All language subtitles for Houses.of.Horror.Secrets.of.College.Greek.Life.S01E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[music]

MAN: Let's roll. Sound.

Reslate. Abby Honold interview.

Call mark.

PRODUCER: Okay, Abby.

ABBY HONOLD: When I really think
about how different my life is

and the college experience
that I wanted to have,

I get really angry
all over again.

[Abby cries]

[cries]

It's been almost 10 years
since I was attacked,

but I live with the impact
of this every single day.

OPERATOR: Okay.

Sorry.

He took so much from me.

And it was not only him.

I was immediately aware
of the fact that Greek Life

had taken Daniel's side,

and his fraternity brothers
were bragging

that they had
gotten me recorded,

saying that I lied.

The entire Greek community
was against me.

[cheering]

There is no place in the world
that is more exciting

or thrilling than sororities
and fraternities.

But you don't know what actually
goes on behind closed doors.

All Greek Life has some sort
of a tradition of secrecy.

MAN: This was a powerful
organization.

I mean,
it was a serious coverup.

The amount of power
that the fraternities have,

it's so thoroughly woven into
the nature of the universities.

JIM PIAZZA: There is always
the same playbook.

OPERATOR: 911. What is the
address of your emergency?

They start the coverup,
nobody talks.

DOUG FIERBERG:
Hazing is a huge problem.

And it's resulted in tragedy.

Someone was burning
a cross on the lawn.

They would grab their members,
force their face down.

They'd make them
do a line of cocaine.

ABBY: It felt very sadistic.

He wanted me to be hurting.

You send your kid off to college
and this happens?

[music]

My name is Abby Honold.

I grew up in Bloomington,
Minnesota.

I was the oldest of six kids.

I just spent so much time
taking care of them

that I started to think
that I would want to do

something with children,

and the University of Minnesota
had great options.

[music]

ABBY: I was very excited
to start at the U in 2012,

to just finally
move into the dorms,

and I really did feel like
I was starting

a new chapter in my life.

The University of Minnesota
is a gigantic campus.

You can go there
and be a commuter student

or you can try to be a part
of the social life,

like a sorority or a fraternity.

[cheering]

KEVIN RANDOLPH: Most of the
fraternities and sororities

at the University of Minnesota
are on Greek Row.

And during the football season,
there are certain frats

that are well-known
for having large parties.

[cheering]

When it comes to game day,

Gopher football
is huge on campus.

[cheering]

BECKY REDETZKE FIELD:
Folks are going to be out

tailgating in their Gopheralls.

During my first two years
of college,

I loved tailgating
and going to the games.

[cheering]

It was the highlight
of my student experience.

STUDENTS: [chanting] Minnesota.
Minnesota.

Yeah, Gopher.

Rah!

[cheering]

[music]

ABBY: I was a junior.

It was a big game day.

I woke up at 8:00 that morning

and started drinking pretty soon
after with my friends.

We were just having lots of fun.

And then we walked over
to the tailgate party

at the Floco Courtyard.

Floco Courtyard was really
packed that morning.

It was on the same street
as a lot of the frats,

but you didn't have to be
in Greek Life to be there.

It was really a mixed crowd.

I was with a friend
who introduced me

to Daniel Drill-Mellum.

He was also a junior.

I didn't know him,
but I found out later

that Dan was very involved
in his fraternity,

which was Sigma Phi Epsilon.

WILL DAMMANN: The SigEp guys
were very interested in partying

and having a good time.

And they weren't the type
of people I hung out with

and not really the type
of people in my chapter.

And Dan,
he was this western suburb kid.

His mom was a doctor.

Dad was a professor
at the university.

So, obviously,
he was well connected.

He had interned
for Senator Al Franken,

Governor Dayton.

These very, you know,
prestigious positions

with very important people.

ABBY: Dan seemed very friendly.

He started telling me
that he needed help

carrying down more alcohol.

And I hesitated
because I just didn't wanna get

separated from my friends.

