(Updated 10:58 a.m.) Cops charged a 24-year-old Yale lab technician Thursday with strangling a Yale grad student to death and stashing her body in a basement wall — what the police chief called a “workplace crime,” not a “romantic” one.
Raymond J. Clark III (center in photo), 24, of Middletown, was charged with murder and held on a $3 million bond, said New Haven Police Chief James Lewis. Clark cleaned mouse cages in a Yale medical school building where Le, a 24-year-old Yale pharmacology student, did experiments.
The announcement came at police headquarters at an 8:30 a.m. press conference orchestrated to start at the moment of the suspect’s capture.
“I feel good for the family,” Chief Lewis said in an interview in his office following the press conference. “It doesn’t make it OK for them. I think it takes away some of the pain that someone is being held accountable.”
He said Annie Le’s family, which has been staying in New Haven, plans to leave town Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.
Clark was arrested Thursday morning in Cromwell by New Haven Police Detective Scott Branfuhr. Less than two hours after his arrest, suspect Clark was transported to Connecticut Superior Court in downtown New Haven to be arraigned before Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue.
A prisoner transport van pulled up to the rear of the courthouse on Church Street at 10:02 a.m. Five marshals accompanied Clark out of the van (pictured) and inside to the courthouse. Right before that, another van pulled up with 15 prisoners from the Whalley jail, chained together; some held their shirts and jackets over their heads as marshals escorted them past the row of press cameramen perched above. “Wrong van guys,” a marshal called out.
“Ah man, you wildin’!” one of the defendants called out to the cameramen, while other defendants declared their innocence.
Inside Courtroom B, marshals cleared out all other defendants to make way for Clark’s last-minute arraignment before Judge Blue.
Clark walked in with ankle chains, a striped shirt and khaki pants. The lab tech, who’s 5 foot 9 inches and 190 pounds, hung his head as a TV camera at the front of the court tracked his movements. He was accompanied by two public defenders, Beth Merkin and Joe Lopez, who are representing him. He made no statements and entered no plea. Instead, the discussion was about his bond.
Bail commissioner Sharon Moye-Johnson told the judge that Clark refused to be interviewed. The bail commissioner conducts a pre-arraignment interview to assess a defendant’s flight risk.
Still, Moye-Johnson recommended that Judge Blue lower to $1 million the $3 million bond set by Judge Brian Fisher when he signed the arrest warrant earlier Thursday morning. One of the public defenders asked the judge to accept that recommendation.
Prosecutor Joseph LaMotta asked the judge to keep the bond at $3 million. “It’s a serious case,” he said.
Blue saw it his way.
“It’s obviously a very serious case,” Blue said, keeping the bond at $3 million. He then transferred the case across Church Street to Part A, the normal procedure for major crimes. Clark’s next court date is set for Oct. 6.
Clark’s arrest warrant affidavit has been sealed for 14 days at the order of Judge Brian T. Fischer, who signed the warrant. State’s attorney Michael Dearington requested the document be sealed because “the arrest is part of a continuing investigation which could be adversely affected by disclosure of the affidavit at this time.”
Not “Romantic”
The motive in the Annie Le killing remains unclear.
“This is not a street crime. This is not a domestic crime,” Chief Lewis said. “This is a workplace crime.” He noted that such crime is on the rise nationally and called for greater “awareness” in spotting the signs. In answer to a reporter’s questions, he said he had no reason to conclude that Yale gave a “pass” to Clark in hiring him. Click on the play arrow to watch.
“It is frightening that a member of our own community might have committed
this terrible crime,” said Yale President Rick Levin in an email statement Thursday morning. “But we must not let this incident shatter our trust in one another.”
Clark’s arrest capped an overnight stakeout at a Super 8 motel in Cromwell, the latest chapter in a week-long drama that has transfixed the nation. The drama began last Wednesday when Yale reported Annie Le missing. By Sunday, a possible missing persons case had turned into a brutal murder mystery, when state cops discovered her body inside a basement wall at a Yale medical school building at 10 Amistad St.
Police quickly zeroed in on Clark (left photo) as a “serious” suspect in her killing, but did not release his name until Tuesday night, when they called him a “person of interest.” Clark recently moved to Middletown with his fiancee. He grew up in Branford and graduated from Branford High School in 2004. He had a run-in with police in high school when his then-girlfriend called the cops on him, but she declined to press charges. (Right photo: Annie Le.)
Clark has no prior criminal history, except for a speeding ticket. His record at Yale was clean, too, President Levin said. Clark has worked as a Yale lab tech for nearly five years, starting in December 2004, according to Levin. His supervisor reported that “nothing in the history of his employment at the University gave an indication that his involvement in such a crime might be possible,” Levin wrote.
Clark was taken into custody Tuesday night for a DNA search, then released Wednesday morning after giving DNA samples from his fingernails and hair. Cops also served three search warrants on his home and car.
The DNA evidence was believed to be central to the case. Lewis said Wednesday that police would promptly arrest Clark if cops found a DNA match among 250 pieces of evidence in his home, car and at the crime scene. They found that match on Wednesday, the Reg‘s Bill Kaempffer reported, citing law-enforcement sources.
Chief Lewis declined Thursday to say whether a DNA match was made or what the motive of the killing was. (He’s pictured at right at the Thursday morning press conference alongside Assistant Chief Pete Reichard and Yale Chief James Perrotti.)
The Courant reported that computer records tracked Clark’s movements through laboratory rooms — and placed him at the scene of the crime. Clark was the last one to see Annie Le alive, the newspaper reported. When Annie Le swiped her electronic key card into a basement room that day, he followed her into the room and she never came out, according to the story.
Past Independent coverage of the Annie Le murder:
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”
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
I hope justice is served and that Annie's family eventually finds peace.