A wealthy Sydney businessman who became concerned he might be experiencing heart problems made a remarkable entry in his diary: “The above can also count as the Will.” Two days later, Jianping Shen was dead, leaving his family locked in a legal battle over a multimillion-dollar estate spread across Australia and China.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Free has ruled that the handwritten note, dated May 22, 2023, constituted Mr Shen’s valid final will. Under the judgment, 40 per cent of the estate goes to his carer and de facto partner, Eva Wu, while 60 per cent—along with all shares in the family company structure—goes to his favoured grandson, Gordon Dang.

The court dismissed allegations by Mr Shen’s only daughter, Yun Shen, that the diary entry had been fabricated. Justice Free described the forgery theory as “bordering on the absurd”.

“The proposition that Ms Wu snuck away from the attention of others and had the physical and emotional composure to perform a sophisticated and time-consuming forgery, without being detected by any of the other people in the house, is entirely implausible,” Justice Free wrote.

Mr Shen died suddenly from cardiac arrest on May 24, 2023, aged 77. His extensive estate included properties in Sydney, Shanghai and Beijing, luxury Mercedes vehicles, interests in several companies and significant Chinese investments.

Court evidence showed that the overseas holdings included a Chinese company containing more than $13 million in compensation payments, a listed share portfolio valued at roughly $5 million and considerable cash reserves.

Justice Free noted that ownership of the Chinese company was transferred into Ms Shen’s name in 2024, while the share portfolio was subsequently sold or transferred.

Freezing orders were later secured in Australia and China, restricting dealings with some of the disputed assets as the inheritance proceedings continued.

The judgment also found that Gordon, Ms Shen and her de facto partner, Lei Dang, went back to Mr Shen’s home the day after his death and took documents from a locked filing cabinet. When Ms Wu returned later, she discovered the cabinet had been forced open and emptied.

The central piece of evidence was a handwritten diary entry Mr Shen made on May 22. In it, he wrote that he had begun experiencing “physical discomfort” and believed he might have heart disease.

The note directed 60 per cent of his assets, including the family trust, to his “eldest nephew”. Justice Free found that wording was intended to refer to his grandson Gordon. The remaining 40 per cent was to be given to “the last person taking care of” him.

The entry ended with an unusual declaration: “The Will shall be done in the next few days. The above can also count as the Will!”

Ms Shen and Gordon, who describes himself on LinkedIn as a Sydney-based full-time consultant with professional services firm Deloitte, initially claimed the entry was forged. The dispute led to competing handwriting evidence and detailed examination of Mr Shen’s health and circumstances during the final years of his life.

Justice Free ultimately accepted testimony from forensic handwriting expert Kiki Wong, a former Scotland Yard specialist, who concluded that Mr Shen himself had written the diary entry.

The will dispute was the latest development in a long-running breakdown in relations between Mr Shen and his daughter.

Before he died, Mr Shen had brought Supreme Court proceedings against Ms Shen and Mr Dang, seeking the repayment of approximately $2.38 million in alleged unpaid loans, together with interest.

He also sought the transfer of shares connected to a Blakehurst property and repayment of rental income he claimed Lei Dang had received from another jointly owned investment property.

The court heard the relationship had deteriorated so badly that Mr Shen told his lawyer he was deeply disappointed in his daughter and did not intend to leave her anything further in his will.

He described Lei Dang as ‘trash’, claimed his daughter ‘only sees me for money’, and told a friend he wanted to move house ‘to get myself away from my daughter’s family’.

The estrangement worsened after Ms Shen reconciled with Lei Dang following a domestic violence incident in 2019 in which he was charged with assault.

In one message, Mr Shen told his daughter: ‘If you still aren’t clearheaded, we can only sever our father-daughter relationship. If he beats you to death again, you deserve it.’

The court heard Mr Shen later moved from his Blakehurst home partly because he wanted distance from his daughter’s family and because Ms Shen and Lei Dang knew the access code to the property.