But he reassured me, "You know,
we'll only be gone two minutes.

"It's gonna be fine."

He said that his apartment
was right across the street.

And I could see the building.

I felt like, okay,
you know, why not help him?

So I left with him.

I went across the street.

[indistinct chatter]

As soon as we were inside
the apartment building,

everything changed.

It made me really anxious how
quiet it was in his apartment.

His voice changed.

It was deeper.

And then I saw there were
two pre-poured shot glasses

that were sitting
on the counter,

and that made me feel
really strange.

He finished checking the rooms

and he walked towards me
so fast.

I felt like I was blacking out
just from fear

because all of a sudden
there was something very wrong.

[music]

He grabbed
one of the shot glasses

and he backed me up to the wall

and was trying to force me
to drink it.

I was so scared in that moment.

I felt like I couldn't move.

Then he grabbed me
and pulled me into his bedroom.

And I was just
in complete shock.

By the time I realized
what was happening,

he had--he had taken
my clothes off,

and I completely panicked
at that point

because I knew
what was about to happen.

[sighs]

When Dan started raping me,

I said, "It hurts."
I told him to stop.

I said, "I don't wanna do this."

I said, "I wanna go back
to my friends."

And he would just ignore me
or he'd say, "No, not yet."

I was just trying to survive
in each moment.

Some of the time
I just zoned out

and I was just looking
at the window.

Like I just didn't want
to be mentally present.

But he wanted to keep drawing
my attention back

so he would keep talking to me.

He kept forcing me to experience
everything that was happening.

It felt very sadistic.

He wanted me to be hurting.

At one point,
he was suffocating me

and then bringing me back,
allowing me to regain

consciousness
before suffocating me again.

And I just remember
thinking things

like I hope they find my body.

And I was--

I was so upset
thinking about my siblings,

because I thought how--

I don't want them to hear
that this happened to me.

Sorry.

[Abby sobs]

In fraternities,
there is a serious rape culture.

NEWS REPORTER: Your daughter
partying at a frat house

being called rape bait.

Young men openly talk
about targeting women

to get them grossly intoxicated
and sexually assault them.

At the University of Minnesota,

one of the rumors
that you first hear on campus

is that there are these lions

in front of the SAE
fraternity house.

And the rumor was that
they would paint these lions

every time that there would be

a rape by a chapter member.

[music]

NEWS REPORTER: The Sigma Nu
house at Old Dominion University

has been suspended after
these banners were hung off

a balcony as freshmen
arrive for class.

And we've seen numerous examples
around the country

where fraternity men
are defiantly identifying

how they're in control and women
who say no actually mean yes.

STUDENTS: [chanting]
No means yes, yes means anal.

No means yes, yes means anal.

It's upsetting

that there are people
in fraternities

who still think rape culture
is a joke...

MICHELLE GUOBADIA: ...and things
we should make songs

and chants about.

[cheering]

That's simply
not what these organizations

are supposed to be about.

MAN: Let's roll.

Sound. Speed.

MAN: Abby Honold interview.

Mark.

[sighs]

I was in a lot of pain

and Dan was not going to let me
leave his apartment,

so I really started
fighting back at that point.

He kept trying to pull me
back down

but I just--I kept getting up.

Finally, he gave up and all
of a sudden his body language

and his voice
and everything changed

and he said,

"This was really fun.
We should do it again sometime."

All I did was just
gather my things

and I just booked it
out of his apartment.

When I was outside, it was still
very busy on campus.

It was just chaos.

And so at that point,
I called 911.

[Abby cries]

[Abby cries]

[cries]

[cries]

[siren wailing]

At the hospital,
a sexual assault nurse examiner

did Abby's exam.

And when she saw her injuries,
she gasped.

KEVIN: The nurse documented
cuts and bruising.

She had a torn frenulum,
which is the skin

that attaches the lip
to the gum.

Having injuries as a sexual
assault is pretty rare.

