After the DNA came back negative, and the first two photo sessions went disastrously (at least from Nifong's perspective). Nifong himself may not have delivered the message -- that would be the DPD (Gottlieb certainly enjoys these things). Same way the cab driver was whipsawed -- Nifong was in on that up to his ears but there was never a direct meeting. Nifong was also in the middle of Kim's legal proceeding but never talked to her directly. We know the FA was involved in several outstanding investigation that did not appear to get anywhere.
I understand this is speculative but Nifong is as dirty as they come and put nothing past him.
Listen to Crabtree's interview with Ed Bradley. Bradley said the most shocking thing to him was the presumption of guilt from the get go. By everybody, even Duke.
Right. He would not overtly demand perjury from her, and even Gottlieb probably would not. But there are certainly ways to make the point without coming out and saying it directly. You just raise a series of questions that set the person's mind in a certain direction, with no actual threats or promises.
Here's a little something to chew on: in serious cases, the DA nearly always has a meeting with the victim (for a variety of reasons). The fact that Liefong avoided meetings with Mangum and Kim is suggestive to me that he expected and directed certain things be done a certain way and wanted no possibility that he would be directly connected with those acts, hence the Gottlieb buffer. Clearly, Liefong and Gottlieb have an "understanding". How strong it is remains to be seen.