http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060624/...RrBHNlYwM3NjI-
Is Anna Nicole finally gonna get paid???? 
Son of Anna Nicole's Late Husband Dies By Natalie Finn
Sat Jun 24, 12:12 AM ET
In a twisted turn of events, the son of Anna Nicole Smith's late husband who has been battling with the former Playboy Playmate for years over his dad's fortune, has died. E. Pierce Marshall was 67.
The cause of death was a "brief and extremely aggressive infection," according to a statement released by family spokesperson David Margulies. Marshall passed away Tuesday in Dallas.
"The family would politely request that their privacy be respected during this extremely difficult time as they grapple with this devastating loss," the statement said. "Mr. Marshall leaves behind a legacy of being, first and foremost, a remarkable husband, father and grandfather, a successful business visionary and a man of unrivaled perseverance and principle."
"It's a horrible situation, so condolences to the family, but we have no comment on it at this time," Philip Boesch, Smith's attorney, told the Associated Press.
Despite his own accomplishments as family man and businessman, Marshall may be remembered for quite some time for his ongoing feud with Smith over whether she was entitled to any of the $1.6 billion fortune left behind by oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, who married Smith in 1994 when she was 26 and he was 89. The elder Marshall died a year later.
Since then Marshall had maintained that he was his dad's sole heir and that Smith was only entitled to $6 million in gifts she received the year she got married.
The feud eventually made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where last month it was decided that Smith's case could be reexamined by a California federal appeals court that in 2004 overturned the $88.5 million she was awarded in 2002 by a federal district judge. That amount was what was left over from the original $474 million judgment she got from a federal bankruptcy court.
Money can leave a messy trail.
Whether Marshall's death has any effect on the case's final outcome (although it seems as if this has to have an effect), the Supreme Court's ruling does not guarantee that Smith, who announced a few weeks ago that she is pregnant, will collect any money when all is said and done.
"Although he lavished gifts and significant sums of money on Vickie [Lynn, Smith's birth name] during their courtship and marriage, J. Howard did not include anything for Vickie in his will," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote in the unanimous decision. She added that Smith had alleged that Marshall "engaged in forgery, fraud, and overreaching to gain control of his father's assets." But then again, Smith had possibly also defamed her former stepson, Ginsberg wrote.
"I will continue to fight to clear my name in California federal court," Marshall said in a statement last month. "That is a promise that Vickie and her lawyers can take to the bank."
According to the AP, Marshall served on the board of Koch Industries Inc., a Kansas-based company that operates oil refineries and pipelines, trades commodities and manufactures raw materials like pulp and fibers.
"His leadership and loyalty have been instrumental in the success and growth of our company," Chairman and CEO Charles G. Koch told the AP.
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