(Updated) Reporters are gathered at a press conference which was set for 8 a.m. Thursday to announce what is anticipated to be an arrest in the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le.
Late into Wednesday night, New Haven police were surrounding a Cromwell motel where the prime suspect in the murder is staying.
The suspect’s DNA has matched evidence at the scene of the crime, reports the Reg‘s Bill Kaempffer.
The suspect is a Yale lab tech who worked in a Yale medical school building where Le, a 24-year-old Yale pharmacology student, did experiments. Le went missing on Tuesday; cops discovered her body inside a basement wall at the building on Sunday, the day she was supposed to be married.
Police quickly zeroed in on the lab tech as a “serious” suspect in her killing, but did not release his name until Tuesday night, when they called him a “person of interest.” The suspect, who’s 24, lives in Middletown with his fiancee. He grew up in Branford and graduated from Branford High School in 2004.
The lab tech reportedly checked into a Super 8 Motel in Cromwell following his release from police custody at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.
New Haven cops late into the night were staking out the motel where the suspect is staying, several news outlets reported.
DNA samples from the state crime lab are said to be key in cracking the case. At a press conference Wednesday, New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said if DNA tests match evidence taken from the crime scene, the suspect would be arrested shortly after.
The “person of interest” was taken into custody Tuesday night for a DNA search, police said. Cops also served three search warrants on his home, car and other property.
He was released at 3 a.m. Wednesday after giving DNA samples from his fingernails and hair. He has no prior criminal history, except for a speeding ticket.
Meanwhile, the Courant reported that computer records tracked the suspect’s motions through laboratory rooms — and placed the suspect at the scene of the crime. The suspect was the last one to see Annie Le alive, they reported. Read the story here.
Past Independent coverage of the Annie Le murder:
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Annie Le Case: It’s Coming Down To The DNA
• Annie Le Was Strangled
Tuesday, Sept. 15:
• City, Yale Learned From Jovin In Annie Le Case
• Suspect In Annie Le Case Has Fiancee
• NBC Producer Trampled At Annie Le “Briefing”
• Cops Take DNA From Annie Le Target
• Was That Annie Le’s Killer?
Monday, Sept. 14:
• Body Identified As Annie Le
• “Serious” Suspect In Annie Le Case
• You Can Get In The Wall With A “Butter Knife”
Sunday, Sept. 13:
• Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found; “A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
• Annie Le Hunt Extends To Hartford
Saturday, Sept. 12
• Focus In Annie Le Probe Less On “State Lines”
Friday, Sept. 11
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted
Enjoying his last night as a free man in a Super 8 Motel. That's livin' large.