Star witness in murder trial that sent man to prison for life for brutally stabbing a young mother and her son, 5, now admits she LIED

• Loretta Spencer Blatz gave emotional testimony in Waseem Daker's stalking case in 1996 and in his murder trial in 2012
• He is serving life for the murder of Karmen Smith in 1995
  
• But now Spencer Blatza claims she was never harassed and has shot down crucial DNA evidence that linked him to the murder
• She claims she was suffering from depression when she testified
  
• He wants a re-trial but prosecutors said there is other evidence of his guilt

By Lydia Warren

Published: 12:28 EST, 5 April 2013 | Updated: 13:02 EST, 5 April 2013

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A woman who provided key testimony in a murder trial that sent a man to prison for life for killing a young mother and stabbing her son has now claimed that she lied in court.

Loretta Spencer Blatz has filed two affidavits in Cobb County, Georgia admitting that much of what she said in the cases against Waseem Daker in 1996 and 2012 was untrue.

In the first trial, Daker was convicted of stalking Spencer Blatz and served 10 years. In the second, he was found guilty of killing her then-housemate in October 1995 after 'new evidence' emerged.

Spencer Blatz sobbed during television interviews and gave emotional testimony in the trial last year, becoming shrill as she faced Daker, who represented himself in court.

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'Liar': Loretta Spencer Blatz, pictured sobbing on ABC last year as she described the treatment she suffered at the hands of Waseem Daker, has now said her testimony in his trial was false

'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 and answer your questions,' she said. 'That's hard for me.'

But now the affidavits say Daker never harassed or threatened to kill her, as she had claimed, and that she had spent time with him willingly ahead of his first conviction, ABC News reported.

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'Waseem Daker never assaulted me or threatened me with a handgun, nor did he ever put a gun to my head on July 25, 1995, or July 26, 1995, or any other date or occasion,' she wrote.

She added that she lied after suffering from 'anxiety, depression, manic episodes' and while she was taking painkillers, muscle relaxants and 'other substance' last year.

Convicted: Daker, pictured at his case last year, was found guilty of stalking her and murdering her rommate

Victims: Karmen Smith was killed and her five-year-old son Nick was stabbed multiple times in 1995

But based on her testimony and new DNA evidence, Daker was convicted of killing Spencer Blatz's roommate Karmen Smith and attacking her five-year-old son, Nick, in 1995.

Prosecutors had claimed that Daker had killed Smith as revenge against Spencer Blatz after she told police he had been harassing her.

Daker had long been a suspect in the murder, but he was only charged after hairs found on Smith's body matched his DNA in 2009.

But in her affidavits, Spencer Blatz also shot this down, claiming that a blanket found at the crime scene with his hairs on was one Spencer Blatz had owned when she was spending time with Daker.

He had used the blanket at her old apartment and when she moved in with Smith, she gave the blanket to the woman, explaining why his DNA might be on it, and her body.

Recovery: Prosecutors said that Daker had attacked the Smiths out of revenge for Spencer Blatz reporting to police that he had stalked her. She now denies she was harrased or threatened

Enduring pain: Nick Smith sobbed in court last year as he recounted the 1995 attack that killed his mother

Daker was found guilty last year of murder, burglary and aggravated battery and stalking, and was sentenced to life plus 47.5 years behind bars.

His lawyers told ABC that Spencer Blatz wrote to Daker in prison to tell him that she was coming clean and now he is already demanding a new trial.

'I don't think he's shocked,' his attorney Jason Treadaway told the Marietta Daily Journal. He 'knew [her testimony] was a lie when he heard it. He's the least surprised of anybody.'

But prosecutors are uncertain that the denials will be taken seriously.

Cobb Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans, who prosecuted the case, told the Marietta Daily Journal that he is unaware of any legal reason to believe the conviction will be overturned.

Demand: Attorneys said Daker is seeking a new trial, but prosecutors said there will not necessarily be one

He said Daker is not entitled to a new trial and that he still believes there is 'overwhelming' evidence of guilt.

'This case was not about Ms. Spencer,' Evans told the Daily Journal. 'She was but the backdrop to explain why the defendant would perpetrate the murder of Karmen Smith and the brutal assault on Nick Smith, persons who would otherwise be strangers to him.'

He added that she had admitted she has become unstable since the trial and had encouraged her to seek professional help.

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