The tale of the tape was apparently only half of the story.
Several documents pertaining to R. Kelly's child-pornography case were unsealed Tuesday, days after the R&B star was acquitted on all 14 counts, revealing previously inadmissible allegations from the prosecution's star witness.
Chief among the damning revelations are Lisa Van Allen's claims that one of Kelly's associates threatened to kill her for ratting out the superstar.
The 27-year-old Van Allen, a former Kelly paramour who testified during the three-week trial that he once videotaped a sexual encounter among her, Kelly and his underage goddaughter, told Cook County prosecutors that one of Kelly's employees told her last year she should have been "murked," street slang for murdered, for going to authorities.
Van Allen also claimed, per the documents, that she received $100,000 from another of Kelly's associates in exchange for the smoking gun tape.
"In her testimony in court, Lisa Van Allen revealed herself to be a thief and a liar," said Kelly attorney Allan Mayer. "She wasn't believed in the courtroom, and there's no reason to believe her now."
In addition to Van Allen's claims, the newly unsealed papers also reveal that upward of 200 people, including R. Kelly and his wife, were originally listed as potential witnesses, while in reality only 34 people, including neither R. Kelly nor his wife—nor, for that matter, the alleged victim—were called to testify.
The documents also revealed that prosecutors looked at credit reports of the star, the alleged victim and the alleged victim's parents, presumably for some sign of recompense, but that they were never admitted into court.