While Ms Shen and Gordon challenged Ms Wu’s claim that she was Mr Shen’s de facto partner, they ultimately accepted she had cared for him in the years before his death.

Justice Free rejected attacks on Ms Wu’s credibility, including suggestions she had exaggerated her grief and improperly benefited from the purchase of a Sydney apartment.

The court accepted Ms Wu’s evidence that her relationship with Mr Shen became romantic in 2019 after he asked her to be his girlfriend following a stay in hospital.

As the Covid pandemic unfolded, Ms Wu became increasingly involved in Mr Shen’s life, buying groceries, preparing meals, driving him to medical appointments, collecting medications, cleaning his home and helping manage his affairs.

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By late 2020, she was spending much of her time living with him.

The following year, they searched together for a new home before Mr Shen purchased a property at Connells Point, where Ms Wu stayed regularly while caring for him and her own mother.

By contrast, several witnesses called by Ms Shen sought to downplay the significance of the relationship. 

One childhood friend claimed Mr Shen had described Ms Wu merely as a friend and translator, while another alleged Mr Shen said she was not his ‘type’ and was ‘kind of greedy’. 

Justice Free rejected those claims, finding they were inconsistent with Mr Shen’s own WeChat messages praising Ms Wu as kind-hearted and crediting her with caring for his health and well-being.

The court also heard that Mr Shen sent flirtatious messages to a travel agent and at one stage described himself as ‘alone, lonely, but free’. 

While the judge acknowledged those exchanges were embarrassing for Ms Wu, he found they did not undermine the overwhelming evidence that Mr Shen and Ms Wu were in a stable, long-term romantic relationship.

The judge pointed to a series of messages that painted a very different picture from that advanced by Ms Shen and Gordon.

In one message Mr Shen told Ms Wu: ‘Believe in yourself, you have found a man who takes care of you for a lifetime.’

In another, after buying her a city apartment, he wrote: ‘Let’s grow old together, I love you.’

He also referred to Ms Wu as his girlfriend, introduced her as his wife to his GP and repeatedly told friends and relatives she was the person who cared for him and supported him in Australia.  

The court heard Mr Shen’s solicitor, William Ying of STC Lawyers, drafted an earlier will in 2021, which has never been found.

That document allegedly left half of the estate to Gordon and half to Ms Wu, while requiring Gordon to change his surname from Dang to Shen in order to receive his inheritance.

When Mr Ying questioned why he was excluding his daughter, Mr Shen reportedly replied that Ms Wu was ‘the only person here in Australia who really cares for me’.

According to evidence accepted by the court, he told his lawyer: ‘She is my companion. She deserves to be taken care of when I’m gone.’

The earlier will similarly described Ms Wu as ‘very caring and loving’ while recording Mr Shen’s disappointment with Ms Shen, whom he said ‘only sees me for money’.

Meanwhile, Gordon remained the clear favourite.

The court heard Mr Shen shared an especially close bond with his grandson, whom he had helped raise and cared for throughout much of his childhood.

Mr Shen told Ms Wu that Gordon was the only grandchild he truly felt connected to, while Gordon gave evidence that he visited his grandfather several times a week after school, helping in the garden and around the house.

The businessman’s affection for his grandson was reflected in messages tendered to the court. In one exchange, Mr Shen told Gordon: ‘As long as you insist on not giving him [Lei Dang] a single cent to enjoy, all of Grandpa’s wealth will be yours to inherit.’

In another, he wrote: ‘As for my other assets, I’ll make a will at a law firm and gift them all to you.’

The relationship suffered when Mr Shen became estranged from Ms Shen in 2020, but the pair reconciled in 2022 after Mr Shen, accompanied by Ms Wu, visited Gordon at the Telstra store where he worked.

Before the meeting, Mr Shen told Ms Wu he missed his grandson and was proud of him.

A further twist emerged during the case when lawyer Sabrina Cai contacted Haijun Zhou, Mr Shen’s actual eldest nephew, and explained that if the diary will’s reference to the ‘eldest nephew’ was interpreted literally he could inherit 60 per cent of the estate and control of the family trust.

