Photographs of Anna Nicole Smith in bed embracing the Bahamian immigration minister who approved her application for permanent residency here revived a political scandal in the islands Monday.
Also Monday, the son-in-law of the American developer embroiled in an ownership dispute over the Nassau mansion where Smith was living said he found methadone in her bedroom refrigerator when he went to secure the estate following her death in Florida last week.
A private pathologist has said methadone contributed to the death of Smith’s 20-year-old son Daniel in the Bahamas in September. Daniel Smith died while visiting his mother and newborn half-sister in a Bahamas hospital and an inquest into his death in the Bahamas is planned.
Two photographs published on the front page of The Tribune of Nassau Monday showed Smith and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson, both fully clothed, embracing on a bed decorated with pink flowers.
Gibson, an elected member of Parliament from the ruling Progressive Liberal Party, already has been accused of showing Smith preferential treatment by fast-tracking her residency application last year. With general elections due this spring, many said the photographs, taken in Smith’s bedroom, could damage the ruling party.
Cassius Stuart, leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement, said Gibson has “shamed” the Bahamas and called for him to resign.
“He should do the right thing and step down,” he told reporters outside Smith’s Nassau residence. The BDM is a small opposition party with no seats in parliament.
Opposition leader Hubert Ingraham called for a police investigation of Gibson’s role in granting Smith residency.
Gibson did not return calls seeking comment. But government spokesman Al Dillette dismissed any suggestion of impropriety.
“Minister Gibson is a friend of Anna Nicole, and that’s all a matter of public record,” he said.
John Marquis, managing editor of The Tribune, declined to say who provided the photographs. He said he published them because of their potential political impact.
Ron Rale, a lawyer for Smith and representative of her most recent companion, Howard K. Stern, scrambled Monday to keep control over items he said were stolen from the mansion over the weekend, including images from a computer taken from the house.
Rale said anyone who disseminates the items without his written consent “will be held liable to the fullest extent of the law.” He said police recovered the missing property.
Meanwhile, Ford Shelley, the son-in-law of developer G. Ben Thompson, who once dated Smith, said he found the methadone Friday when he went to secure the house after Smith died Thursday in Florida.
