9/8 Annie Marie Le missing from Yale University (BODY FOUND)

[Blonde]

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/alleged_annie_l.php

Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
by Marcia Chambers And Melissa Bailey | September 16, 2009 2:09 PM

(Updated) When she found out her ex-boyfriend was a suspect in the murder of Annie Le, a young Branford woman flashed back to a high school dispute that led to a visit from the cops.

The Branford woman used to date the lab technician who is now a “person of interest” in the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le. They dated about six years ago, when they were both students at Branford High School.

According to a 2003 police report obtained by the Independent earlier this week, she told police he forced her to have sex with him and he “confronted” her, when against his wishes, she sought to end the relationship. However, she declined to press charges.

State cops discovered Le’s remains inside a basement wall at Yale on Sunday. Tuesday night, police took the technician into temporary custody for a DNA search in connection to the case; he was later released.

“I cant believe this is true,” the Branford ex-girlfriend wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday. She said she was “in total utter shock.”

(She declined to discuss the matter with the Independent.)

She wrote on her page that the news made her think of her high school relationship with the suspect.

“I feel like im 16 all over again,” she wrote. “Its jsut [sic] bringing back everything.”

She has known since Sunday that he was being looked at as a “possible” suspect in the crime, according to her private Facebook profile.

(snipped)

He may have had a crush on Annie.He may have tried to rape her.
I don't think  her work had anything to do with this.
He didn't like it that she was getting married and went nuts.
I don't think he planned this, he overpowed her in his Jealousy and killed her. JMO

[A_News_Junkie_Monkey]

HLN just said she was strangled to death.

They also said a news conference in about an hour in a half.  So 5:15 to 5:30 ish EST.

[no rose colored glasses]

I heard earlier, on Fox, that Clark didn't like the way Annie handled the mice?

WTH is that all about?   

Guess he wrote emails complaining about her mishandling the mice 

[AZSunny]

I heard earlier, on Fox, that Clark didn't like the way Annie handled the mice?

WTH is that all about?   

Apparently he felt she was handling protocol.....guess it is a mouse thing.   

[AZSunny]

I heard earlier, on Fox, that Clark didn't like the way Annie handled the mice?

WTH is that all about?   

Apparently he felt she was handling ACCORDING TO protocol.....guess it is a mouse thing.   

[AZSunny]

I heard earlier, on Fox, that Clark didn't like the way Annie handled the mice?

WTH is that all about?   

Apparently he felt she was handling ACCORDING TO protocol.....guess it is a mouse thing.   

I GIVE UP!!  not handling according to protocol....so much for mutli tasking...

[Blonde]

Officials: Annie Le was strangled; person of interest released

Published: Wednesday, September 16, 2009


NEW HAVEN — The state’s medical examiner’s office confirmed Wednesday that Annie Le was strangled.

The office of the Chief Medical Examiner termed the cause of death “traumatic asphyxiation due to neck compression.”

This confirmation came hours after the man described as “person of interest” in the killing provided police with DNA samples and was released early Wednesday, police said.

Raymond Clark, 24, of 40 Ferry St., Middletown was taken into custody Tuesday night after police secured search warrants for both his apartment and his body. Police said he was brought to a state police facility, where he complied with the warrant.

Police said he was released at about 3 a.m.

A source said detectives were investigating a testy e-mail Clark may have sent Le over protocols she wasn’t following.

According to a source, Clark drew the attention of authorities even before Le’s body was found stuffed inside a wall near the lab in which he worked at 10 Amistad St.

When he was questioned by the FBI, agents took note of numerous injuries on his body, the source said, including what appeared to be bruises and abrasions on his arms, a mark under his eye, a scratch on his right ear, and a bruise or deep scratch to his chest.

When questioned, he said some of the injuries were a scratch from a cat. Others he attributed to playing softball.

“He had excuses for everything,” the source said.

It was when officials started taking pictures of his injuries that Clark reportedly appeared to get nervous and asked for an attorney.

The motive for the slaying remained unknown. Police have theories, but authorities stressed that they were nothing more than that. They range from unrequited romantic advances by Clark toward Le to Clark being upset over the handling of the mice that he was in charge of caring for. The animals are used in experiments.

Clark has hired a Fairfield lawyer to represent him and has invoked his right to remain silent. He did not provide a statement to police after he was taken into custody on the DNA warrant.

Attorney David Dworski declined to answer questions about the his client or the case, including whether his client denies having anything to do with the Le homicide.

He issued only a one-sentence statement: “We’re committed to proceeding appropriately with the authorities with whom we are in regular communication.”

Also, two New Haven public defenders, Joe Lopez and Beth Merkin, are providing assistance.

New Haven Public Defender Thomas J. Ullmann declined comment but did say that it is not unprecedented for his office to provide pre-arrest assistance.

