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Home / World

Family of model who fell to her death believe she was murdered

By Birdie Pearson-Jones
Daily Mail·
14 Apr, 2018 09:23 PM9 mins to read

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CCTV footage from Club 9 shows Alex Johnson carrying Ms Smit at 5.22am on the day she died. Source: Club 9 CCTV

The family of an 18-year-old Dutch model who fell 4.2m to her death from a wealthy American's apartment in Kuala Lumpur say she was murdered.

Ivana Smit, who had an upcoming role on Belgium's Next Top Model, was found dead, with no clothes on, on the sixth floor of an up-market apartment building on December 7 last year, reports The Daily Mail.

Malaysian Police classified the tragedy as "sudden death", meaning it was the result of an accident or suicide.

But the teenager's family have said they believe she murdered.

Fred Agenjo Weinhold, Ivana's uncle, 47, told The Sun: "She had the world at her feet. We simply don't believe she killed herself or it could have been an accident.

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"She promised she would be in Belgium for the Top Model final — but she came back in a casket."

The family have now hired ex-Surrey Police detective Mark Williams-Thomas to investigate the model's untimely death.

Mr Williams-Thomas, who helped expose Jimmy Savile as a paedophile six years ago, is an award-winning TV investigator.

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He said that if she had died in the UK he has "no doubt" the death would have been tried as a homicide.

He added the lack of blood around her body indicates she may have been dead falling.

"I cannot believe she went over that balcony of her own free will. There's no way this was a suicide — and she sustained injuries before her death" he said.

View this post on Instagram

Oh hello week. Let's do this. 😘

A post shared by Ivana Smit (@ivana_smit) on Nov 26, 2017 at 4:10pm PST

The family also requested a second post mortem for the model.

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Pathologist Frank van de Goot found Ivana had significant head bruising and multiple bruises on her arms.

"Something happened before she fell from the balcony. Maybe she slipped or maybe someone hit her on the head. Bruises like this one are only possible when the heart is still beating" he said.

Her father, Marcel Smit, who identified her body said he saw bruises on her neck "like fingerprints, as if someone had grabbed her there".

Ivana spent the night with US tycoon Alex Johnson, 44, and his wife Luna, 31.

The three are alleged to know each other intimately and are believed to have spent the night in a drug-fuelled sex session.

At 5.22am on December 7, cameras in a Kuala Lumpur club show American citizen Alexander Amado Johnson, 45, carrying Ivana in his arms through a hallway.

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Mr Johnson is the founder of Everus World, a cryptocurrency company based in Kuala Lumpur.

At 7.30am, Ivana sent her boyfriend a selfie of herself with Luna.

Police believe that around two hours later, at 10am, Ivana plunged from Johnson's 20th-story balcony and landed on a six-story roof.

Her body, which was naked, was not found until around 3pm that day. Police have still not found Ivana's shoes or her underwear.

She had alcohol and Ecstasy in her system at the time of death, an autopsy found.

Mr Van de Goot's second autopsy also found cocaine in Ivana's system.

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A month before her death, Ivana and the Johnsons had spent the night at a hotel. Luna claims the 18-year-old had told them she was 26.

They met again at upmarket nightclub Mantra on the night of her death, they moved on to the late-night 9 Club.

They went back to the Johnsons' Capsquare Residence apartment, where, according to Dutch media, a "drug-fuelled swingers' party" took place.

Luna, a mother-of-one later said: 'Ivana was hammered. I kept talking to her as I got my daughter ready for school. Ivana lay down while I took her there.'

Luna says she found Ivana in bed with her husband around 8.15am when she returned to the apartment.

She said: 'I came over and said, 'OK, now I'm free'. We sat on the sofa and after 20 minutes she put on some music and took off all her clothes. So we went into the bedroom and were intimate.'

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The couple claim they then fell asleep.

View this post on Instagram

By the way I'm wearing that smile you gave me. 😘

A post shared by Ivana Smit (@ivana_smit) on Nov 24, 2017 at 9:12pm PST

At, 6.30am Ivana's German-born boyfriend Lukas Kramer phoned her. He said: 'She sounded all right. She said it had been a long night and she was at her girlfriend's place.'

Then, at 7.24am, he received a selfie of Ivana and Luna with the text: 'Chilling at my chick's place'.

Mr Kramer said he found the language used in the message suspicious, saying: "She would have said she was at her girlfriend's place, she never used 'chilling' or 'chicks'."

