Dutch model's death a 'misadventure', court rules

The Coroner's Court in Kuala Lumpur has ruled the death of Dutch model Ivana Esther Robert Smit as a misadventure.

According to a Free Malaysia Today (FMT) report, coroner Mahyon Talib, in reading out her written judgment, said no one was involved in Ivana's death.

"That is why the court has classified the case as a misadventure," she was quoted as saying.

Ivana was only 19 when she fell to her death from the 20th floor of a condominium in Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur, on Dec 7, 2017.

She was found sprawled in the nude on the balcony of a sixth-floor unit in the condominium.

She had earlier gone out drinking with an American couple who lived at the unit, but the police had then ruled out any foul play, classifying the case as "sudden death".

The couple have reportedly claimed to have had sex with Ivana prior to her death but have maintained their innocence, saying the model died due to her own “youthful recklessness”.

They have since left the country and could not be subpoenaed for the inquest.

Investigators later reclassified the case after her father Marcel Smit complained of finding bruise marks on her neck and arms, and claimed that she had been pushed out of the balcony.

Mahyon said that the injuries found on Ivana were consistent with a fall from a height, and that she was of the opinion that Ivana had died between 6.50am and 2pm on the day of the incident.

She also said that rigor mortis had taken place around 10am or 11am on that day.

According to Mahyon, the injuries found on Ivana's neck, the presence of broken glass bottles on the 20th floor unit, and the DNA of a man found under Ivana's fingernails suggested the possibility of foul play.

However, since the court could not establish what had really happened between Ivana and the couple, the court is ruling as misadventure, she had said.

This means that Ivana's death is considered an accident due to voluntary risk.

Lawyer SN Nair, who held a watching brief for the deceased's family during the inquest, described the verdict as the "next best", although the family would have preferred a homicide or murder ruling.

The misadventure verdict is better than suicide or an open verdict, he was quoted as saying.

He would await instructions from his client on whether to seek a revision of the ruling, he told FMT.

Also present in the Coroner's Court today was the Dutch ambassador to Malaysia Karin Mossenlechner, and Gerard van Heerwaarde, the Netherlands police liaison for Malaysia and the region. - Mkini