According to evidence accepted by the court, Zhou immediately dismissed the suggestion, replying: ‘That doesn’t sound right. I’m sure my uncle meant Gordon instead of me.’

Justice Free ultimately agreed, ruling that Gordon was the person Mr Shen intended when he referred to his ‘eldest nephew’.

The judge declared Gordon entitled to 60 per cent of the estate and all shares in the family company structure, while Ms Wu was declared to be the ‘last person’ who cared for Mr Shen and awarded the remaining 40 per cent.

Ms Shen’s challenge to the diary will was dismissed.

No honour among old boys 

Almost two months have passed since Arthur Tzaneros resigned as chief executive of embattled shipping company ACFS Port Logistics after his extraordinary comments in a WhatsApp discussion about the alleged Scots College gang-rape case came to light.

The Group Chat has since uncovered revealing details about how Arthur’s remarks reached the pages of The Sydney Morning Herald, triggering his rapid departure from the troubled family business.

Some within the Tzaneros camp have reportedly persuaded themselves that a single member of the Class of 1995 WhatsApp group was behind the leak. The reality, however, appears considerably more uncomfortable.

We understand that several former students were so appalled by Arthur’s commentary that screenshots were circulating among Sydney’s media, legal and business circles within hours.

One well-placed source told this column that at least four separate members of the group independently sent him screenshots, making clear their disgust while eagerly anticipating what they considered Arthur’s inevitable resignation.

So much for the theory of a lone traitor. This appears to have been a collective outbreak of conscience.

This column was heartened to learn that a number of old boys were willing to put school loyalties aside and ensure Arthur faced the public scrutiny they believed he deserved.

And what has become of the WhatsApp group itself?

We’re told Arthur is no longer an active participant. According to reports, he left the chat once ‘the s*** started hitting the fan’.

‘Welcome to the chaos’

Antony Catalano, who has been accused of domestic violence, has welcomed his first grandchild.

The media mogul’s son, Jordan ‘Jordy’ Catalano, and his wife, Jessica , have welcomed a baby boy named Freddy Catalano.

‘Welcome to the chaos, baby boy,’ proud aunt Birdy Catalano announced on social media last week.

Chaos? She may have a point.

It has been a turbulent year for the famously unflappable media executive and hotelier — and father of nine — who is facing eight criminal charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. The charges stem from an alleged domestic violence incident involving his wife, Stefanie, at their St Kilda penthouse in March.

Police allege that the 59-year-old swung a clothes iron at his wife’s head, unlawfully detained her inside the luxury apartment, threatened to stab her to death and choked or strangled her.

Stefanie was subsequently admitted to hospital with a broken tailbone.

The couple have since reunited, with Stefanie filing a second statement of no complaint in an attempt to have the charges against her husband withdrawn.

The matter looks to be proceeding regardless, with a hearing set for October 16.

But the legal drama has hardly been the only family reshuffle underway in the Catalano empire.

Earlier this year, Antony stepped down as executive chairman of the peak board overseeing Australian Community Media after being charged over the alleged assault.

And in a move that very much keeps things in the family, his 25-year-old son Luca Catalano was appointed to the four-person board of 20 Cashews, the entity overseeing ACM.

Luca joined his older brother Jordy, 35, as a director.

If nothing else, the Catalanos appear to have succession planning sorted.

Jordy has also taken over as sole director of Kirant Property and Jonson Street by Raes – the companies behind the family’s Byron Bay hospitality interests – following Antony’s departure from those boards in the wake of his arrest.

Kirant owns Raes at Wategos Beach, the luxury hotel Antony bought in 2013, while Jonson Street is behind the ambitious Bonobo by Raes development.

Jordy, Antony’s eldest son from his sprawling blended family of nine children and three baby mamas, has been heavily involved in the operation of Raes for years.

Antony, meanwhile, has long cultivated his Byron Bay businessman-about-town persona, making the recent boardroom reshuffle an interesting changing of the guard.

And now there’s a new Catalano in the mix. Welcome to the family business, Freddy.

It’s a small world in Brighton

Speaking of the Catalanos, the Herald Sun’s CBD column reported on Thursday that one of the Bayside homes linked to DV-accused Bachelor star Sam Wood is actually owned by a ‘former significant acquaintance of the charged media mogul’.

That undersells it a little bit. The woman on the title of the Brighton property wasn’t just a peripheral figure in The Cat’s world. She used to carry the man’s last name.

Records seen by The Group Chat reveal that since December 12, 2013, the ‘sole proprietor’ of the five-bedroom home, which carries a Macquarie Bank mortgage, is Shara Kimberley Pike.

You may know her better as Shara Catalano, The Cat’s second wife. Antony was married to Shara when he met third wife Stefanie, who was just 20 at the time.

Despite rumours she had been nanny to his five children, Stefanie and Catalano in fact met at The Pantry cafe in Brighton. It is not suggested Catalano cheated on his second wife – only that he first encountered Stefanie while still married.

Their former marriage fleetingly made headlines in March when The Australian newspaper reported how his parents, Antonio and Anna, launched legal action against Catalano and Shara in 2011.

In a writ filed on June 24, 2011, Antonio and Anna Catalano alleged that their son and his by then former wife had failed to honour an oral agreement relating to a loan provided in January 2004 to help the couple purchase a home, also in Brighton.

County Court records indicate the matter was settled before proceeding to trial.

It’s certainly an oddity that a home owned by a member of the extended Catalano family is now attracting paparazzi hoping for a glimpse of Snezana Wood or her daughters amid the fallout from a separate scandal related to DV allegations.

It’s also a reminder that Melbourne, for all its 5.4 million residents, can still feel remarkably like a small, gossipy country town.

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Screenshots and speculation

On the subject of the Sam Wood saga, readers may have noticed that his stepdaughter, Eve Markoski-Wood, briefly emerged from social media hibernation this week to repost a handful of eyebrow-raising TikToks. 

One such post was reshared hours after her stepdad was arrested by Queensland Police and hauled into the Maroochydore Watchhouse.

It featured the puzzling line: ‘Do you ever leave a social situation and you’re just like hmm that was not my best work.’

Given the allegedly fraught situation Eve may or may not have witnessed at the family’s $3,000-a-night Noosa rental last Saturday night, reposting a quote about not handling a ‘situation’ well is curious.

Now, The Group Chat can reveal there was another cryptic repost doing the rounds before it quietly vanished.

On Wednesday, Eve shared a TikTok featuring the caption: ‘I’m like if a friend could be an absent father’ superimposed over a picturesque tropical beach scene. 

The repost remained live for only a few hours before disappearing, seemingly around the time Eve realised journalists and gossip junkies were monitoring her account.

For what it’s worth, the original post appears to be more about friendship than parenting – though her choice of words is startling, to say the least.

But that didn’t stop screenshots ricocheting through influencer gossip circles, where every social media breadcrumb connected to the case is currently being picked over like evidence in a true-crime documentary.

Or, put another way, the internet being the internet.

A nude awakening

‘Nude artist’ Dina Broadhurst is in Instagram jail.

After years of posting provocative photos, posing with her legs akimbo or simply sitting on the toilet with her pants down, her antics have finally caught up with her, and she has lost her main account.

Earlier this week, The Group Chat noticed the eastern suburbs ‘It’ girl’s follower count had plummeted from well north of 100,000 to a decidedly less glamorous 8,000. In influencer terms, that’s a fall from a penthouse to a studio.

Broadhurst wouldn’t comment when we slid into her DMs, but eventually addressed the situation in a since-expired Story posted to a back-up account on Wednesday.

‘My main Instagram account has been permanently suspended, and I urgently need help,’ she wrote, breathlessly.

‘I built this account and my business over 10+ years, and growing a community of more than 150,000 followers. It has now been removed with no meaningful avenue to appeal or speak to anyone directly.

‘My work is fine art photography, and I have always taken great care to follow Instagram’s guidelines and censor artwork where required.’

Hmm, really? We recall seeing a little too much of Dina in her ‘fine artwork’ in the past.

The suspension comes after the socialite made headlines for a PDA-packed beach outing in Ibiza with Niclas Castello, the 48-year-old German contemporary artist whose fortune is estimated at about $15million.

The pair were photographed passionately kissing on the sand just weeks after Broadhurst’s split from another Kraut, entrepreneur Danny Tchalaby.

As previously reported by the Daily Mail, that break-up was hardly amicable.

Well-placed sources say Tchalaby ended the relationship and asked Broadhurst to leave the Ibiza property they had been sharing. There was even chatter about suitcases being deposited on the lawn. Golly.

As for Castello, that romance appears to have run its course, too.

So while Broadhurst may be back on the dating market, her immediate priority seems to be reclaiming her Instagram account rather than finding her next international man of mystery.

Farewell, Geelong. Hello, Thailand

Larger than life former Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons, better known as Mr Paparazzi during his days as a Fleet Street hellraiser, has announced plans to sell everything he owns via Lloyd’s Auctions later this month.

And when we say everything, we mean everything: from his beloved car collection, including a Lamborghini, Ferrari and Range Rover, and various designer jewels and gems, through to his pots, pans and front-loader washing machine. The lot will go under the hammer with a starting price of $1. 

Why the sudden offload of his worldly possessions?

We’re told the former shutterbug is starting a new life in Thailand, a path well-trodden by single Aussie blokes on the other side of 50.

A quick look at Lyons’ Instagram reveals he’s fashioning a career as a travel guide on the island of Koh Samui, sharing videos from five-star resorts and reviews of the holiday hotspot’s famous massage parlours.

Some of it is interesting… if you can look past the AI slop he’s been prompting from a deckchair outside his rented waterfront bungalow on Bang Po Beach.

Speaking of the bungalow, while it boasts one of the best views in town, it’s more weatherboard shack than waterfront palace when compared with Lyon’s View, the grand Geelong mansion worth $6million that he’s currently trying to sell.

With an influx of cash coming his way if all goes well with the auction, we’re told Lyons has big plans for the money.

According to a source, he’s planning to open his own resort in Koh Samui.

Meghan Markle has returned to the London spotlight for the first time in several years, stepping out at Claridge’s for afternoon tea with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in an outfit reportedly worth £25,000.

The 45-year-old Duchess of Sussex and the 29-year-old activist were seen leaving the luxury Mayfair hotel together before embracing warmly as they said goodbye outside the entrance.

For the occasion, Meghan chose a camel-coloured Tove Studio coat priced at £1,695, layered over a £526 wheat-toned sweater by Crew Company. She completed the look with Ralph Lauren’s white Charmaine trousers, which retail for £1,900.

Her accessories included a black Chanel handbag valued at approximately £7,000 and Yves Saint Laurent shoes costing around £1,000. She also wore Logan Hollowell’s Lovers Duet Diamond and Emerald Chain necklace, estimated to be worth £16,200.

The pair reportedly enjoyed a traditional British afternoon tea, with fellow guests saying they sampled cucumber sandwiches and scones served with jam and clotted cream. The scones were said to be among Meghan’s favourites.

Meghan and Malala first worked together in October 2020 during a virtual International Day of the Girl event, where they discussed the importance of education for girls.

The meeting is believed to mark Meghan’s first public appearance in central London since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022.

A few months earlier, Meghan and Prince Harry were met with some boos when they arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Although the Duchess has passed through Heathrow several times since then, she is understood to have largely avoided central London amid continuing concerns over her security.

Malala, who was born in Pakistan and now lives in Birmingham, was shot by the Taliban in 2012 after campaigning for girls’ access to education. She went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17, becoming its youngest-ever recipient, and later studied at Oxford University.

Meghan has spent the past week promoting the latest As Ever launches, but her London appearance could signal a renewed interest in philanthropic work. Her meeting with Malala may also point towards a future focus on girls’ education now that she is back in the UK.

