Did Anna Nicole Have A Secret Love Child?

(CBS)  Just when you thought the Anna Nicole Smith saga couldn't get any weirder, a Phoenix newspaper prints a story that another child may be linked to the deceased Playboy Playmate.

According to a report in the Phoenix New Times, a man named Johnny Soto, a member of the Tohono O'odham Native American tribe, claims his son Marshall is the result of an affair he had with Smith while she was vacationing at Paradise Valley's Sanctuary Resort and Spa in 2001. Soto says Smith concealed the pregnancy and allowed him to raise the son she bore.

Soto tells the New Times that he has the birth certificate and other documents to prove his story is true.

Is it a prank by the paper or a hoax by Soto?

The paper has printed phony stories in the past in honor of April Fool's Day.

Most of the New Times Web site's readers commenting on the article said that they were hip to the hoax. A few pointed to the paper's history of phony stories, as well as several "facts" in the article.

Charles Tatum is the name on the byline of the far-fetched story, which is the only article on the New Times Web site with that name.

Tatum — or at least a man at the New Times offices claiming to be Tatum — spoke to The Showbuzz insisting that the story was true and that he went to Soto's home.

"(Soto) spins quite a tale," Tatum said. "He has documents to back it up and photos. I don't know. I'm not an expert in documents, (but) he had enough for me to believe that he was who he said he was."

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Timeline: Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith: A Who's Who

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In the story, Soto says the boy is named for Anna's deceased husband, J. Howard Marshall, who died in 1995.

Soto says that Smith seduced him when he was a maintenance worker at Arizona's Sanctuary Resort and Spa on Camelback Mountain. The couple then engaged in "three-week sessions of lovemaking" with Smith.

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Photos: Anna Nicole Smith — Tragedy Strikes

Photos: Anna Nicole Smith — Her Life

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Soto says Smith concealed her pregnancy in 2001 by putting on excessive weight — the extra pounds were visible in her E! Entertainment show, "The Anna Nicole Show."

The newspaper says Soto has a birth certificate from Burbank's Providence Saint Joseph's Hospital listing Smith as the mother of Marshall Black Deer Soto, as well as numerous boarding passes for round-trip flights from Phoenix to Burbank, where the model resided.

Smith, who collapsed and died last month in a Hollywood, Fla., hotel, kept the pregnancy a secret from her lawyer-companion Howard K. Stern, says the newspaper, until about a month before the delivery.

Soto says they had kept in touch over the years.

"The last time she called in January, she didn't sound right," Soto tells the newspaper. "I knew she was again back on the drugs. Her speech was slurred, and she was saying crazy stuff about how there were rats under her bed trying to eat her feet, and that the Mafia was out to kill her for her money. Before I heard the news, I got a letter in the mail from her, written in lipstick, with a photo of her shaving Howard K. Stern's butt. I thought maybe she needed to be institutionalized. Obviously, the birth of Dannielynn and Daniel's overdose — it was just too much for her."

It sounds like a bizarre tale — especially the part about that final photo.

But, in a real life storyline that includes Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband and O.J. Simpson both claiming to have fathered Anna Nicole's daughter, anything is possible.

"Anna Nicole Smith is a tabloid-machine so our readers are neither surprised nor shocked," says Danielle Friedland of Celebrity Baby Blog. "Especially considering the drama both before and after her death and because Anna's will intentionally excluded future children, our readers are willing to buy Johnny Soto's story. Some think the boy even looks like Anna! But, others are reserving judgment until they have more information."

[photobrat]

It could be true, put the dates together. When her will was written in 2001, it stated how nothing was to be left to any future children... and at the time Daniel was her only child, but she would have been prego with "Secret Baby" and Sterne, the controlling jealous man he appears to be, could very well have had a lot to do with it and at the time as well, how was anyone to know Dannielynn would be conceived? And if Soto has documentation, black and white doesn't lie... He should go to court and file for a DNA test as well so that maternity can be established while they still have DNA samples to use... or else it may be too late!

[katygrace7]

I think that this whole situation could easily be true. Im not saying that Anna Nicole sleeps around, but people go on trips and have affairs, its possible. She may just not have wanted to go public with it because of bad publicity. On the contrary, it could be a lie. Well, I guess we will all find out soon enough!

[just_meagain]

and plowhandle.... INJUN?..... You do realize that that was a RACIST comment, right? It is unfortunate that you are ignorant slave to your own prejudices.

[just_meagain]

At this point anything is possible I guess. If there is proof then this poor lady probably has more skeletons in her closet that will soon reveal themselves. It must have been *h**y to live life like she did.

[lil_d3vil]

Whats really funny is the butt shaving incident IS TRUE, as was reported by her X designer Bobby Trendy,as there is a picture of Anna shaving Sterns hairy butt hanging over her bed.

[stresa70395]

Can the press and the money hungry jerks stop digging up dirt on Anna. My goodness, people just don't even respect the dead. Some people are so sick. Get over it, and let Anna rest in peace. Stern is no better, living off of Anna. I hope Stern is NOT the father of this little angle who now has no mother.

[dgshiner]

this woman should be in Ripley's believe it or NOT! Because all of this is the most bizarre farfetched *** anyone has ever heard of. From the crying Judge to O.J. Simpson!!!! Incredible.
And what is more incredible is how the media is playing us talk about Entertainment! Wow, if one more person comes out then no wonder she is dead cause she is just plain tired from sleeping with all of these people. No wonder she is DEAD

[justcarol]

This is just another bunch of ***. Someone else looking to make a buck off a dead woman. Let her just rest in peace. It's over.

[jeannalynn]

I don't believe that anyone will ever know the true life of Anna. At one time or another we've all done things in our lives that we are not so proud of. It would be wrong for anyone to misplace their judgement regarding the possibility that the little boy Soto could be her son. Whether its rumors or not, the only way anyone will ever know the truth is to do a DNA test to establish paternity.

[hollieann915]

My god people would you just leave the woman alone. Shes dead for god sakes. Just drop all the BS and let her rest in peace!!