Crystal Mangum, once an exotic dancer who gained notoriety for falsely accusing three Duke University lacrosse players of rape, has been released from prison following her conviction in the 2011 murder of her boyfriend.
At 47, Mangum walked out of the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh shortly before 10 a.m. on Friday, completing a 14-to-18 year sentence for the fatal stabbing of Reginald Daye in April 2011, according to NBC News. She emerged wearing a gray sweatshirt and khaki pants.
Following her release, Mangum was transported in a corrections vehicle to Durham, where she will reside with a friend, stated corrections spokesperson Brad Deen.
In 2024, Mangum confessed to fabricating the allegations against David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann, claiming they raped her at a Duke party in 2006, where she was performing alongside another dancer.
The case had significant repercussions for former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, who was disbarred in 2007 after being found guilty of misleading the court and withholding evidence that could have exonerated the accused men.
Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred in 2007 for lying in court and failing to disclose information that would have cleared the three men.
The charges against them were dropped that same year.
Mangum was also convicted of setting a fire that almost burned her house down while her three kids were inside a year before the killing of her beau.