She said these were some
of the worst injuries

that she had ever seen
in her 15 years' experience

of doing hundreds
of sexual assault exams.

KEVIN: The tailgate party that
Abby attended was off campus,

so when Abby called 911,

emergency dispatch
sent police officers

from the
Minneapolis Police Department,

and then Drill-Mellum was
taken downtown for questioning

and booked into
Hennepin County Jail.

POLICE: Uh-hmm.

No.

[beep]

WOMAN: Paging Dr. Bender.

The detective arrived
at the hospital

and told me that he had been
at the Hennepin County Jail

interviewing Daniel.

[music]

ABBY: He immediately just seemed
kind of annoyed

about being there, like this was
a big nuisance in his day.

And he said, "Just so you know,
this isn't gonna go anywhere.

"This is very he said, she said,

and nothing's really even wrong
with you."

My forensic nurse told him
about my injuries

and how severe they were.

And then he said,
"Well, this is serious,

"and so we'll charge him."

And I thought,
"Finally, this is over.

"He is gonna take this over.

"I can be done now
until it's time to go to court."

[music]

ABBY: The next morning,
I was so scattered.

I was still in a lot of pain.

And I got a message on Facebook
from this guy named Connor.

And he said that he was Dan's
fraternity brother and roommate,

and expressed sympathy to me
and asked if we could talk.

So I called him like he'd asked.

Abby had no clue
that this was recorded.

It appears
to be an iPhone recording,

the video and the audio.

You can see part of Connor.

Dan is not there,
but it's pretty clear,

if you watch and listen,

that there is also another
fraternity brother in the room.

And then
the red flags popped up.

ABBY: I got really
uncomfortable at that point.

I thought these guys
don't want me to press charges.

I tried to be polite
but I ended the phone call.

In the Greek system,

if one of their
fraternity brothers

has been accused of a crime,

you see fraternity brothers
rally around him.

They may even go out of
their way to intimidate victims

into changing their stories
or keeping their stories

to themselves rather than
report to the police.

And a big factor in that
is the oaths of loyalty

that these young men take
to the other men in their group.

[music]

DOUG:
The brothers have agreements

to cover for each other

and not to be ratted out,

particularly for things

that they've probably
engaged in as well.

And this group mentality
can overcome

the individual's interest

in or ability to tell the truth,

to do the right thing.

A few days later,

I got a call from the detective

and he opened with,
"I have the phone call."

[music]

ABBY: So the fraternity brothers
had given over

the recording of the phone call.

I thought it was just disgusting

that Connor had recorded
the conversation.

And the detective, he said,
"I know that you lied."

"I remember the phone call.

"What about the phone call
says that I'm lying?"

And he said,
"I heard you describe

"everything as consensual."

I was thinking,
"When did I say that?

"How could I have said that?"

But I had never heard
the phone call,

nobody gave me
the recording of the phone call,

and I had no idea

what I really said.

[music]

He told me that
they were closing my case

and Daniel had been released.

After that, I was immediately
aware of the fact

that Greek Life
had taken Daniel's side.

And, of course,
they had probably already heard

his version
which is that I was a liar.

The entire Greek community
was against me.

[music]

ABBY: Daniel got let out
with no charges.

And one of his
fraternity brothers

was going around bragging

that they had
gotten me recorded,

saying that I lied and that
they had gotten Dan out of jail.

KEVIN: Because the charges
were dropped,

it fueled the narrative
within the Greek system

that he hadn't done
anything wrong,

that Abby had made this up.

She cried rape.

She had mental issues.

WILL: I remember first hearing

there's a girl claiming
that she was raped

by this SigEp member.

She's crazy.

ABBY: His fraternity brothers
and sorority women

rallied behind him.

I was told at the time that
they had even had meetings

and they had said, "Do not
associate with Abby Honold.

"Abby Honnold,
specifically, is banned

"from any kind
of Greek Life event."

Dan was able to shape
the narrative

with the Greek community
from the beginning.

