Star Witness Admits to Lying in Georgia Murder Trial
Waseem Daker was sentenced to life plus 47.5 years behind bars.
April 5, 2013— -- 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's serving a life sentence.
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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. He was sentenced to life plus 47.5 years behind bars.
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.
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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.
Spencer Blatz was powerful on the witness stand, facing down Daker, who acted as his own attorney. Spencer Blatz fought back against Daker when he asked the judge to label her testimony during his questioning as "inappropriate."
"Well, you know, it's really inappropriate that you stalk me and harass me, and you're sitting here asking me questions, and I have to come back with you and answer your questions. That's hard for me," Spencer Blatz shot back while on the witness stand.
Spencer Blatz was in tears in October when she told "20/20" how Daker stalked her.
"He would just show up the store, Blockbuster, just everywhere," she said.
But now she's admitting that she willingly spent time with him before Smith's murder.
Daker 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.
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