Kuala Lumpur flat cleaned shortly after Dutch model's fatal fall
The apartment in Kuala Lumpur from which 18-year-old Dutch model Ivana Smit fell to her death in December, was cleaned shortly after the young woman's body was discovered and before the Malaysian police did a trace evidence investigation, lawyer Sebas Diekstra said on Twitter.
Diekstra is assisting Smit's family. The young Dutch woman died after a night out with American couple Luna and Alexander Johnson. She went home with them and fell from their 20th floor apartment. Her naked body was found on the sixth floor. The Malaysian authorities concluded that her death was an accident, but her family does not believe it. A private detective and a forensic pathologist looked into this case and both concluded that there are signs of a crime.
A Malaysian court is currently holding several hearings to determine whether Smit's death was an accident or a crime. During one such hearing on Tuesday, both the caretaker of the apartment building and the cleaning lady stated that the American couple's apartment was cleaned before the police did forensic investigation, Diekstra said on Twitter. The cleaning lady told local media that Luna Johnson called her from the police station and asked her to clean the apartment, Diekstra said.
Diekstra called this a "mockery" of justice. "How could a cleaning lady have gained access to the apartment while trace evidence investigation still had to be carried out?" he said.
On Tuesday the American couple's lawyer also revealed that the two will not be testifying on Wednesday, as they were asked to do, according to NU.nl. He did not say why.
Last week the caretaker of the apartment building told the court that she heard noises from the couple's apartment after Smit's body was found, according to the newspaper. This is remarkable because the couple previously said that they were only woken by the police hours later.
The so-called Coroner's Court will only rule on whether Ivana Smit's death was suspicious, not on who is to blame. The Malaysian Public Prosecutor will then decide whether or not to start a criminal investigation.
