An upcoming true crime series will delve into the disturbing case of an exotic dancer and escort who was jailed for the brutal murder of her boyfriend, just five years after making false rape accusations against members of a college lacrosse team.
Crystal Mangum, of Durham, North Carolina, first made headlines in 2006 when she accused three college students of gang raping her during a party where she was hired as a stripper.
The case became one of the most racially charged in recent times and ended explosively when the prosecutor was disqualified and the young people were declared innocent.
But Crystal, a mother of three, would later be sentenced for fatally stabbing her 46-year-old boyfriend with a kitchen knife.
Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the sordid details as an episode of Lethally Blonde prepares to unravel the case.
Crystal Mangum, of Durham, North Carolina, first made headlines in 2006 when she accused three college students of gang raping her during a party where they hired her as a stripper.
She accused David Evans, Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann (pictured left to right) of raping and sexually assaulting her in the bathroom at a party.
The chilling case began on March 13, 2006, when three of the four co-captains of the Duke men’s lacrosse team hosted a party for their teammates at their off-campus home.
The group had paid a total of $800 for two exotic dancers to perform, one of whom was single mother Crystal, who was studying at nearby North Carolina Central University.
All but one of the players on the lacrosse team were white, and Crystal, who is black, subsequently made a series of accusations against three of the team members.
She accused David Evans, Reade Seligmann and Colin Finnerty of raping and sexually assaulting her in the bathroom.
And the resulting fallout created a storm across the country, highlighting racial and socioeconomic divisions at the elite university and beyond, in what became known as the Duke Lacrosse Affair.
The coach was forced to resign and the university canceled the rest of the season.
Speaking after being charged, David said: ‘You have all been told some fantastic lies, and I look forward to seeing them unravel in the coming weeks, as they have already done in the past few weeks… The truth will come out. ‘
The students hired defense attorneys, but the situation became confusing when Crystal claimed she could no longer remember the exact details of what happened that night.
The chilling case began on March 13, 2006, when three of the four co-captains of the Duke men’s lacrosse team hosted a party for their teammates at their off-campus home (pictured).
The coach was forced to resign and the university canceled the rest of the season. Pictured: Duke lacrosse players wearing practice jerseys depicting the numbers of Dave Evans (6), Collin Finnerty (13) and Reade Seligmann (45).
The DNA evidence did not match any of the team’s 46 white players and she eventually recanted her statement.
She later said that she was not sure if she had been raped, but insisted that some type of sexual assault had occurred, the Los Angeles Times saying.
The tide eventually turned against prosecutor Mike Nifong, who had “too eagerly argued his case in the media.”
Defense attorneys for the children asked the North Carolina State Bar to intervene, and charges were filed against a sitting district attorney for the first time in history.
It was decided that Nifong had been too forthright and withheld crucial DNA findings from the investigation; He later he was disbarred.
As a result, the case was turned over to an alternate district attorney, Roy Cooper, who dropped charges against the players just four months later.
He declared the university students “innocent” and called Nifong a “dishonest prosecutor.”
Ultimately, the case did not go to trial and the three players received $20 million each in a settlement with Duke.
The house has since been torn down and the university spent more than $100 million on legal fees, settlement costs and other expenses to preserve its “brand,” according to vanity fair.
The house has since been torn down (pictured) and the university spent more than $100 million on legal fees, liquidation costs and other expenses to preserve its “brand,” according to Vanity Fair.
Shortly after, in February 2010, she was convicted of a misdemeanor for setting a fire that nearly destroyed her home with her three children inside.
Crystal, who later published a memoir titled The Last Dance For Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story, was never accused of making false accusations – bBut his legal problems would continue to worsen.
Shortly after, in February 2010, she was convicted of a misdemeanor for setting a fire that nearly destroyed her home with her three children inside.
In a videotaped police interrogation, Crystal told officers that she confronted her then-boyfriend, Milton Walker, and burned his clothes, broke the windshield of his car and threatened to stab him.
The single-story duplex suffered heavy smoke damage, but no one was injured, according to a news release from the Durham Fire Department.
But there was still one last tragic twist in the story.
On April 3, 2011, she and her 46-year-old boyfriend, Reginald Daye, who had been dating for about a month, were caught in a heated argument after she was allegedly caught flirting with another man.
On April 3, 2011, Crystal stabbed her boyfriend Reginald Daye, 46, after a heated confrontation.
In 2013, Crystal, then 34 years old, was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison for second-degree murder.
She claimed Reginald had been beating her at the time before she snatched the kitchen knife from him and stabbed him in self-defence.
Crystal told the court: “He got on top of me, punched me and then started strangling me.” She couldn’t breathe. My head hurts a lot.
“I was just trying to survive and I felt like Reginald was trying to kill me,” he added in his testimony.
The mother finally “hit him on the side” of the chest in her apartment.
In a call to emergency services immediately after the stabbing, Reginald’s nephew told the operator: “It’s Crystal Mangum. The Crystal Mangum. I told him she was a problem from the fucking beginning.
Reginald died 10 days later at Duke Hospital due to complications from his injuries.
It took the jury just six hours to reach a unanimous verdict.
In 2013, Crystal, then 34 years old, was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison for second-degree murder.
Lethally Blonde Series Premieres on Investigation Discovery March 25