Meghan and Malala dined in Claridge’s celebrated Foyer and Reading Room, where afternoon tea is priced at £95 per person. Champagne costs an additional £30, but Malala, a Muslim who does not drink alcohol, and Meghan appeared to choose tea and mineral water instead.

The elegant dining room is known for its Art Deco setting and live piano performances, making it one of Mayfair’s most prestigious afternoon tea destinations.

According to a hotel insider, fellow diners discreetly photographed the pair as they spoke animatedly during the meal. The women were described as polite but had little interaction with other guests, remaining surrounded by protection officers. The subject of their conversation has not been disclosed.

The source said they were accompanied by security throughout the visit. Police vehicles were spotted outside Claridge’s during their meet-up, identifiable by their distinctive number plate lights.

The meeting comes amid Harry and Meghan’s ongoing battle over taxpayer-funded police protection in Britain. 

The couple previously mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge over Harry’s police security while he was visiting from the US. It is understood now that the committee overseeing royal and VIP security, known as Ravec, is to reconsider the level of police protection now the couple and their two children are full-time residents. 

Meghan and Malala’s discussion in 2020 came amid the Covid pandemic, with Harry also joining the virtual talk on barriers to education for young women. 

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Meghan said on the call: ‘When young girls have access to education, everyone wins, and everyone succeeds. It just opens the door for societal success at the highest level.

‘What I had realised very early on was that when women have a seat at the table, conversations in terms of policy change, conversations in terms of legislation and the dynamics of the community are all shifted. 

‘And when you have to see how you get a woman to embrace her voice, you have to start with where she is a young girl.’ 

Meanwhile, Harry said he had taken his access to education for granted. ‘We do take it for granted, and it is a privilege, but every single person, every single child, every single young person needs an education,’ he said. 

‘To know there’s over 130million girls out of education right now, before the pandemic, and the numbers are only going to go up, it worries me, and it probably worries all of us, the effect that is going to have not just on the individual, but on the family, and community, for the country and the world at large.

‘I’m hugely grateful for the education I was lucky enough to have; at the time I certainly probably wasn’t as grateful, but looking back at it now, I’m very, very blessed with having such amazing options.’ 

Following their conversation, Malala said of the Duchess: ‘Meghan and I are on the same page: we both believe that when girls have access to education, everyone wins.’ 

The Sussexes unexpectedly moved back to the UK over the summer with their children, just in time for the start of the new school year. 

Harry and Meghan were previously photographed holding hands as they headed inside the Falkland Arms pub in the Cotswolds on October 2, marking their first public outing since their move from Montecito in California. 

Meghan has continued with her As Ever brand, announcing she is creating a festive range for her lifestyle business, As Ever, last week, when she opened pre-orders for a £112 chocolate advent calendar that is only available to buy in the US.

The calendar – ‘inspired by her Montecito home and garden’ – features a festive illustration of the £11million mansion she and Harry called home for six years.

A press release declared ‘every detail was considered with care, including countdown numbers hand-painted in Meghan’s own penmanship using edible gold lustre.’ 

Flavours include strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and orange marmalade, plus what is described as a ‘special chocolate finished with Meghan’s own flower sprinkles’.

However, one British vicar who politely criticised the product has been forced to lock down his X account after being branded a ‘demon’ and a ‘disgrace to the cloth’ by supporters – known colloquially as the Sussex Squad.

The Daily Mail revealed the row began when Anglican priest and London university chaplain Reverend Daniel French suggested that people could instead buy a £6 Christian advent calendar that is almost 20 times cheaper and contains Fairtrade chocolate.

The alternative he recommended also raises money for a leprosy charity and comes with a ‘little booklet on the meaning of Christmas’, he told his followers.

But Rev French’s post sparked a backlash from members of the Sussex Squad, who branded him ‘satan spawn’ and ‘evil’, while claiming he had an ‘ugly heart for a so-called Christian’.

