In the early hours of May 8, 1981, while Sebold was eighteen years old and a freshman at Syracuse University, she was assaulted and raped while walking home through a tunnel to an amphitheater near campus.[7][5] Her attacker told her that he had a knife and that if she screamed or made any noises, he would kill her. She reported the crime to campus security and the police, who took her statement and investigated, but could not identify any suspects.[7][5]
Shortly after the assault, Sebold returned home to Pennsylvania to live with her family for the summer before beginning her sophomore year at Syracuse University.[8] After five months of no leads by the police, Sebold was walking down a sidewalk near the Syracuse campus when she saw a black man whom she believed to be the person who raped her.[5][4] In Lucky, she wrote that the man had approached her, saying "Hey, girl. Don't I know you from somewhere?", and that she had recognized his face from the attack.[8] She notified police, who were initially unable to find the man she had encountered. After an officer suggested the man might have been Anthony Broadwater, who had reportedly been seen in the area, police arrested and charged Broadwater.[8]
Broadwater was convicted of rape and sodomy, and sentenced to eight to 25 years in prison.[9] Broadwater ultimately served 16 years in prison, maintaining his innocence throughout. Because he would not admit to the attack, he was denied parole five times.[4] Broadwater tried five times to have the conviction overturned, with at least as many groups of lawyers.[4] Broadwater was released in 1999, and remained on New York's sex offender registry.[10]
