Tomorrow is the day that Jon Koppenhaver faces arraignment for the alleged beating of porn star Christy Mack and her friend Corey Thomas back in August. The story has popped up in news feeds from time to time, but has generally been idling while Koppenhaver cooled his heels in a Vegas jail, waiting for arraignment.
Unless you’ve been one of the handful of fans aligned on either side of the happenings with these two, you might not know the broad strokes of what’s gone on. There have been letters, tweets, suicide attempts, reality TV characters in and out, Instagram photos of injuries, and odd quotes from philosophers beamed from within jail cells.
Hang on and we’ll quickly bring you up to speed.
Christy Mack, born Christy Mackinday, is a porn star. She is known for her mohawk hair-do and many tattoos. Jon Koppenhaver was a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who legally changed his name to “War Machine”. The two were a couple. They did a Hustler pictorial together back in January. Christy Mack has a tattoo on her back that reads “Property of War Machine”. Other porn stars have related tales of War Machine accompanying Mack to porn shoots and generally behaving as her manager.
Mack and Koppenhaver broke up, although he insists that he was going to ask her to marry him. In early August, Koppenhaver says that he showed up at Mack’s house in Las Vegas, planning to reconcile and ask her to marry him. He says he caught her in bed with another man and that this man attacked him. He says he was ambushed and forced to defend himself.
That man, Corey Thomas, and Christy Mack herself tell a different tale. They say Koppenhaver found Mack and Thomas there in her home, but that they were not doing anything untoward. They say Koppenhaver flew into a jealous rage and beat Thomas. They say he let him go after threatening him to not call police.
Mack then says that, after Thomas left, Koppenhaver started beating on her. She says he punched and kicked her repeatedly, poked her with a knife, cut her hair off with that knife, forced her to shower, and threatened to rape her. She says that she escaped when Koppenhaver went to her kitchen to get a new knife because the handle of the one he was using broke.
Mack says she called 911 from within her house, but was cut off. Police records indicate that they came to her neighborhood, but called at the neighbor’s home instead. Neighbors say they told police that they should check at Mack’s home, but they did not.
After Mack escaped, she ran to a nearby home and called police. She was taken to a hospital, but Koppenhaver left her house and was on the run.
Mack had many injuries, some of which could have been life-threatening. She had teeth broken out, her eye socket fractured, lacerations on her scalp, a lacerated liver, and injuries to her leg. She tweeted out pictures and details of her injuries and the events of the evening.
Added below are the graphic photos and story about what happened pic.twitter.com/U1T1X2OP4d
— Christy Mack (@ChristyMack) August 11, 2014
When news broke of the incident, Koppenhaver was hunted by police and a reward was offered. Dog the Bounty Hunter promised to find him. In the end, Koppenhaver was spotted by a woman in a hotel room in California near where he was hiding. She turned him in, but donated the reward money to a shelter for battered women.
Koppenhaver was extradited back to Vegas. Some of his fans began a smear campaign against Mack. One time she tweeted a photo of her and a female friend, saying that she had finally left her house and gone for ice cream wearing sweat pants and no makeup. The diehard War Machine supporters called her names and accused her of faking her injuries. Fans sent money, books, and letters to Koppenhaver in jail, coordinated by his brother on Twitter.
Koppenhaver sent letters and tweets saying that he was being falsely accused, that Mack deserved what happened to her, and that his life was over. A jailer found him trying to hang himself in his jail cell a few days before a scheduled hearing. He was put on suicide watch.
Christy Mack has been getting support from many people, including doctors and dental surgeons who have offered their services to help with her injuries. She has turned up at events for organizations that help battered women.
I would also like to thank @DrToscanoDDS for offering his services in fixing my teeth. I appreciate your support for all victims of abuse.
— Christy Mack (@ChristyMack) August 13, 2014
Koppenhaver’s defense team asked for and received a continuance of his first hearing, which the prosecution suspected of being am attempt to “ice the victim.” A few days ago, Koppenhaver finally sat in court as Christy Mack and her friend Corey Thomas related what happened that night in August. The judge noted that Koppenhaver laughed when Mack testified that he sexually assaulted her.
That brings you up to speed. Koppenhaver is due back in court Thursday for arraignment.