Nine months after his son was charged with murdering a Yale grad student, Raymond Clark, Jr. came to court for the first time to publicly support his son.
Clark, Jr. showed up at Connecticut Superior Court on Church Street Wednesday morning, where his son, Raymond Clark III, had a brief court appearance before Judge Roland Fasano. The son, a former Yale lab tech, was charged Sept. 17 with strangling Yale student Annie Le and hiding her body in the basement wall of a Yale laboratory building where they worked.
The son appeared in court Wednesday wearing ankle shackles, handcuffs, and an orange jump suit. For the first time, a row of family and friends showed up to support him. When he entered the courtroom, Clark turned to the audience, raised his eyebrows in greeting, and mouthed a kiss over to where his mom and dad sat, both dressed in blue button-down dress shirts.
The suspect’s sister and a half-dozen supporters sat by quietly in the courtroom. The judge continued the case until July 26. He said the case is being postponed pending more results from the state forensic lab. Lab results have been slowly coming in, he said. Clark’s public defender, Beth Merkin, said there is a tremendous amount of evidence, including over 1,000 photographs.
After the brief appearance, Clark’s family lined up in the hallway to speak for the first time to reporters. Clark’s father read from a prepared statement, scrawled on a piece of unruled paper. Next to him stood his wife, Diane and his daughter, Denise.
The father said the family and friends came to court to support Raymond Clark III, “whom we know to be a loving, caring, kindhearted son, brother, fiance and friend — unlike the picture that has been painted of him.” The father declined to answer any further questions, and asked that the family’s privacy be protected.
Standing among the supporters was the suspect’s fiancée, Jennifer Hromadka. She lived with Clark in Middletown at the time of the killing on Sept. 8. Police said she rode away in the getaway car after the murder. Police took a DNA sample for her after the killing, but said she is not considered a suspect in the crime. Hromadka took some time off, then returned to work at the Yale lab building. She remains engaged to Clark, according to the suspect’s father.
Previous coverage of the Annie Le case:
March 15, 2010
Warrant: Why Cops Sought Saliva Sample From Annie Le’s Alleged Killer’s Fiancee
March 9, 2010
Final Annie Le Warrant To Be Unsealed On Monday
March 3, 2010
Judge Plans To Unseal Final Annie Le Warrant
Tuesday, Jan. 26
• Annie Le’s Alleged Killer Pleads Not Guilty
Wednesday, Dec. 2
• Annie Le Warrants: Blood Found In Kitchen, Car
Tuesday, Nov. 17
• Seal Extended On Annie Le Warrants
Friday, Nov. 13
• Annie Le Warrant: Bloody Boots Read “Ray‑C”
Friday, Nov. 6
• Annie Le Documents To Be Unsealed
Tuesday, Nov. 3
• Hearing Continued For Annie Le Suspect; Judge Will Rule By Week’s End On Warrants: Live Blog
Tuesday, Oct. 20
• Annie Le Suspect Enters No Plea; Warrants Remain Sealed
Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Live Blog: Lawyer For Annie Le Murder Suspect Wants To See The Evidence
Friday, Sept. 25
• Warrant In Annie Le Murder To Stay Sealed
Thursday, Sept. 24
• Cops Back At Annie Le’s Lab Building
Monday, Sept. 21
• What Annie Le Story?
• Public Defender: I Don’t Want Annie Le Reporters Investigated
Thursday, Sept. 17
• After Annie Le Murder, Union Chief Sends Rallying Call
• Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail
• Cops Arrest Lab Tech In Annie Le Murder
• Suspect Arraigned (live blog)
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Cops Stake Out Annie Le Target’s Motel
• 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”
• Lab Building Shuts Down
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, 2009
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted
Are you kidding me? What nerve to make a statement that confrontational without any mention at all of Annie Le. ... Annie and her family are the victims here.