Inside twisted tale of exotic dancer who accused 3 innocent men of gang rape before killing boyfriend with steak knife
WHEN exotic dancer Crystal Mangun falsely accused three young students of brutally gang raping her in a bathroom at a house party, she hit the headlines globally – and quickly rose to notoriety.
It was a horrifying story that shocked the world, and attracted huge amounts of media attention, eventually leaving Crystal a ‘pariah’ within her local community, her reputation in shreds.
So when the mum-of-three started dating decorator Reginald Daye a few years later, she must have breathed a huge sigh of relief – had she finally found someone who didn’t judge her on her chequered past?
Sadly, whether Reginald could trust her back was another matter entirely and giving her a second chance would prove to be Reginald’s ‘downfall’ – as just months later he was dead.
The 46-year-old was brutally murdered after ‘outcast’ Crystal plunged a steak knife deep into his side in what she claimed was self defence.
Now, a decade into her sentence for the murder, Crystal has shared her shocking side of the story.
But rather than show any remorse, incredibly she still refuses to accept any responsibility for the events that led to her incarceration…
A single mother, doing what she could
Before all of this, an ambitious Crystal had landed several jobs at tech companies before going on to join the navy, where she met a fellow sailor in 1999, and had two kids – son RJ and daughter Arianna Ramseier.
When they separated, Crystal moved back home, and went on to have another baby daughter, Kayla.
Speaking on a new documentary series of Hayu’s Snapped Behind Bars, RJ says: “She was a single mother, just doing what she could to provide for us.
“She was still going to college and she ended up getting her bachelor’s degree in psychology.
“I was really proud of her.”
‘We hit it off’
Meanwhile Reginald was born in 1964, and grew up in a small town.
His nephew Carlos Wilson recalls: “He was a country boy. He liked the outdoors, he liked to fish.”
In 2011 he met Crystal, then 32, through her aunt.
Crystal says: “He was very quiet, and to me very attractive. We hit it off.”
RJ says: “My mother came and told me she had a place for us to stay and then she introduced me to Reginald.”
Crystal's story: A timeline
- March 2006: Crystal Mangum makes headlines and gains notoriety after accusing three college students of gang raping her during a party. However DNA evidence failed to match any of the players on the team, and she eventually recants her statement.
- February 2010: Crystal is convicted on misdemeanor charges for setting a fire that nearly razed her home with her three children inside.
- April 3 2011: Crystal and boyfriend of a month Reginald Daye become caught up in a heated argument and Crystal fatally stabs him with a steak knife, in what she claims to be self-defence.
- April 13 2011: Reginald dies 10 days later due to complications from his injuries.
- November 2013: Crystal is sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison for second-degree murder.
‘Everybody knows who Crystal is’
They quickly became an item, however there was one thing Crystal had to address right away – her notorious past.
In 2006 she had became one of the county’s most hated public figures.
To make ends meet, Crystal worked as an exotic dancer and in March that year she attended a party for work.
She’d been hired by a group of Duke lacrosse students to perform at a house party, and she reported afterwards that she had been sexually assaulted.
Police showed her a picture of the team and she identified three people from that picture.
It was a case that split America right down the middle and dominated national news – but her story quickly started to unravel.
Reporter Amanda says: “The DNA tests came back and showed none of the players that she had accused had any DNA connection to her allegations of sexual assault.
“The attorney general decides that not only was this a case of a false accusation, but these men were totally innocent.”
The case didn’t go to trial, she wasn’t charged with making false accusations and Crystal stood by her claims.
However her character was called into question and she was left unable to get a job or rent a home, even ending up in a homeless shelter at one point.
Thankfully, Reginald took her past well.
Crystal says: “I said, ‘there’s one thing I need to tell you, that we need to get out in the open. I felt like I’d been blacklisted.
“He said ‘well I understand and I appreciate your honesty.'”
‘He was bleeding profusely’
Just two months later however, on April 2 2011, tragedy struck.
After introducing Crystal to his family, Reginald, intoxicated from a day drinking, became enraged after Crystal chatted to a police officer she knew outside their home.
