Stern Vows To Keep Smith's Mom Away

Anna Nicole Smith's partner, Howard K. Stern, returned to the waterfront mansion in the Bahamas where he was living with Smith and her daughter, Dannielynn, before Smith died Thursday in Hollywood, Fla.

He has vowed never to allow Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, near the child.

"She's trying to get the baby, she's trying to get Dannielynn," Stern told "Entertainment Tonight" reporter Mark Steines. "Anna despised that woman — despised that woman. As long I have one breath left in my body, that woman will not see Dannielynn. Just, first I want to get back to Dannielynn and I want to tell her that her mother loved her more than anything. Somehow things are gonna be OK."

Steines reported from a secret location in the Bahamas where Dannielynn was being cared for. He said that it was Smith's wish for Stern to be the guardian of the baby, but Smith's mother is siding with Smith's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead in a custody battle that likely will begin in the Bahamas.

"The child is legally in domicile in this country and the child also has a right as an American citizen to travel to the United States," Bahamian lawyer Sidney Collie told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. "That's not the issue. The issue is all of these individuals who are claiming to have legal rights to the child. And those claims have to be sorted out."

Stern remains firm that he is the father of the 5-month-old even though Birkhead and Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, both say they could be the father. There is even a rumor that Dannilelynn could have been conceived with frozen sperm from Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall II.

Steines told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm that Stern will only submit to a DNA test if he is ordered to do so.

James Neavitt, the attorney for Stern, told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith that Stern is definitely the father, despite tales of Smith's active love life. He said Stern will submit to a paternity test when he feels the court system is "able to be a secure type of situation." Neavitt said that he is investigating whether or not Smith and Stern's commitment was akin to a legally binding marriage.

But there are more problems ahead for Stern, according to defense attorney Roy Black. Stern's attorney appeared to dodge the issues of paternity and marriage. If both prove not to exist, Stern's claim to the child will be hard to make.

"Whoever the father is will be the legal guardian and then the legal guardian is going to have control," Black told Smith.

But Stern remains committed to the child he says is his daughter. Echoing the worlds of Anna Nicole Smith after her son, Daniel, died three days after Dannilelynn was born, he told Steines that the baby is "the only reason why I'm here."

"She's the only reason why I'm still on this earth," Stern said.

It's also still unclear how much Smith is worth and who will control whatever wealth she might have. Some people have said she had around $80 million, others have said she could have had as much as $500,000. The case between Smith and the family of her late husband has still not been settled. The Marshall family said that Smith should not inherit any of the oil billionaire's wealth.

"We are in a battle between the federal and state courts," Black said. "That's why it went to the Supreme Court because the probate in Texas gave her nothing; the bankruptcy court in California gave her $475 million — that was reduced to $89 million. The 9th Circuit said no jurisdiction, so the issue now is, do the courts have any jurisdiction to give?"

There's another legal battle brewing over who owns the mansion where Smith, Stern and Dannilelynn lived. The locks were changed twice over the weekend and Smith's attorney claimed computer equipment, drawings and paintings were missing.

"When I talked to Howard last night, he's fairly outraged at this moment because when he returned to the Bahamas, and found Anna Nicole's house was broken into and her photos and computers and personal effects were taken," Neavitt said.

While her friends and relatives fight over what Smith left behind, her fans are filling Web sites with tributes and talk of what may have killed her. One report claimed the former Playboy playmate had surgery to repair a breast implant recently and might have developed an infection — something medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said he has seen no evidence of. He also has not found any obvious signs of alcohol use.

Since there was no obvious cause of death, toxicology test results may paint a completely different picture, but it will be at least three weeks before the exact cause is determined.

Smith's body is under 24-hour police protection while Perper continues his investigation.