Couple tied to Dutch model’s final moments accuse family of defamation

Alexander and Luna Johnson, the American couple who was present when Dutch model Ivana Smit died in Malaysia in December 2017, is taking legal action to try and stop Ivana's family from accusing them of involvement in her death. "We are innocent, but have been under fire for a year and a half due to a smear campaign. Enough is enough", the couple said to newspaper AD.

Ivana's naked body was found on a 6th floor balcony of an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur on December 8th, 2017. She had fallen from the Johnsons' 20th floor apartment after a night spent drinking, doing drugs and partying with the couple. The Malaysian authorities ruled it in accident. But Ivana's family believe the American couple threw their daughter off the balcony after she died in the apartment.

The Johnsons have always said that they were asleep and didn't notice Ivana's fall. They told AD that there is no proof for the Smit family's accusations. The couple, who now lives in Miami, are fed up with the allegations and will charge the Smit family with libel and defamation if they don't stop. "The Smit family suffered an unimaginable loss with the death of Ivana. Proceedings against them are the last thing we want, but what choice to we have but to go to court if this continues? They want the whole world to attack us", the couple said.

The couple already pressed churches in Miami against SBS 6 program maker Thijs Zeeman and his team, after they confronted and filmed Luna Johnson in Miami. According to AD, Luna feels attacked by Zeeman and says that he obtained her private information illegally and secretly filmed her in the apartment complex where they live. "Now everyone knows where we live. We receive hate mail and death threats on a daily basis."

The Johnsons also launched legal proceedings against Mark Williams-Thomas, a British private detective that Ivana's family asked to look into her death. He stated that Ivana's death should have been handled as a murder investigation. According to the American couple, the PI falsified evidence and pressured people to give him the statements he wanted to hear. "With only one goal: his own gain. He wanted to make it into a TV documentary."

Ivana's uncle Fred Agenjo, who acts as spokesperson for the family, is not intimidated by the Johnsons' threat to go to court. "There is no conceivable scenario for us as a family to be silenced. This will only fuel our determination more", he said to the newspaper.

Thijs Zeeman told AD that he is not aware of the charges that the Johnsons apparently pressed against him, and therefore cannot respond. Mark Williams-Thomas refused to respond.