Woman Who Accused Duke Lacrosse Players of Rape Convicted of Murder

The woman who accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 was convicted of second-degree murder on Friday in the 2011 stabbing death of her boyfriend.

Crystal Mangum was sentenced to between 14 and 18 years in prison after a jury decided that she was criminally liable in the death of her boyfriend Reginald Dye, who was stabbed in April 2011 and died from complications ten days later. Mangum had claimed that she stabbed Dye in self-defense, saying that as Dye was beating her in a jealous rage, she grabbed a knife and "poked him in the side."

The 2006 rape case that Mangum brought against three Duke lacrosse players caught the attention of national media, raising all sorts of uncomfortable questions about the scope of prosecutorial power, race, and class. Mangum's accusations against the players were eventually thrown out, though prosecutors didn't file charges against her, explaining that she "may actually believe" she was raped.

Four years later, Mangum returned to the news cycle when Durham police charged her with felony arson, child abuse, vandalism and resisting a law enforcement officer after she reportedly slashed the tires and smashed the windshield of her boyfriend's car and set fire to a pile of his clothes in a bathtub while the police and her three children were in her apartment.

Crystal Mangum, Duke lacrosse accuser, convicted of murder [AP via CSM]

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