(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. She is not to be confused with the suspect’s fiancee, who lives in Middletown.
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.
“Its been a rough few days,” she wrote.
Her ex-boyfriend is a Yale animal lab technician who at the time of the murder worked in the same building in which Annie Le, a Yale graduate student, did experiments. The suspect lives in Middletown. He was raised in Branford. Police took him into custody late Tuesday night to obtain DNA samples. He was later released.
Back on Sept. 29, 2003 he was a senior at Branford High School when Det. Ronald Washington responded to a report of a dispute. The dispute was between the young Branford woman and the (now) lab tech. A top school official had summoned the police to the high school.
“The two are in a relationship which [the girlfriend] wishes to terminate and [the male] does not wish to end it.” Washington wrote in the report. “[The male] did attempt to confront [the student] on this date and also wrote on her locker. The school will handle this incident concerning the locker and at the time of this report, [the lab tech] was advised to have no contact with” the female student.
The detective wrote that subsequently the girlfriend came with her mother to the station to speak to him.
She “wished to tell me of an incident that took place, however, did not want it
pursued by this Department,” the detective wrote. “She stated that she had been having a sexual relationship with [the male] and that at one time [the male] did force her to have sex with him. The relationship did continue after that incident, however she is unsure of what he may do as a result of the break up.
“She was advised to contact this Department if he should make any contact with her and we would pursue criminal charges if the investigation warrants it. [The girlfriend] would not give any formal statement regarding the forced sex. It should be noted that [the male’s] parents were also contacted by this Detective and advised of the situation.”
No arrest was made because the young woman decided not to press charges, police wrote.
Branford Police Chief John DeCarlo Wednesday confirmed in a press release that he has been contacted by the New Haven police about the lab tech because of his past Branford address. He declined to release information about this “person of interest.”
Frightening. I'm impressed that the Independent scooped this information before the national or local media.