Posted Oct 7th 2009 4:15PM by TMZ Staff
We just spoke with the guy who triggered the murder-for-hire investigation into Anna Nicole Smith -- and he says she repeatedly asked him to kill the son of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II.
Mark "Hollywood" Hatten, Anna's ex-BF, says a drug-addled Smith was continually "begging with me to kill E. Pierce Marshall" claiming after her husband died, Pierce was "standing in the way of her money."
Hatten says he told Pierce's lawyer about the alleged plot. Mark claims he was then interviewed by the FBI twice about the matter while he was in jail for an unrelated crime.
TMZ sources confirm that when Anna and Howard K. Stern met with the FBI, an agent told them Hatten was the one who made the claim. We're also told the agent didn't believe Hatten's story.
Ultimately, the FBI determined there was "insufficient evidence to establish that there was a murder-for-hire plot."
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Anna Nicole Smith, Exclusives
Tags: anna nicole smith, AnnaNicoleSmith, e. pierce marshall, E.PierceMarshall, FBI, howard k. stern, HowardK.Stern, j. howard marshall, J.HowardMarshall, mark hollywood hatten, MarkHollywoodHatten, murder, murder plot, MurderPlot
Posted Oct 7th 2009 9:00AM by TMZ Staff
Anna Nicole Smith was investigated by the FBI over a possible plot to kill the son of J. Howard Marshall II -- the 89-year-old oil tycoon she married when she was 26, this according to newly released documents.
The investigation took place between 2000 - 2001 -- after J. Howard's death -- when his son, E. Pierce Marshall, was trying to keep Anna Nicole from getting a chunk of his father's wealth ... valued in the hundreds of millions.
According to FBI documents obtained by the Associated Press, authorities confiscated a couple of weapons from Anna's home during the investigation -- including a .357 revolver and a 3.5 inch stainless steel knife.
On July 3, 2000, Smith was questioned by the FBI, but according to the docs Anna, "began crying and denied ever making such plans."
Feds ultimately decided there was "insufficient evidence to establish that there was a murder-for-hire plot by Ms. Smith to kill Pierce Marshall."
Pierce died in 2006 from an infection.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Anna Nicole Smith
Tags: anna nicole smith, AnnaNicoleSmith, e. pierce marshall, E.PierceMarshall, fbi, investigation, j. howard marshall, J.HowardMarshall, murder