“I can say as a general matter, if someone sought our assistance and was qualified for the public defenders officer in terms of income levels, we would offer advice and assistance.”

The samples now were going to be compared with forensic evidence collected at the scene of the killing 10 Amistad St., a Yale laboratory in the medical district. Police Chief James Lewis has said that more than 150 pieces of evidence were collected in the building. The hope and belief is that some of that contains DNA of the killer.

“The results of the forensic analysis from the crime lab will either rule in or rule out our person of interest in this case,” New Haven Assistant Police Chief Peter Reichard said Wednesday morning. “If he’s ruled out, it’s back to the drawing board” where detectives will examine other people who had contact with Le, 24, a graduate student in pharmacology.

“If he’s ruled in, the course of action would be seeking a custodial arrest of the subject.”

Le disappeared on Sept. 8 after entering 10 Amistad St. Her clothed body was found stuffed in small mechanic chase in the basement of the building.

She was supposed to have been married Sunday, the day she was found.

Clark, an lab technician who worked at 10 Amistad, also is engaged, to a co-worker. They were set to be married in December 2011, according to the couple’s wedding Web site A young man who answered the door at her parent’s house in Hamden declined comment Wednesday morning. The couple met working at Yale, a source said.

Asked about Clark’s side of the story, he only said, “I guess that will come out.”

In New Haven, Clark had lived in an apartment with his fiancee at 1554 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. until earlier this year. Former neighbor Annmarie Goodwin described Clark as “very controlling” of his girlfriend and that she would sometimes hear shouting upstairs.

At the Wharfside Commons Apartment complex in Middletown Wednesday, where Clark lives, neighbor Ed Banning, said the last time he saw Clark was Tuesday night when he was being put into a police car.

Banning said he wasn’t friends with Clark but saw him and had conversations in passing. He said that there was nothing about the interactions that would lead him to believe Clark would be capable of the crime for which he is a suspect.

“It’s really scary,” Banning said, of Clark being a suspect in the case.

Clark is a 2004 graduate of Branford High School.

A student who attended Branford High School with him said, “’I’m in total shock. He was the nicest kid — very quiet, but everyone liked him. I can’t believe ... this. I’m sick to my stomach.’”

Clark shares a MySpace page with his fiancee and she described him as a “Wonderful boyfriend.”

In May 2008, she wrote about a rumor that Clark was cheating on her with another co-worker at tech lab.

“My boyfriend, Ray, if you don’t know him, has no interest in any of the other girls at YARC as anything more than friends.”

http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/09/16/news/doc4ab1406d22fcf985520966.txt

[cece]

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/crime/crime_ap_hartford_dna_lab_tests_200909161642_rev1

Lab rushing DNA tests in Yale killing

Updated: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2009, 4:52 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 16 Sep 2009, 4:43 PM EDT

Hartford (AP) - A Connecticut police lab is expediting tests on the DNA of the "person of interest" in the Yale killing so he can be charged or vindicated soon.

State police Lt. Paul Vance said Wednesday that the case has been put to the top of the pack of DNA samples awaiting testing.

Graduate student Annie Le, 24, was suffocated and her body stuffed behind a wall in her lab building. Animal lab technician Raymond Clark III was questioned by police Wednesday.
Authorities want to test DNA taken from Clark's hair, fingernails and saliva. They want to compare it with more than 150 pieces of evidence.

University of Connecticut genetics professor Linda Straus Baugh says testing can be done in days if a case gets top priority.

[Blonde]

Also I find it very strange that employees from Yale would live in a place like this.
This is the slum area of middletown, where drugs are being sold in the parking lot

[cece]

Also I find it very strange that employees from Yale would live in a place like this.
This is the slum area of middletown, where drugs are being sold in the parking lot

Hi Blonde.  I was wondering about that area.  TY for describing it.
I thought the rents looked extremely moderate.  But I don't know anything about the area.
Also, I haven't seen anything about Ray attending college.  He may have, but I can't find anything.  So I wondered if he only had a High School education.  And I don't think colleges/universities pay high salaries.  Therefore, I'm not sure what hours he would work or how much he would earn.


HLN now covering the press conference.

[Northern Rose]

HLN is broadcasting the presser right now.

[Blonde]

Also I find it very strange that employees from Yale would live in a place like this.
This is the slum area of middletown, where drugs are being sold in the parking lot

This makes more sense, he was a staff member as well as  the others that live with him.
His job was to clean up the cages and rooms
Annie had A PHD

[Blonde]

Also I find it very strange that employees from Yale would live in a place like this.
This is the slum area of middletown, where drugs are being sold in the parking lot

Hi Blonde.  I was wondering about that area.  TY for describing it.
I thought the rents looked extremely moderate.  But I don't know anything about the area.
Also, I haven't seen anything about Ray attending college.  He may have, but I can't find anything.  So I wondered if he only had a High School education.  And I don't think colleges/universities pay high salaries.  Therefore, I'm not sure what hours he would work or how much he would earn.


