Star Witness Admits to Lying in Georgia Murder Trial - East Idaho News
National

Star Witness Admits to Lying in Georgia Murder Trial

  Published at

abc waseem daker loretta spencer blatz ll 121003 wg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1365167140766ABC News(ATLANTA) — The star witness in a murder trial that sent Waseem Daker to prison for life has filed court papers in Georgia admitting that much of what she said in her powerful testimony was untrue.

In two affidavits filed in March in Cobb County, Loretta Spencer Blatz admits that Daker never assaulted or threatened her with a handgun.

Spencer Blatz said she was suffering from “anxiety, depression, manic episodes” and under the influence of “painkillers, muscle relaxants” and “other substances” when she made those allegations during the trial last September, according to the affidavits.

Daker was convicted for stalking Spencer Blatz in 1995 and served 10 years in prison.  And, based on Spencer Blatz’ testimony and newly discovered DNA evidence, Daker was convicted last year of murdering Karmen Smith and attacking her young son, Nick, in 1995.  He was sentenced to life plus 47.5 years behind bars.

Prosecutors argued that Daker killed Smith as revenge against Spencer Blatz, who helped send Daker to prison for harassing her, a claim she now denies.

Daker was found guilty in September of felony murder, burglary and aggravated battery and stalking.

In one of the affidavits, Spencer Blatz tore apart crucial DNA evidence that linked Daker to Smith’s murder, saying the blanket police found at the crime scene with his hairs was one Spencer Blatz had given her roommate before the murder.  Spencer Blatz said Daker used the blankets when he spent nights at her old apartment, before she moved in with Smith.

Daker had long been a suspect in Smith’s murder, but it wasn’t until 2009 that, according to authorities, tests showed hairs found on Smith’s body matched Daker’s DNA.

Daker and prosecutors fought over those DNA tests from the scene of the crime that police say cracked the case and led to his arrest.

Daker’s lawyers told ABC News that Spencer Blatz wrote Daker in prison to tell him that she was coming clean.  Daker is already demanding a new trial, according to lawyers.

He has maintained his innocence all along, saying he wasn’t the masked man who killed Smith and attacked her son, who was 5 at the time.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION