Howard K. Stern Goes After Ford Shelly & C. Ben Thompson

Howard K. Stern, acting on behalf of the Estate of Anna Nicole Smith (AKA Vickie Lynn Marshall) has filed suit against Ford Shelly and C. Ben Thompson along with several other unnamed individuals for the wrongful removal and use of personal belonging of Anna Nicole Smith.

The actions seeks “compensatory, equitable, and punitive relief arising from actions taken by” the above mentioned defendents.

Anna Nicole died on February 8, 2007, and within 24 hours, much of her personal property was stolen from her residence in the Bahamas, known as “Horizons”. For months after the tragic death, many of the DVD’s included in the belongings appeared worldwide on the news. Some of the more known items included the famous “clown video” and the “Christmas Video”. Ford Shelly publically appeared on national television admitting to taking these videos.

Some of the items had been turned into South Carolina authorities by Ford Shelly and C. Ben Thompson, but further investigation revealed that the hard drives of the devises had been copied and transferred.

According to Mr. Stern, at a later date Ford Shelly attempted to give some of the taken belongings to Larry Birkhead, Dannielynn’s father, and Larry Birkhead informed Shelly that he was not authorized to receive items on behalf of the Anna Nicole Estate. Among the items were personal paintings that Anna had made for Dannielynn.