HLN now covering the press conference.

Lets just say they just fixed up where he lives BUT I wouldn't drive down that street alone.
They sell crack in the parking lot gezzzzzzzzz
Yesterday I thought he lived somewhere else that was why hubby said NO, NO WAY

[cece]

Also I find it very strange that employees from Yale would live in a place like this.
This is the slum area of middletown, where drugs are being sold in the parking lot

Hi Blonde.  I was wondering about that area.  TY for describing it.
I thought the rents looked extremely moderate.  But I don't know anything about the area.
Also, I haven't seen anything about Ray attending college.  He may have, but I can't find anything.  So I wondered if he only had a High School education.  And I don't think colleges/universities pay high salaries.  Therefore, I'm not sure what hours he would work or how much he would earn.


HLN now covering the press conference.

Lets just say they just fixed up where he lives BUT I wouldn't drive down that street alone.
They sell crack in the parking lot gezzzzzzzzz
Yesterday I thought he lived somewhere else that was why hubby said NO, NO WAY

 

Glad you didn't go down there!

[no rose colored glasses]

Believes that there's only one killer
Says they know where RC was at all times on the day of the murder
Won't confirm or deny a sexual assault
Won't comment on motive                 From press conf

[no rose colored glasses]

He did CUSTODIAL type work. Chief stressed this.    Annie was carrying in piles of notebooks.

[BluesyGram]

Believes that there's only one killer
Says they know where RC was at all times on the day of the murder
Won't confirm or deny a sexual assault
Won't comment on motive                 From press conf

Thanks for the recap.  Think they are pretty sure it is him.  Hopefully we will see an arrest tonight.

[no rose colored glasses]

Will not answer if Annie was raped.

[cece]

TY NoRose   

[cece]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,551065,00.html

Security at Yale Questioned After Employee Named 'Person of Interest' in Murder Case

 After the release early Wednesday of Yale University employee Raymond Clark III — who was identified as a person of interest in the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le — police now have DNA from his saliva, hair and fingernails. But what information did Yale have when it hired him in the first place?

Clark, who was taken into custody Tuesday but had no charges filed against him, has been described as anything from “a normal guy” to a controlling boyfriend with anger issues. And whether or not DNA tests lead to further investigation, the case raises the question of how a university that employs thousands can ensure the safety of its student employees from non-student workers. Most officials agree that the killer had access to the building and that the act was not random.

Yale employs a screening process and likely performed a background check on Clark, as the university’s Web site says it performs screenings on potential employees for positions ranging from “management & professional positions, clerical & technical positions and service & maintenance positions.” Questions to Yale’s Human Resources and Administration about its background policy were referred the Office of Public Affairs, which referred to the Web site. The Office of Public Affairs also said it was not discussing the case.

“A thorough and reliable background check is vital in determining whether your candidate will be an asset or a liability to your department,” the Web site says. “As the largest employer in New Haven County, Yale hired over 2,289 new staff members in 2006. Pre-employment screening will help to ensure that we continue to hire the right people, for the right jobs, at the right time.”

The policy was last updated in June 2007, though it is still unclear whether Clark began work at Yale before or after that time.

The screenings include, among other things, social security number verification, a criminal history check, and employment verification from three previous employers. Yale contracts ADP, which describes itself as “one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions,” to do the screenings.

Mandy King, who has worked as a medical assistant at Yale’s School of Medicine for two years, said she had to complete a thorough background check before she was hired.

“After all of my interviews, and approval for hire, it was almost a full week before the extensive background check came back,” King said. “I will say that the security is tight in the research labs, [and] that is one of the things that has upset us the most in the Yale Community.”

King, who works with both students and researchers, said she and fellow employees are deeply saddened that Le was presumably killed “by someone who was one of us.”

“We are so saddened that such a bright, young person as seen such a tragic end of her life,” she said.

Like many institutions, universities usually perform background checks for employees working in secure locations such as Le’s lab.

No matter the school and extent of the screening, background checks inevitably represent the “overarching goal of ensuring a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, patients and guests,” according to Phil Hampton, assistant director of UCLA's Media Relations and Public Outreach.

UCLA takes its screening process “very seriously,” Hampton said, and takes specific care when the employee will be working around students. Applicants with a criminal record are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Kathy Bryant, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill communications director, said UNC also pays close attention to criminal records.

"Each check that's returned with a criminal conviction is reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “The relationship of any conviction to the position for which the individual is being considered is taken into consideration as a part of that. So you might have a situation where someone had a financial conviction on their records and they're applying for an accounting position. That's something that would've been taken into consideration as part of the decision making process as to whether a conviction would arise to a level that would keep a person from being employed.”