Nebraska Police Not Ruling Out Hoax in Attack on Lesbian

Police investigators in Lincoln, Neb., have not ruled out the possibility that a 33-year-old lesbian allegedly attacked last weekend because of her sexual orientation might have staged the hate crime. But they’re also not ready to call her story, which has ignited interest across the country, a complete fabrication.

Chief Jim Peschong told the Lincoln Journal Star that investigators, aided by the FBI, continue to search for suspects in the case but remain uncertain whether the attack even took place.

The woman, whom Nebraska gay advocates have dubbed “Rainbow Jane,” told police that three men wearing masks stormed into her house on Sunday, tied her ankles and wrists with zip ties and used knives to carve anti-LGBT epithets into her arms and stomach.

Lincoln attorney Megan Mikolajczyk, who represents the woman, told the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday that her client was not yet prepared to make a statement on the attack.

“My No. 1 priority is her health and safety and her emotional well-being,” Mikolajczyk said. “I don’t know when she’ll be ready.