This article includes allegations of domestic violence.
Just over 13 years after Anna Nicole Smith’s heartbreaking death, a past boyfriend of the late star has passed away. However, while an autopsy of Smith revealed she’d died as a result of a prescription drug overdose, many questions about Mark Hatten’s passing remain unanswered.
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Some will remember that in May 2020, news broke about Mark being killed in a South Carolina shooting. At the time, details were scant, though sources familiar with the situation told the Daily Mail that Mark had been involved in a spat with his neighbor the day prior to his death and was arrested. The News later obtained a copy of the incident report and confirmed that he had indeed been involved in a dispute with his 71-year-old neighbor and had threatened the man’s mother. Though he’d been warned after the initial incident, Mark had nonetheless returned to the man’s home with more threats, leading to his arrest.
As for the shooting itself, precise details have never been made public. It wasn’t even confirmed whether the neighbor he’d fought with the previous day had anything to do with it, and authorities appealed to members of the public to contact them if they knew anything about it. Several years down the line, however, Mark’s sister, Jackie Hattan, who he once told InStyle had been Smith’s best friend and introduced them, told The U.S. Sun that the family knew who may have been responsible. “We know who it is,” she said, adding that there was a manhunt underway. Sadly, in a 2023 Instagram tribute, Jackie revealed that justice had never been served, writing, “3 yrs ago today some coward stole your life & never went to jail.” We’re sending her condolences.
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Anna Nicole Smith once pressed charges against Mark Hatten
Longtime fans of Anna Nicole Smith may remember that Mark Hatten wasn’t exactly a stranger to accusations of violence. On the contrary, Smith actually pressed charges against him after an incident saw one of her neighbors beaten up.
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As was reported by the Los Angeles Times back in March 2002, Smith told the Van Nuys Superior Court that she’d dated Mark for a few months before breaking up with him after he’d threatened her with a knife at her home. Despite that, she shared, he’d continued to contact her, and in the 2002 incident, she said he’d phoned to tell her he was coming to her home and that he had a gun. Smith’s neighbor intervened when Mark arrived at the house, but unfortunately, their interaction turned violent, with the model’s ex kicking and punching him. “I’m very scared of this man because he’s crazy,” Smith told the court at the time. Mark was ultimately sentenced to more than six years in jail in 2004.
It’s worth mentioning that Mark always maintained his innocence. In fact, in his 2017 interview with InStyle, he claimed he’d been set up by Smith’s lawyer, Howard K. Stern, who didn’t want their relationship to go public. He also claimed the injuries the neighbor had sustained hadn’t been caused by him. “He said I kicked him in the thumb. What actually happened was that he pushed his way through the wooden gate on her property and it snapped back on his thumb,” Hatten said. As for why he was on Smith’s property in the first place, he said he’d gone to retrieve some of his belongings and that his message about “Packing” had been misinterpreted. Sadly, with both Hatten and Smith deceased, we’ll probably never know exactly what happened.
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If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
