Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Governor Appoints Special Prosecutor in Cornell University Gang Rape Investigation | Crime Alert 10.05.26

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Governor Appoints Special Prosecutor in Cornell University Gang Rape Investigation | Crime Alert 10.05.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Thursday,
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  Speaker 2: October 1st, that she has officially stripped local prosecutors of
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  Speaker 2: their authority in a high-profile gang rape investigation at Cornell University,
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  Speaker 2: appointing New York Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor.
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  Speaker 2: Governor Hochul signed an executive order directing Attorney General James
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  Speaker 2: to oversee the criminal investigation into allegations that a former
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  Speaker 2: student was drugged, beaten, and gang-raped by seven members of
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  Speaker 2: the Kai Pai fraternity inside their campus house in October 2024.
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  Speaker 2: The victim, identified in legal filings as Jane Doe, was
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  Speaker 2: 20 years old at the time of the alleged attack.
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  Speaker 2: On September 16, 2026, Doe filed a civil lawsuit against
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  Speaker 2: Cornell University and the seven men, recounting an ordeal where
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  Speaker 2: she was pressured into taking ketamine, leaving her completely incapacitated
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  Speaker 2: before she was repeatedly assaulted for hours and struck, causing
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  Speaker 2: extensive bodily bruising. More than 1,000 pages of interview transcripts
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  Speaker 2: reveal that Doe reported the incident in November 2024 to
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  Speaker 2: campus police and Title IX officials. Although she initially suffered
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  Speaker 2: textbook trauma reactions, including denial and shame, telling her roommate
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  Speaker 2: she had ingested drugs without immediately labeling the attack as rape,
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  Speaker 2: records show she sought treatment at the University Health Services
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  Speaker 2: Clinic two days later for a traumatic injury and visited
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  Speaker 2: a local hospital emergency room department two weeks later requesting
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  Speaker 2: a rape kit. When Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van
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  Speaker 2: Houten declined to file criminal charges in 2024, the case
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  Speaker 2: stalled until Doe's civil filing triggered massive public outrage. While
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  Speaker 2: Van Houten recently announced plans to reopen the probe, claiming
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  Speaker 2: civil allegations differed from her initial statement, Governor Hochul made
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  Speaker 2: it clear that her confidence in local authorities had been
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  Speaker 2: completely shattered.
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  Speaker 1: When the Tompkins County District Attorney announced that he was
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  Speaker 1: reopening the case, he pointed to Jane Doe's statement. and
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  Speaker 1: said it did not establish that a crime had occurred.
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  Speaker 1: But new reporting raises serious questions about the information his
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  Speaker 1: office relied upon when it made that decision. That's why
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  Speaker 1: I believe this case demands a special prosecutor who will
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  Speaker 1: provide a fresh and thorough review of all the facts,
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  Speaker 1: including the information that has recently come to light.
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  Speaker 2: Governor Hochul emphasized that institutional reputation cannot take precedent over
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  Speaker 2: justice for sexual assault victims.
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  Speaker 1: No institution gets to protect its reputation at the expense
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  Speaker 1: of a young person seeking justice. No public official gets
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  Speaker 1: to look the other way when the system breaks down
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  Speaker 1: and fails our young people. And as governor, I will
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  Speaker 1: not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug.
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  Speaker 2: Attorneys for three of the accused men continued to publicly
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  Speaker 2: deny any criminal wrongdoing. However, a university survey revealed a
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  Speaker 2: sharp escalation in campus sexual violence, with 35% of undergraduate
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  Speaker 2: women reporting non-consensual sexual contact in 2025, up from 23%
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  Speaker 2: in 2023. More crime and justice news after this. Disgraced
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  Speaker 2: rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs has been placed in solitary
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  Speaker 2: confinement at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey after an
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  Speaker 2: explosive report revealed he was using his vast wealth to
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  Speaker 2: live a pampered lifestyle behind bars. The 56-year-old music executive,
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  Speaker 2: currently serving a 50-month sentence following his July 2025 conviction
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  Speaker 2: on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, was
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  Speaker 2: placed in disciplinary segregation at the low-security federal facility. Under
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  Speaker 2: disciplinary segregation, Combs faces severe restrictions, including property impoundment and
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  Speaker 2: complete ban on inmate communication. The move follows revelations that
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  Speaker 2: Combs spent thousands of dollars a month bribing fellow inmates.
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  Speaker 2: He was allegedly caught using a contraband cell phone to
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  Speaker 2: browse Instagram and view explicit photos sent by an ex-girlfriend,
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  Speaker 2: while using a jailbroken tablet to watch movies, including a
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  Speaker 2: Netflix docuseries about his own downfall. Sources report inmates cooked
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  Speaker 2: customized meals, cleaned his private toilet and shower, did his laundry,
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  Speaker 2: provided massages, and supplied him with Remeron alongside a stash
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  Speaker 2: of premium weekend liquor. While the Federal Bureau of Prisons
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  Speaker 2: declined to comment on specific disciplinary actions, Combs spokesperson Judah
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  Speaker 2: Engelmayer questioned how internal information was leaked to the media,
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  Speaker 2: arguing the celebrity as being unfairly targeted. This marks Combs'
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  Speaker 2: second time in solitary confinement following a July 2026 fight
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  Speaker 2: with an inmate, as sources observe that money remains power
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  Speaker 2: behind bars. Meanwhile, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is breaking her silence
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  Speaker 2: following the death of her partner, 34-year-old Ken Urker, revealing
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  Speaker 2: she believes he died of a drug overdose. Urker was
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  Speaker 2: found dead in his bed on Thursday, October 1st, his
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  Speaker 2: 34th birthday, at his home in Raceland, Louisiana. Deputies responded
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  Speaker 2: to the residence around 6.15 p.m., where he was pronounced
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  Speaker 2: dead as authorities launched an investigation. Blanchard expressed profound grief,
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  Speaker 2: describing Urker as her soulmate and a devoted father to
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  Speaker 2: their infant daughter, Aurora Raina Urker, born eight months after
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  Speaker 2: the couple reconciled in April 2024. Urker and Blanchard first
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  Speaker 2: connected while she was incarcerated for the murder of her mother,
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  Speaker 2: Dee Dee Blanchard. In an emotional statement, Blanchard attributed Urker's
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  Speaker 2: mental anguish to relentless online scrutiny and cyberbullying across platforms
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  Speaker 2: like TikTok and Reddit, calling on the public to respect
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  Speaker 2: her family's privacy as they grieve. For more crime and
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  Speaker 2: justice news, be sure to join us for Crime Stories
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  Speaker 2: with Nancy Grace on Fox One, YouTube, Sirius XM, and
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  Speaker 2: now streaming on Tubi. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.