathered the baby. Von Anhalt, who says he is 59, has said he and Smith had a decade-long affair.
Also in California on Thursday, the state medical board said it is investigating a doctor who may have prescribed methadone to Smith through a prescription that contained an alias.
The Medical Board of California began looking at Dr. Sandeep Kapoor after receiving information about possible misconduct, board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said. Cohen declined to give details on the allegation or its source but said it was connected to Smith.
Among other things, the board is investigating whether it is legal to prescribe drugs for someone using an alias, Cohen said. She described the review as routine and said the board is obligated to review all allegations of physician misconduct.
Another investigation is pending in the Bahamas, where an inquest into Daniel Smith's death is to begin on March 27. A coroner hired by Smith's family said Daniel died from a lethal combination of drugs, including methadone.