Two Cornell students told investigators that a woman who has alleged she was raped by several men at a fraternity party appeared coherent and not visibly distressed during the night in question.
Interview transcripts concern an October 2024 party at the Chi Phi fraternity house. One witness was a fraternity member who said he lived in the room where Jane Doe alleges the rape took place; the other was his girlfriend.
The fraternity member, who is not a defendant in Doe’s civil lawsuit, spoke to police on 21 November. Doe went to Cornell University Police Department on 8 November and gave a sworn statement six days later.
He told investigators he had been working as the party’s DJ when he entered his room and saw Doe with Jonathan Newell, who appeared to be vomiting into a bowl or bucket. The witness said Doe repeatedly assured him that everything was fine and that she was looking after Newell, while appearing to prevent him from entering.
Later, he said, he found several people in the room with Doe. He described her as fully clothed and lying on a bed while conversing clearly with those present. He estimated her level of intoxication at between one and two out of 10.
The witness said he told everyone to leave so that he and his girlfriend could use the room. He then left the house with Lopes, his girlfriend and others for McDonald’s. When he returned, the room was empty and he went to bed.
The following morning, he said he heard that several fraternity members had been involved in what he described as a “consensual act”. Asked by police what he meant, he said Matthew Ingalls, Winston Lee, Lopes and Newell had told him they had “all admitted to having consensual sex with [Doe]”.
He also told investigators that Doe had not appeared to want to leave the party at any point when he saw her.
Witnesses describe Doe leaving with several men
The second witness, the DJ’s girlfriend, was interviewed on 17 December, more than a month after Doe first contacted police.
She said she returned from the McDonald’s trip to find fraternity members standing outside the room and asking what was happening inside. She was told that people had been going in and out during the night and said the situation did not “sound like something good” was taking place.
She said someone told those present to leave, after which she saw Doe come out with four or five men. The witness described the sight as “scary” because she had not realised how many men were with Doe, but said Doe did not look “distressed”.
The woman told police she was not concerned about Doe at the time, although her view changed after she heard more about Doe’s account. She said she later heard drugs had been involved and that Doe was alleging the sex was not consensual, leaving her feeling “kinda guilty” for not helping.
She nevertheless said there had been no obvious indication that something was wrong, as Doe and the men appeared “very calm” when they left. In her view, it had seemed “consensual because no one looked visibly distressed”.
