Vampire case witness recants key evidence A PROSECUTION witness in the vampire gigolo case has recanted a crucial part of his evidence; that he was told by one of two men accused of murdering Shane Chartres-Abbott that he arranged for a notorious hitman to "fix him up." Troy "Smiley" Sands, an associate of drug dealer Mark Perry and a 41-year-old charged with Chartres-Abbott's murder, initially provided a sworn statement to police in which he said Perry vowed to kill the 27-year-old male prostitute in retaliation for raping his former girlfriend. In a statement to Briars taskforce detectives in March 2010 - nearly seven years after the murder - Mr Sands also recalled a meeting he had on the Gold Coast with the 41-year-old when the topic of Chartres-Abbott, a self-proclaimed vampire, came up. Mr Sands told police he used to fly regularly to the Gold Coast to buy drugs from the 41-year-old, whose name is suppressed from publication. "It was at one of these face-to-face meetings with ... on the Gold Coast after the murder that I had a conversation with him that led me to believe that he got someone to murder the vampire," he told police in his first statement. I don't know how the conversation about the murder came up but he told me something along the lines of he got (Price) to fix him up. I know that he was referring to the vampire. In the same statement, he recalled a conversation with Perry, whom he knew from childhood. Perry regularly supplied him with cocaine and had earlier introduced him to Penny, his Thai-born girlfriend who worked as an exotic dancer. Penny had been sadistically raped by Chartres-Abbott. "I can recall Mark telling me about her being attacked and raped and assaulted badly," he told police. I remember Mark was extremely angry about what had happened to Penny. At the time, I don't think he said who had done it but he said "f... that c..., I'm going to get him. I think by that statement he meant that he was going to bash or kill him. In a subsequent statement sworn in March, 2011, Mr Sands said he no longer felt "comfortable" with parts of his earlier statement. He recanted his recollection of the conversation with the 41-year-old about arranging for Price to kill Chartres-Abbott. He swore he now believed Perry did not intend to murder Chartres-Abbott, only to bash him. Both statements were tendered in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today as part of committal proceedings against the 41-year-old and Evangelos Goussis, 45, for the 2003 murder of Chartres Abbott. Chartres-Abbott was gunned down outside his Melbourne home on the morning he was due to face rape and assault charges in court. Jack Price, a multiple gangland murderer whose real identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, confessed to police in 2006 to being the shooter. Price's confession and subsequent statements to Briars taskforce detectives over more than five years implicated Goussis, the 41-year-old and two retired police detectives, Peter Lalor and David Waters. Mr Waters and Mr Lalor have denied any knowledge or involvement in Chartres-Abbott's murder and have not been charged. Mr Perry has not been seen by police since September 1, 2007. A $1 million rewards has been offered for information leading to his arrest.