He had a lot of people
come to his defense

and assumed that
that couldn't possibly be true.

It's easy to look back

and realize how naive you were.

Um, I was.

Once Abby was ostracized
by the Greek community,

that's bled over into
the student body at large.

[music]

ABBY: I would be in class
and people would refuse

to work with me
on group projects.

I remember
there was somebody saying,

"I can't believe that she could
show her face here again.

"You know,
she's such a [bleep] person."

It was humiliating.

I was terrified
of running into Daniel.

I thought to myself,
"I don't want him

"to be able to hurt
another woman."

And so I made an anonymous

blog post naming Daniel.

When I shared that,

I got a couple private messages
at that point

from other women who had been
assaulted by Daniel.

There was a victim
when he was in high school.

There were victims
all throughout college.

Almost all of them
really were terrified of Daniel

and they didn't wanna
report to police.

I had to try to do something,
and I knew that I needed help.

[music]

I had met Abby when I was
working as a victim advocate

with the Aurora Center.

It's one of the oldest on-campus

sexual assault crisis centers.

Abby was very traumatized
and needed help.

I provided her
with some information

about an organization
that had attorneys

available to help represent
victims of sexual assault.

And within a day, Abby retained

Amy Isenor as her attorney.

When I heard about Abby's case,

it quickly became concerning

the possibility that
Daniel had multiple victims

and that there was
a serial rapist on campus.

[music]

AMY ISENOR:
So I wanted to investigate

what options we had for Abby.

I attempted to reach out
to the police department

to obtain the records
and this tape,

but law enforcement
wasn't cooperative with me.

So I reached out
to Detective Kevin Randolph

at the University of Minnesota
Police Department

that handled
sexual assault cases

to see if there were
any further options.

My initial answer to her is no.

I had no jurisdiction.

This was in an off-campus
apartment building,

so this is a Minneapolis
Police Department case.

They investigated it.

And I had no access

to the tape
that caused this case

to get dropped
at the prosecutor's office.

However, there were other things
available to Abby,

for example,
the Title IX process

through the university itself

and not through law enforcement.

[music]

BECKY: Sexual assault falls
under Title IX.

And a Title IX complaint

can often accomplish
a faster result

than the criminal justice system

by removing someone from campus
if they are found responsible.

So, in Abby's case,

that was the next
best alternative.

The process can involve
the university

looking at any documentation
that might be relevant,

kind of getting a full picture
of what happened.

[music]

When we were going through
the Title IX process,

the university lawyer
called us in

and showed us the recording
of the phone call.

He said, "I need you to clarify
for me what was said."

AMY: He had obtained the tape
from Daniel's attorney,

and that was the first time that
Abby and I heard that recording.

- CONNOR: So he kind of--
- ABBY: Yeah.

CONNOR: --trapped you? Okay.

I got the tape
and I called Kevin back

and I said, "Kevin,
you have to hear this."

For a long time,

the piece of evidence

that was supposedly proving
that I lied

was this phone call.

When we finally got
a copy of the tape,

I turn it on and it's a video.

And you can tell that
there's two guys in the room.

ABBY: They were two
fraternity brothers.

And the one who was talking
to me, Connor--

--was being recorded
by the other fraternity brother

who was whispering questions
and prompts to him.

Um--

On the call, you hear Abby
describe her encounter

with Daniel Drill-Mellum as rape
twice within the first minute.

She just clearly said twice,

"He raped me. He raped me."

I'm immediately thinking,

"This isn't evidence
for the defense.

"This is evidence
for the prosecution."

Then Connor says to Abby--

[music]

When I finally heard
the recording

and I understood
what had happened.

The first part of the word
was a little bit lost.

I thought that they
had asked me,

was it actual sex
or was it sexual sex?

It was one of those
that I heard.

And I remember thinking,
that's a weird question.

But the way
that I interpreted it was,

you know, kind of was it rape
or was it sexual assault?

Abby thought that by asking her

whether they had
actual sex meant

was it penetrative sex,

so she replied,
"Yes, it was penetrative rape."

