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Duke lacrosse accuser granted bond in boyfriend's death

The Durham woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in 2006 was granted bond Wednesday on a murder charge stemming from her boyfriend's stabbing death.

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DURHAM, N.C. — The Durham woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in 2006 was granted bond Wednesday on a murder charge stemming from her boyfriend's stabbing death.

Police said that Crystal Mangum, 32, stabbed Reginald Daye, 46, in the torso with a kitchen knife during an April 3 argument at his apartment on Century Oaks Drive. Daye died 10 days later.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood granted Mangum a $500,000 secured bond. If she meets the bond and is released from jail, she will be placed under house arrest and monitored electronically.

Defense attorney Chris Shella sought a $100,000 bond, saying that Mangum is sick and that prosecutors haven't said with certainty that Mangum's actions caused Daye's death.

"My client has been involved with some controversy in Durham, but she’s never left," Shella said.

In March 2006, Mangum claimed three white players on the Duke lacrosse team trapped her inside a bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where she was performing as a stripper at a team party, and raped and sexually assaulted her.

Her story about the incident was so inconsistent that state officials later declared the players innocent, saying there was no credible evidence against them.

In February 2010, police arrested Mangum after an altercation between her and a different boyfriend. In that incident, she was accused of assaulting the man in front of her children and setting some of his clothes on fire.

She was convicted in December of child abuse, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer in the case, but prosecutors dismissed an arson charge after a jury couldn't reach a verdict.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that electronic monitoring wasn't effective for Mangum in the 2010 case, but Hobgood said Mangum was entitled to a bond.

Daye and Mangum had been dating for about a month, but his family members said they weren't a couple. They said Daye was only trying to help Mangum get back on her feet and had provided her a place to stay.

His aunt, Sandra Wilson, said she believes Mangum should be held without bond.

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