Just as the Dan Rather hoax began unraveling when a Freeper named Buckhead first posted his suspicions (a Freeper, by the way, is someone who posts on the FreeRepublic.com message board), a Freeper calling himself “maggief” has posted a string of news stories that indicate that Durham DA Mike Nifong knew some members of the Duke rape accuser’s family as early as 1995.

The connection is the murder trial of Walter Goldston in 1995, which Nifong prosecuted. Goldston was convicted of killing the rape accuser’s uncle. And in several stories and columns in the local media it is clear that the rape accuser’s grandmother was present in court, and it is clear that Nifong knew her, pointing her out in court on the day Goldston was sentenced.

Commenters are saying this alone was enough to require Nifong to recuse himself from the Duke lacrosse case, and they are wondering if he felt an obligation to the family since he was unsuccessful in getting a death sentence for Goldston in 1995.

(Link via LieStoppers Forum)