Duke rape accuser charged with attempted murder, arson, etc

[tryfuhl]

Crystal Gail Mangum, stripper in Duke lacrosse rape case, charged with arson and attempted murder

The stripper who falsely cried rape and ruined the reputations of three Duke University lacrosse players was charged with trying to stab her lover, police said Thursday.

Cops responding to a 911 call found an out-of-control Crystal Gail Mangum battling her boyfriend and screaming, "I am going to stab you \[expletive\]."

The 33-year-old woman then tried to burn boyfriend Milton Walker's clothes in a bathtub, a Durham, N.C., police report states.

Mangum resisted being arrested and gave cops a false first name, Marella, and age, the report states.

Her three kids - ages 3, 9 and 10 - were in the house at the time but were not injured.

The exotic dancer was charged with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, resisting arrested, child abuse and other offenses.

Mangum, who is black, became infamous in 2006, when she accused three white Duke students of gang-raping her at an off-campus bash.

On the strength of Mangum's claims, the athletes were indicted. But the rape charges were later dropped after Mangum told North Carolina prosecutors she was no longer sure whether anyone had sex with her.

By then, Duke had booted the athletes out of school and their names and reputations were badly damaged.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was later disbarred over his handling of the racially-charged case.

The troubled accuser was not charged with making false accusations because investigators concluded she actually believed the tales she told.

It also turned out the Duke case wasn't the first time Mangum had accused men of harming her. In 1996, she told cops she had been kidnapped and raped three years earlier - when she was 14.

The case was never pursued.

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