Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Duke Lacrosse Rape Accuser Crystal Mangum to Discuss 2013 Murder Conviction from Behind Bars
The former exotic dancer made headlines for falsely accusing three men of rape, and returned to the spotlight a few years later when stabbing her boyfriend, Reggie Daye.
A North Carolina woman who made headlines for falsely accusing a group of university students of rape would make headlines once again when she stabbed her boyfriend.
The case of Crystal Mangum appeared in Season 24, Episode 7 of Oxygen’s Snapped, and will be revisited in Snapped: Behind Bars as the former exotic dancer addresses the murder that sent her to a state prison. Now serving a minimum of 14 years since her 2013 murder conviction, Mangum is speaking out about the crimes that made her infamous in Durham and beyond.
Here's what to know before the second season of Snapped: Behind Bars returns Sunday, September 1, 2024, on Oxygen.
About the Duke Lacrosse Rape Scandal
On March 13, 2006, as widely covered in news outlets nationwide, 27-year-old Crystal Mangum and another fellow exotic dancer were called to entertain members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team at an off-campus residence. The following day, Mangum — who is Black — accused three white team members of forcing her into a bathroom and raping the then-single mother of two.
Leading the charge against three accused players was prosecutor Mike Nifong.
Justice from the university was swift, resulting in a canceled season and the forced resignation of Duke lacrosse Coach Mike Pressler.
According to Fox News, 46 out of 47 members of the team submitted their DNA, and Nifong — up for reelection later that year — reportedly conspired with the director of a private DNA-testing facility to withhold reports that excluded all the lacrosse players from the purported rape.
In December 2006, Nifong dropped first-degree rape charges, though charges of kidnapping and sexual offense still stuck for the three accused students. After the North Carolina Bar filed ethics charges against Nifong, not just for withholding evidence but for making prejudicial public statements and other conduct violations, Nifong recused himself from the case and handed it over to Attorney General Roy Cooper, according to The New York Times.
All charges against the men were ultimately dropped in what Cooper said was a “tragic rush to accuse,” and the accused players were completely cleared of any wrongdoing.
Mangum was not charged with making false statements, and Nifong was disbarred.
Crystal Mangum charged with 2010 attempted murder
In February 2010, Mangum, then 31, made headlines once again when she was arrested for attempted murder and arson in connection to a physical altercation with her boyfriend, Milton Walker, according to NBC News.
Mangum’s 9-year-old daughter called 9-1-1 after Mangum and Walker engaged in a physical altercation inside their Durham apartment. Mangum’s three children were home when Mangum took Walker’s belongings and set them on fire in the bathtub, which created heavy smoke damage in the duplex, as reported by Raleigh NBC affiliate WRAL-TV.
According to Walker’s later testimony, he confessed to grabbing Mangum by the throat and claimed Mangum attacked him with a chair and step stool and threatened to stab him.
RELATED: Phone Call Helps Crack Case of National Guardsman Murdered at Home: "Who Did This?"
At the time, Mangum claimed that Milton Walker was the aggressor and that she struggled in her fight for innocence due to the negative publicity brought on by the Duke lacrosse scandal, she told Durham ABC affiliate WTVD reporters.
“I do feel like feel that I am being unjustly treated because of preconceived notions about my character in the media,” said Mangum.
Mangum was eventually convicted on charges of child abuse, damaging personal property, and resisting arrest and was sentenced to 88 days served.
About Reginald Daye’s 2011 Homicide
On April 3, 2011, 46-year-old tradesman Reginald “Reggie” Daye walked from his Durham home with a deep stab wound to his torso, seeking help from his nephew and neighbor, Carlos Wilson, as featured in the 2018 episode of Snapped. Still conscious and alert, Daye was transferred to Duke University Hospital and underwent surgery for a seven-and-a-half-inch wound that injured his spleen and colon.
It appeared Daye would survive the medical procedure, and he reported to authorities that his live-in girlfriend of just one month, Crystal Mangum, stabbed him following a physical altercation.
At the apartment, officers found the bathroom door had been kicked off its hinges and blood near the couch.
"I’m like, 'The Tasmanian Devil just went through here.' The TV, the tables, the furniture, the crystal glasses, shot glasses, everything in the living room was destroyed," remembered Wilson.
Mangum said Daye became enraged after the two returned from a picnic hosted by Daye’s relatives in the early morning hours. An acquaintance at the apartment building, a police officer then working on duty in an unrelated car-towing incident, struck up a conversation with Mangum, prompting an inebriated Daye to pick a fight.
Daye confirmed this account to investigators following his admission to the hospital, as featured in Snapped.
Unexpectedly, Daye died in the hospital 10 days after the stabbing, thrusting Mangum back into the spotlight when she was charged with his murder.
Milton Walker, Mangum’s previous boyfriend, would be the reluctant star witness at the murder trial, as featured in Snapped. Eventually, Mangum was found guilty of second-degree murder in connection with Daye’s death and sentenced to 14 to 18 years behind bars.
Some in Mangum’s camp claimed she was only found guilty because the Durham-based jury was impartial following the Duke lacrosse rape scandal.
Durham County Assistant District Attorney Charlene Franks disagreed, according to the NBC affiliate.
"Whatever happened as far as Duke lacrosse or anything else, it was not about that. It was not about 'THE Crystal Mangum.' It was about Reginald Daye and what occurred April 3, 2011," Franks said. "Reginald Daye finally got justice today. The family got justice."
Crystal Mangum continues to serve her sentence at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where she’ll speak to Snapped: Behind Bars in the show’s second season, returning Sept. 1, 2024, on Oxygen.
