Tuesday, 24 October 2006

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Anna Nicole Smith ordered to move out

After the death of her son, she is evicted from her Bahamas home

The day after Anna Nicole Smith buried her son Daniel, a letter was hand-delivered to her house in the Bahamas ordering her to leave the residence by Oct. 31, PEOPLE has learned.

G. Ben Thompson, a Myrtle Beach, S.C., developer, says he owns the property in New Providence where Smith has been staying. He says he purchased the house for a bit less than $1 million in August as a favor to Smith, whom he befriended after he met her through neighbors in mid-2005.

Smith was then supposed to sign a mortgage to buy the house from him, he says, but she has refused to do so. "She said it was a gift," Thompson tells PEOPLE. "I never said that. I don't have that kind of money."

An attorney representing Thompson delivered the letter to the house on Oct. 20; if Smith does not leave, Thompson says, he will pursue a formal eviction. "I don't want to embarrass her or humiliate Anna," he says. "I just need my money, or collateral, back."

The possible eviction is yet another strange twist in a story that began Sept. 10, when Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel was found dead in her hospital room three days after she gave birth to daughter Dannielynn. Methadone as well as two antidepressants were found
in his system. Bahamian police have investigated the death and authorities may order a formal inquest.