Posted by Richard Head

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Anna Nicole Smith was investigated by the FBI over claims she plotted to kill her tycoon husband’s son as they battled for his father’s fortune, it has been revealed.

However, the former Playboy model — who was found dead in her suite at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida in February 2007 — was never prosecuted, newly released files show, according to the Associated Press.

According to FBI records, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, Smith was investigated in 2000 and 2001 for trying to have E. Pierce Marshall killed because he sought to keep her from inheriting his dad’s hundreds of millions of dollars.

Smith met her husband J. Howard Marshall when she was a stripper in Texas. She was 26 when she married the 89-year-old owner of Great Northern Oil Co., who died more than a year after they wed. In 1992, his wealth was estimated by Forbes to be $550 million.

The younger Marshall died three years ago of natural causes.

When informed by the FBI why she was being investigated, “Smith began crying and denied ever making such plans,” a document says.

An agent wrote at the time,”Smith adamantly denied ever contemplating such a crime,” and prosecutors eventually agreed the case could not go forward.

An April 26, 2001, letter to the FBI from Sally Meloch, an assistant U.S. attorney, said she reviewed the reports but “determined that there is insufficient evidence to establish that there was a murder-for-hire plot by Ms. Smith to kill Pierce Marshall.”

The FBI files show a .357-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver was confiscated from Smith’s home, along with a 3 1/2-inch stainless steel knife and, for reasons that were not explained, a black and orange hat described as “Dr. Seuss.” All three objects were returned to her about seven months later.

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