I felt vindicated because,
for months,

I had basically been questioning
my own sanity,

thinking that
I said something that

I now knew for sure
that I never said.

I was extremely angry
with the prosecutor

and the detective

who both had claimed that
they listened to that call.

I'm guessing
the prosecutor's office

never listened to the video
for themselves.

They just took
Daniel's attorney's word for it,

that it was an admission
of consensual sex,

decided to drop the case
and move on.

Ultimately, the university
and their Title IX process

found Dan responsible
for violating

the student conduct code,

and he was suspended from campus
for 10 years.

[music]

Having Daniel out of school
was definitely a relief,

but it wasn't justice.

He needed to be put somewhere

where he couldn't hurt people
anymore.

After listening to the recording
of that call,

Kevin agreed that this case
needed to be reinvestigated

and taken further.

And so he asked for jurisdiction

to be released to him,

making Kevin
the new lead investigator.

I put together a report,

along with this recording,

and, still, Hennepin County says

it's too muddy because
the initial drop charges.

We are not gonna pursue this

unless we can get
another victim to report.

At this point, I am pissed.

It was like why...

why is what he did to me
not enough?

Why should anybody else
have to come forward

and go through this

when I know you already have
enough evidence

on my case alone?

Now I've been assigned the task

of trying to find
another victim.

So I went back to the documents

from the Title IX process.

As I'm looking through
the documents,

I find a Post-it note
and it referenced

"Mother of a victim
wanted us to know

"her daughter was assaulted
by DM."

And there was--
and her phone number.

So I decided to take the chance
to reach out

and see what she has to say.

She said, "My daughter, Margot,

"was very violently raped
by Daniel Drill-Mellum."

[music]

I had numerous conversations
with Margot's mother

over the phone.

And she described her daughter

being in a Halloween party
with Drill-Mellum.

It was the fraternity party
at the SigEp house,

which is Daniel's fraternity.

She thought he was a nice guy.

They talked for a while.

He led her down

into the laundry room
of the building.

He climbs on top of her
and started raping her.

She is terrified.

She is trying to fight back.

And when it's over,

he walks out the door
and he says, "Hey, that was fun.

"We should do it again
sometime."

There were chilling echoes
of what had happened to Abby.

Daniel said the same statements
to Margot

that he had said to Abby.

And Margot was raped

one week prior to Abby
being raped by Daniel.

Margot's mother told me
that her daughter

was so terrified of this guy

that she had to leave school.

But she had no interest
whatsoever

in pursuing a police report.

I had no other avenues
that I can pursue.

At this point,
everything gets put on hold.

This moves from March,
when I originally got the case,

it's now the end of October,

and nothing has moved
on this case.

ABBY: I thought that it was
kind of the end of the rope.

I didn't think anybody else
was going to report,

and I completely understand
why they didn't.

Look at what had happened
to my life for reporting.

[music]

ABBY: I had to finish
certain classes from home.

The next semester,
I had to completely withdraw

and take the semester as a loss.

I was really struggling.

[cheers and applause]

KEVIN:
It's football season again.

I am working at a football game

on October 31st, 2015

when my cellphone rings...

and it's Margot.

She told me that she was hearing
from her friends

that Daniel Drill-Mellum
was at a fraternity party

at the SigEp house

and she wanted me to go
and arrest him.

[music]

BECKY:
It was one year to the day that

Dan had raped her.

He's back.

He's at the same party,

the annual Halloween party
at the fraternity house.

Margot understood that to be

a violation
of Daniel's suspension,

that he wasn't supposed to be
anywhere on campus.

Unfortunately, Daniel
had spotted a loophole

which allowed him
to be at the frat house

because it's not on campus.

I told her,
"Unless, he's in the act

"of committing
a crime right now,

"there's nothing I can do.

"But if you can give me
a statement,

"we can get
Daniel Drill-Mellum arrested

"and put in prison."

