Anna Nicole Points Finger

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday May 29, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

The latest twist in the often-surreal trial over the $1.6 billion estate of the late J. Howard Marshall came on Tuesday, when his always newsworthy widow, ex-Playmate Anna Nicole Smith, 33, claimed in a Houston court that Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, 62, wanted the 90-year-old Texas tycoon dead. Smith, reportedly shedding tears, said that Pierce had demanded that the ailing elder Marshall not be aided should he happen to choke on his food, as he did one night when Smith was feeding him chicken soup. "That's the night he died on me, and I brought him back to life," she cried out, reports Reuters. "It was Pierce -- Pierce was the one who made the order not to do anything because it wouldn't do any good." She added, "He killed my husband." "Do you seriously swear under oath that Pierce Marshall ordered people to let his father choke to death?" Pierce Marshall's attorney, Rusty Hardin, asked Smith. "Yes," replied Smith, wiping her eyes. Hardin pressed, "Miss Smith, have you been taking new acting lessons?" Answered the witness: "Screw you, Rusty."