A Malaysian coroner ruled Friday that there was no criminal involvement in the death of an 18-year-old Dutch model whose nude body was found after plunging from a condominium.
Ivana Smit's body was found on the balcony of a sixth floor unit in a Kuala Lumpur condominium on Dec. 7, 2017. She was believed to have fallen from the 20th floor, where she had spent the night with an American man and his Kazakhstan wife.
The case drew widespread attention due to allegations of lurid sex and drug use.
Police initially ruled her death as suicide but an inquest was held last year after her family suspected she was murdered. Smit's body was flown back to the Netherlands, where a second autopsy found bruises on her arm, trauma on the back of her head as well as the DNA of the American man, Alex Johnson, under Smit's fingernails. Traces of various drugs and alcohol were also found in Smit's body.
The Malaysian coroner, Mahyon Talib, agreed that evidence showed there could have been some struggle between Smit and the couple but she said no one had caused her fall to death and ruled it as a "misadventure."
Sankara Nair, a lawyer for the family, said they were disappointed by the coroner's finding and will challenge it in the High Court.
Smit lived in Malaysia with her grandparents since she was 3 years old.
Johnson, a cryptocurrency trader, and his wife, Luna Almaz, were detained by police for questioning after Smit's death but were not charged. They left Malaysia in March last year after they were released.
In an interview with a British newspaper, the couple acknowledged partying with Smit the night before and having sex hours before she died but denied any wrongdoing. They refused to return to Malaysia to testify in the inquest.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has for now denied the A's request to trademark the names “Las Vegas Athletics” and “Vegas Athletics.”
The club, which intends to move to Nevada in 2028, has three months from when the refusals were issued Dec. 29 to ask for an extension to file a new application within a six-month period.
The A's were told the nickname “Athletics” was too generic and could be confused with other activities even if associated with Las Vegas.
That, however, has been the club's nickname since the Philadelphia Athletics began playing in 1901. The A's kept the nickname when they moved to Kansas City in 1955 and Oakland in 1968.
The Patent and Trademark Office denied the NHL's Utah team to use the nickname “Yetis” on Jan. 9 because of potential confusion with companies such as Yeti Coolers. Utah, which moved from the Phoenix area in 2024, now uses the nickname “Mammoth.”
The A's relocated to West Sacramento, California, last year to play the first of three planned seasons in the city's Triple-A ballpark. The team is going solely by “Athletics” while playing in the Northern California city.
A $2 billion, 33,000-capacity stadium on the Las Vegas Strip is under construction. Club officials told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on Dec. 4 that the ballpark is on schedule to open in time for the 2028 season.
Nevada and Clark County have approved up to $380 million in public funds for the ballpark, and the A’s have said they will cover the remaining expenses. Owner John Fisher has been seeking investors to assist in the funding.
In preparing for the move to Las Vegas, the A's have signed some notable contracts. The most recent was an $86 million, seven-year deal for left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, the richest in team history. Soderstrom signed his contract Dec. 30 at the A's Experience Center in Las Vegas.
The A's acquired second baseman Jeff McNeil from the New York Mets on Dec. 22.
Going back to last offseason, the A's also reached agreements on a $60 million, five-year contract with designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker and a $65.5 million, seven-year deal with outfielder Lawrence Butler. Manager Mark Kotsay signed an extension that takes him through 2028 with a club option for 2029.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
FILE - Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom sprints towards first after hitting an RBI double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sept. 23, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall, File)