Her uncle Mr Weinhold said: 'I believe this message was not sent by Ivana. That is not the kind of terminology that she uses. We have never heard her say 'chicks' before or use 'chilling'.

Luna claims to have woken up at 1.25pm and discovered Ivana's clothes, shoes, bag and phones were in the lounge.

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She then fell asleep again and says she did not know of the model's death until 5pm when police knocked on her door to inform her.

Ivana's grandfather Fredrik Smit, who has lived in Penang, Malaysia, for more than two decades and raised Ivana as a child there, said at the time: "We cannot believe she fell from level 20 and the body was found at level 6.

"She was found there naked. Where are her shoes and underwear?"

He added: "We believe there is a criminal element in Ivana's death. Of course we don't believe the story from the police because they can't give us photographs or a report from the scene. Ivana's father has contacted the Dutch ambassador and Interpol."

Marcel Smit claims Ivana sent her boyfriend a message and selfie at 7.25am before she was found dead around seven hours later at around 2 or 3pm.

He told Dutch media: "At about 10am she would have fallen from the balcony at 20 floors high. How is that possible? It is strange that she was not found until 3pm.

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"She is tall, 1.81 meters, but the barrier is also 1.20 meters. Only when you bend over, do you fall off. She did not fall and did not jump either."

Mr Williams-Thomas said he was "convinced" she was dead before she fell.

"Something happened in that apartment probably around the time Luna was out taking her daughter to school.

"Perhaps Ivana fell, perhaps she was struck, but she sustained an injury to the head."

Mr Kramer, 21, who works for a shipping company, said: 'It is devastating, very tough and I am just trying to find justice for Ivana.

"The police have told me it was suicide and that's it. They are saying it is a sudden death after she overdosed on drugs and fell from the balcony.

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"I didn't know the couple she was with at all until it happened. I can't understand what happened.

"She told me on the night that she was going out with some model friends. It was a Wednesday night and I work till 8pm. When I got home she told me she wanted to go out.

"She said she would be out for a couple of hours and have only a couple of drinks. She gave me a hug and said 'I love you' and left.

"I went to the gym for a half-an-hour and went to bed."

He added: "The next morning I woke up at 6.30 and she was not laying next to me. So I called her up and she picked up right away. She sounded good. She sounded alright. She said it had been a long night and she was at her girlfriend's place.

"She didn't mention anything about this guy Alex. She said she was going to get some rest and sleep. I didn't think anything of it as she had a job that day."

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View this post on Instagram

Perfectly imperfect ♡ #model #happy #kualalumpur #malaysia #smile #gettingthere #fitness

A post shared by Ivana Smit (@ivana_smit) on Nov 9, 2017 at 8:03pm PST

Soon after he received a telephone call from Luna Johnson from Ivana's cell phone who introduced herself and said they were just "chilling".

He went to work after receiving a selfie of Ivana and Luna which he said appeared to have been taken by Luna on his girlfriend's phone.

The message under it said "Chilling at my chicks place", but Lukas is adamant that he had never heard his girlfriend using the word "chicks" before.

"She would have said she as at her girlfriend's place, never use 'chilling' and 'chicks'," he added.

After returning from work that evening, he saw his girlfriend hadn't returned or checked her WhatsApp messages on her phone.

He spoke with her parents in Holland and then received a call from one of Ivana's model friends informing him of the tragedy. The news was confirmed by police when he visited a station.

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He later joined her parent's when they viewed the teenager's body in hospital.

"I had never known her take drugs, not at all. We went to the gym together and she liked an active, healthy lifestyle.

"She was happy, she was really happy. I cannot accept it was suicide in any way. If you had asked me who was the least (likely) person to commit suicide, then I would have said Ivana for sure. She had a positive attitude all the time."

"She liked a drink or a beer like anybody else. But nothing like drugs, no way…no way

"I am angry. Why I haven't sen a proper timeline from the police or CCTV from the block of flats. Was there anybody else in the apartment. What happened: It seems like nobody here is caring. It has all gone quiet. The police need to investigate properly."

Lukas revealed he had received bizarre text messages from a friend of the Johnsons after his girlfriend died.

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One text said: "She wanted to break up with you. She didn't have nice things to say about you bro."

But Lukas texted back: "It is all bull****."

Ivana was born in the Sittard, in the Netherlands but grew up in Malaysia with her grandparents Hendrik Smit, 78, and Susan, 77.

There she had built a career as a model for the likes of ­Chanel and other brands.

She began her modelling career aged just 13, and by 15 appeared on TV on Malaysia Supermodel Search 2014. She was second runner-up.

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