His Protestant colleague Father Chris Phillips – whose parish is in Benhilton, south-west London – backed the priest on X, prompting a fresh wave of angry responses, to which he replied that he had ‘encountered the Sussex Squad on here’, adding: ‘Wow.’

His defenders have said he has been ‘terrorised’ by ‘deranged trolls’ ever since, forcing him to lock down his account. Trolls claimed he was a ‘coward’ for doing so.

Meghan’s advent calendar announcement came only days after Buckingham Palace shared their own advent calendars, which were almost £100 cheaper, with prices starting at £25.

Other products in Meghan’s ‘Holiday Collection’ include ‘botanical confection’ chocolates developed by Los Angeles brand Compartes as part of an ‘ongoing collaboration’ and ‘The Keepsake Double-Deck Parlour Card Set’ with the As Ever logo.

Jane Doe never wanted to give up her place at Cornell University—even if remaining on campus meant seeing men she says sexually assaulted her.

In October 2024, she reported to campus police that she had endured an alleged hours-long sexual assault inside the Chi Phi fraternity house.

Yet Doe was determined to preserve the Ivy League education she had spent years pursuing after moving hundreds of miles away from her family.

‘She wanted to really stay the course, and this was her dream,’ her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview about the private toll the allegations took on her.

‘She didn’t want what these guys did to blow up her desires in life.’

But continuing at Cornell grew harder with each passing day.

Giuffra said campus gossip, hostile stares and unsettling messages wore Doe down. Encounters with some of the men she had accused also left her feeling vulnerable and unsafe.

‘She started to feel targeted,’ Giuffra said. ‘She was trying to hold on.’

Giuffra described Doe’s family as comfortable but not wealthy. Like many parents, her mother and father had spent years saving to provide their daughter with the strongest education possible.

Doe was a sophomore when, according to the civil complaint, she was supplied with alcohol and pressured to take ketamine before allegedly being sexually assaulted by several Chi Phi fraternity members over the course of the night on October 19, 2024.

In the aftermath, Doe struggled to reconstruct what had happened as rumors about the night circulated across campus.

According to records from Cornell’s internal investigation, she texted one of the men she would later accuse: ‘Bro, everyone knows.’ She described the episode as ‘RUINING my life temporarily,’ urged others to deny that anything had occurred and wrote that she could do nothing but ‘sleep and cry all day.’

As Doe questioned friends and some of the men who had been in the room, her account of the night evolved. During a secretly recorded call on November 7, she said the incident ‘would be classified as gang rape.’

The next day, after encouragement from friends, Doe reported the allegations to Cornell University Police. The school opened an investigation and temporarily suspended Chi Phi and the seven students later identified as defendants in her lawsuit.

Doe’s mother began making repeated trips from the family’s home in the southern United States to Ithaca, New York, as she spent more time supporting her daughter.

‘She wanted to go home. She couldn’t go home. It just got to be too much,’ Giuffra said.

‘You want to go to a place you feel safe, and she didn’t feel safe. She couldn’t do it anymore. It was every day. It’s re-traumatization.’

Doe eventually told her parents what she alleged had happened at Chi Phi and withdrew from Cornell in February 2025, stepping away from college life entirely. Court filings say she left campus battling anxiety and depression, while persistent sleeplessness further compounded her distress.

Her parents were ‘extremely, extremely supportive,’ Giuffra said.

Cornell’s internal investigation into Doe’s allegations stretched on for months. It ultimately resulted in punishments ranging from no-contact orders and educational sanctions to multi-year suspensions and the expulsion of two students. The fraternity was permanently closed and banned from campus.

A separate criminal investigation ended without charges after the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

For nearly two years, Doe lived a largely reclusive existence, according to Giuffra, struggling with the lasting fallout of the alleged assault.

Then, last month, she filed a lawsuit against seven current and former Cornell students and the university, thrusting the allegations into the national spotlight, engulfing Cornell in scandal and igniting a wider reckoning over how sexual assault allegations are investigated on American college campuses. 

