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MIAMI - A Florida court today revealed DNA results naming the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, ending months of feverish speculation.
The court ruled that Larry Birkhead, the former boyfriend of the late Playboy model, is Dannielynn's father.
Anna Nicole's death in a Florida casino hotel on February 8 touched off a storm as various people fought over her body and also over her baby. The child could one day come into a fortune if Smith's estate wins a decade-long battle to inherit from a former oil tycoon husband.
The ruling wiped out rival paternity claims by Smith's long-time companion, Howard Stern, and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Frederic van Anhalt, who had filed a lawsuit claiming he had fathered Dannielynn.
People magazine reported Birkhead as telling reporters outside the Bahamas courthouse "I hate to be the one who told you this, but: I told you so. I'm the father."
He continued: "Thank you for your support. Thank you for the people who got me this far."
"Thank you very much. My baby's gonna be coming home pretty soon." Asked about when he would take Dannielynn home, he said, "Things are moving quickly here, and we'll see what happens."
- REUTERS, NZHERALD STAFF
