Waseem Daker insisted again Monday, before being sentenced to life plus 47 years in prison, that he was wrongly convicted last week for the 1995 murder of a Delta flight attendant and a nearly fatal attack on her then-5-year-old son.
“I did not kill Karmen Smith. I did not stab Nick Smith,” Daker told Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley. “I hope that one day the truth comes out, because this is not it.”
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Staley would have none of it. In handing down the maximum sentence allowed by law she described Daker as a master manipulator, and said that when given a chance he had done “untold evil.”
Staley said Daker, 35, should spend the rest of his life behind bars, adding “I hope you never leave prison. Ever.”
The trial had several strange twists, with prosecutors saying Monday that Daker would be a continual danger to the community if he were ever released because investigators found an Al-Qaida training manual saved on his computer. Daker was born in Toronto, but is a United States citizen. His family is from Syria.
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Daker also had collected several books on how to commit murder, according to Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans.
Daker would not sign the sentencing sheet reflecting his punishment on Monday, prompting Staley to admonish “it’s typical of a coward that you would act the way you are acting, and that’s what you are.”
Daker will eventually be eligible for parole under state sentencing guidelines that were in place when the crime was committed in 1995. Before he can become eligible, Daker will have to serve a minimum of seven years in prison for the mandatory life sentence he received based on the murder charge, based on Georgia law at that time.
However, he will then have to start serving the 47 ½-year portion of his sentence that the judge added for his conviction on the other charges related to the attack. Prosecutors did not immediately know how soon Daker would become eligible for parole on those charges.
Under current law he would have to spend a minimum of 30 years in prison before being considered for parole for a life sentence.
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Prosecutors said Daker killed Smith and attacked her son because he was obsessed with her upstairs neighbor, Lottie Spencer Blatz. Daker served a decade in prison for stalking Blatz before being released in 2006. Authorities had long suspected Daker of killing Smith, however they were unable to connect him to the slaying until a new DNA testing of hairs found on the body matched Daker in 2009.
The jury deliberated about four hours Friday before finding Daker guilty of 11 counts including murder, aggravated assault, burglary, false imprisonment and attempted aggravated stalking.
During the three-week-long trial, Daker acted as his own lawyer defending himself against accusations that he stabbed Smith in the back with a screwdriver or ice pick and strangled her with a rope. Police also alleged that Daker then waited for almost four hours for her then-5-year-old son, Nick, to return to his Marietta home from school.
Once the boy stepped inside his basement apartment, Daker snatched him up and stabbed him 16 to 18 times before fleeing. Nick Smith survived to testify against Daker, even lifting his shirt at one point to show jurors his myriad scars.
On Monday, the now 22-year-old college graduate took the stand once more to tell the judge the impact that Daker had on his life.
“When Waseem Daker took my mom’s life and stabbed me, my life was put on hold and in my eyes its always been in his hands,” Smith said, his voice rising with emotion. “Nothing will ever bring back my mother and I will always be branded with his rage on my chest. But now, I can start anew.”
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