A violent fight ensued, and at 2:30am in the early hours of the next day, Carlos called police in a panic after his uncle showed up at his door having been stabbed.
I was still in fight or flight mode after I stabbed him. I didn’t even have the strength to call the police.”
Crystal Mangum
In a previous documentary Carlos recalled: “I held Reginald’s wound, talked to him, tried to get him to calm down.
“He was bleeding profusely.”
Crystal had fled the crime scene. She says: “I was still in fight or flight mode after I stabbed him. I didn’t even have the strength to call the police. It took all the strength in me just to run.
“All I could think about was getting to my kids. That’s all I could think about.”
RJ was asleep on the couch downstairs at his grandmother’s house when his mum arrived, and he made a call to the police.
He says: “She kept telling me he was beating her and that she did it in self defence. I was definitely scared for her.
“I’d never seen her frantic like that… just crying on the floor, hysterical.”
A trail of knives
Reginald was rushed to hospital, and the moment officers inspected the scene, it was clear a violent struggle had occurred.
Durham Police crime scene specialist Al Brown says: “Initially I see this knife stabbed into the armrest of the couch, and as I proceed through the kitchen I see knives that are out of the knife block scattered across the kitchen floor.
“You kind of see a trail of these that lead to the bathroom, and then we also found a blade in the bedroom as well.
“There was also a door to the bathroom that had fist holes punched in it.”
Regniald’s stab wound was 7.5 inches deep and the result of a steak knife being plunged into his side, hitting his colon, spleen and kidney.
Recounting her version of events, Crystal says: “Reginald started yelling at me, and he hit me.
“I locked myself in the bathroom to get away from him – what more could I do? He was not in his right mind.”
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Physically distraught
Crystal insisted she had lashed out in self defence, but she believes she was not taken seriously because of her past.
Durham Police crime scene specialist Al Brown says: “I observed her physically distraught, she was upset and she appeared like she had been in an assault.
“Her hair was just a mess, she had a swollen face. She had wounds on her hand and her arms that was consistent with being defensive wounds.”
He also interviewed Reginald in hospital, who supported much of Crystal’s claims.
He says: “He stated Ms Mangum had fled into the bathroom and locked the door behind her and that he pursued her by forcing the door in.
“To get to her, Reggie said he kicked the door in.
“His statement and the context of the scene determine a conclusion of self-defence.”
However, Reginald then stated he let her go and Crystal went into the kitchen to get a knife before stabbing him – while Crystal insisted it was Reginald who went to get the knives.
She says: “I was 140Ib and 5ft 4in, he’s 188Ib, 5ft 9, and I was no match for him so I stabbed him to get him off of me.”
‘I’m just grateful to be alive’
Initially Mr Daye was expected to make a full recovery, but on April 6 he had a heart attack, fell into a coma and died ten days later.
The police then charged Crystal with second-degree murder.
At her trial in November 2013, the jury was quick to reach a guilty verdict and Crystal was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison.
The trial heard Mangum had also previously trashed another boyfriend’s car, set fire to his clothes and almost burned down her home with her children inside.
Crystal still maintains it was a miscarriage of justice, saying: “When they read the verdict of guilty I thought ‘lord help me’.
“I just didn’t have any more faith in the judicial system at that point. I just thought I was all alone.”
Her son RJ adds: “I believe the police treated my mum not as the victim that she was, but because of what happened with Duke.”
Crystal has continued to unsuccessfully appeal, suggesting the stab wound was not the cause of death, but a misplaced medical tube – a claim backed by one expert.
However, in April 2023, the medical examiner produced a report stating the stabbing was the official cause of death.
Either way, reporter Amanda concludes: “At the end of the day, he wouldn’t have been in the hospital if he hadn’t been stabbed and there’s no doubt that the injuries were part of the reason that he was in such a critical medical situation.”
Finally, as the end of her sentence looms, Crystal adds defiantly: “I’m just grateful to be alive. I regret that he lost his life, but I felt like I didn’t have any choice.”
Season 2 of Snapped: Behind Bars is available to stream on Hayu.