The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released documents about a case that transpired more than15 years ago involving Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant.
According to The Denver Post, a man approached Bryant about killing the woman who accused him of rape back in 2003. The FBI has released a 17-page, heavily-redacted report that details bodybuilder Patrick Graber’s offer to kill the woman who accused Bryant of raping her. The offer was for $3 million as it was mailed to Bryant around the time of the accusation.
The FBI report revealed that Graber sent an offer to Bryant via Federal Express that included “inferences that he could make Bryant’s problem with respect to the sexual assault case go away for a fee.”
Graber ended up serving three years in prison after the police found out about the plot. The report shows that he sent a letter to Bryant offering to kill his accuser for $3 million. Bryant’s attorneys then notified the authorities about the letter, and Bryant’s accuser was also warned about the threat.
Bryant was arrested and charged in 2003 while in Denver after a woman claimed the five-time NBA champion raped her in a Colorado hotel room. The charges against Bryant were eventually dropped after the woman who accused him refused to testify in court. The two parties ended up settling a civil lawsuit.
Bryant played his whole 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a five-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP, and the league’s most valuable player in 2008. Bryant made the All-Star team 18 times and was the youngest player to reach 30,000 points during his career.
Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016, scoring an NBA-season-high 60 points in his final game.The 41-year-old basketball legend died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people on Jan. 26, 2020.