A week later, I get a call
from the front desk

that Margot is here
to speak with me

and she was finally ready
to report.

[music]

After Margot reported to Kevin,

he was able to refile it

with the Hennepin County
attorney's office.

And with two victims
coming forward,

the county attorney
was then willing

to bring charges against Daniel

for both Abby
and Margot's rapes.

BECKY: They're ready
to charge the case

when they look
into where Dan is at.

They discover that he is
currently abroad in Australia

for an unknown amount of time.

It was a very frustrating
roadblock.

I just felt like he had escaped
punishment once again.

And I thought,
"He has so much money.

"He's gonna be able to just
travel around the world

"and that there would--
there would be no chance now

"that he would ever face
charges."

[music]

KEVIN: I started looking into
Drill-Mellum behind the scenes

because I can't let him know

that I am at the point
of pressing charges.

His social media
has gone silent,

but a search of his name

brings up a website
featuring his sister.

She is getting married

and Daniel Drill-Mellum
is one of the ushers

in the wedding on January 1st.

So I know he is coming home.

This is a chance to get him.

[music]

I started looking into
what is it I have to do

to arrest Daniel Drill-Mellum.

I talked to airport police.

They suggested that
I have his passport flight

so that he can't book a ticket

without Homeland Security
getting notified.

We wait and we wait.

The day of the 22nd,

I get notified
by Homeland Security

that he just booked a ticket
for December 24th.

So we suspected
that his attorney

was watching for charges
to be filed

because who books international
travel two days in advance?

So they waited until Dan
was officially in the air

to sign a warrant,

so he could do nothing
about the fact

that a warrant was out
there waiting.

KEVIN: I got a uniformed
officer and a marked squad.

We went to the airport.

We literally rode the jetway
to the plane

and we're standing there

when they opened
the airplane door.

I said, "Stand up.

"You're under arrest
for sexual assault."

My first phone call was to Abby.

I told Abby, I said, "I got
a Christmas present for you.

"I...

"I just arrested
Daniel Drill-Mellum."

[music]

I just kept thinking,

finally, he was arrested

and he couldn't hurt people
anymore.

[music]

KEVIN: The courtroom
was packed that day.

Many of the people were

Daniel Drill-Mellum's
fraternity brothers.

ABBY: Just seeing that
they still had his back

is just disappointing.

I thought that
I would get an apology...

from them at some point.

Nobody has ever apologized.

NEWS REPORTER: Daniel
Drill-Mellum described

in court today
as a serial rapist.

In the end, reaching
a plea deal with prosecutors

to avoid trial,

he gets 74 months

or slightly more than
six years in prison

and he'll have to register
as a sex offender

for the rest of his life.

[music]

WILL: I remember reading
about Abby's case.

I immediately went back

to when I heard that rumor
about the SigEp kid

that supposedly raped a girl

but it wasn't true
and she was crazy,

and realizing like, "Oh, my God.
Like this is the same person."

Like--and so I wanted
to reach out to her

and I said, "I'm so sorry,"

and asked Abby
if she would be willing to come

share her story
with my fraternity.

And I think
it was extremely moving

to hear how members

of the Greek community...

perpetuated
the victimization of her.

Abby took all of this
nearly two-year battle

and channeled it all
into some amazing activism.

She was able to work
with Senator Klobuchar

and get the Abby
Honold Act passed,

which has a goal of being able
to provide funding

for trauma-informed training
to all officers.

Ultimately, I know now that

I can really survive anything.

I had no idea
how strong I can be.

[music]

Tim Piazza had 18 drinks
in 82 minutes.

MAN: I see Tim Piazza
on the couch,

and I saw bruises on his chest.

I'm advocating, "We need
to get him to the hospital."

They're like, "Oh, no, no, no.
That's not gonna happen."

All the bruises on his body,
it's like...

like "What the heck
was going on in that house?"

All of this
was essentially a coverup.

You send your kid off to college

and this happens?

It doesn't make any sense.