More than 1,000 students have since marched through Cornell in her name, demanding change and accountability. Messages of support have poured in from around the country, while celebrities and prominent public figures, including singer Olivia Rodrigo and actress Florence Pugh, have spoken out about her case.

For Doe, Giuffra said the extraordinary outpouring has provided her with the sense that people are finally listening. 

‘She felt alone, she felt unsupported in the entire process by the police, by the prosecutor, by the university,’ Giuffra said.

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‘The fact that now you have her fellow Cornell students marching for change and marching in support of her, that lets her know that she finally is being supported for what happened to her.

‘It’s long overdue.’

But the sudden attention has been accompanied by a frightening new reality. 

Giuffra said people have tried to uncover Doe’s identity and contact her parents, while she has received dozens of hostile messages – some telling her she ‘should die’ or ‘should be killed.’ One threat contained three handgun emojis, he said.

‘It’s been a double-edged sword,’ Giuffra said. ‘It’s difficult to focus on the positive when you’re getting direct messages saying you should die and you should be killed.

‘They’re trying to shut her up, to retraumatize her, to abuse her, call her names, threaten her… It’s really disturbing.’ 

In a frightening escalation, Giuffra said Doe was recently targeted in a swatting incident that sent armed police to her home, with officers drawing their guns on members of her family and a friend.

Other threats have become chillingly specific. Messages obtained by the New York Post named Doe’s relatives, listed their addresses and warned they would be shot, while a caller allegedly threatened someone close to her.

The calls were so frightening Doe called the police, Giuffra told the outlet. 

Yet, for Doe, the sheer scale of support has helped outweigh the abuse.

‘If she didn’t have all this outpouring of support from all over the world, from people from all walks of life, people who’ve had similar experiences, it would be far, far worse,’ Giuffra said.

‘I think that has helped to give her strength and the courage to move on to get accountability.’

The allegations are now the subject of a renewed criminal investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was appointed special prosecutor after Governor Kathy Hochul removed the Tompkins County district attorney from the case.

None of the seven men have been criminally charged. Scott Kretzschmar, Scott Norris and Gillio Lopes have publicly denied wrongdoing, while Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee and Diego Sarabia have not publicly responded to Doe’s lawsuit. All seven denied wrongdoing during Cornell’s internal investigation. 

Ingalls told Cornell investigators he was too intoxicated to consent and claimed Doe had sexually assaulted him, later emailing the Title IX investigator to accuse the university of failing to treat him as a survivor, according to records reviewed by ABC News. 

The original investigation has come under mounting scrutiny amid reports that Cornell Police gathered witness interviews, recorded calls, anonymous tips and other evidence that was not all reviewed by prosecutors before they declined to bring charges in 2024.

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has defended that decision, maintaining the evidence presented to his office did not support charges and blaming Cornell Police for failing to provide the full picture.

Cornell has pushed back, defending its own handling of the case and maintaining that prosecutors declined an offer to review additional evidence gathered.

For Doe, however, neither the renewed investigation nor the widespread support can restore the life she claims she lost.

Giuffra said one of the hardest realities for her was watching some of the men she accused continue with the futures that Doe had once imagined for herself.

‘One of these guys got his Cornell diploma and he’s banned from campus for three years,’ he said. ‘He’s going to be able to walk through the world with his head held high with his Ivy League degree. Jane Doe is not going to have that.’

Today, he said, she is just ‘trying to hold it together.’

Doe remains in therapy and surrounded by loved ones, and Giuffra speaks with her daily as she navigates the extraordinary attention surrounding her case.

‘I’m trying my best to advocate for her because I want her to feel like she’s being heard,’ he said, calling this the ‘most important case’ of his 32-year career.

Whether Doe will eventually return to college remains uncertain.

‘I’d like to think that’s in the future for her because she’s very smart,’ Giuffra said.

For now, her focus is simply on ‘getting through this, feeling safe’ and hoping the case ultimately becomes about something bigger than what happened to her.

‘The hope is that this isn’t just about her,’ Giuffra said. ‘That something comes out of this to effectuate positive change for all women.’