Yale Lab Tech Raymond Clark III Arrested in Annie Le Murder

We already knew that Raymond Clark III, a 24-year-old Yale lab technician had been investigated in the Annie Le case, and released yesterday by the police, though labeled a "person of interest." Thursday police arrested and charged him with her murder.

Annie Le is the 24-year-old pharmacology doctoral student originally from Placerville, CA, whose body was stuffed in a research building wall after she was killed by traumatic asphyxiation. Her body was found on Sunday, on what was to be her wedding day to Columbia University graduate student Jonathan Widawsky.

Police arrested Raymond Clark at the Super 8 hotel in Cromwell, about 25 miles north of the Yale campus. Clark had been staying there since he was released early Wednesday by police.

Police would not comment on a possible motive, but called the an example of "workplace violence." New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said:

"It is important to note that this is not about urban crime, university crime, domestic crime but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country."

Categorizing the crime as "not domestic" is interesting. While the fact that the crime occurred shortly before Annie Le's wedding day led some to believe it may have been a crime of passion, saying it was not a domestic crime would imply there was not an element of unrequited love in the incident.

Raymond Clark is the only person publicly named by New Haven police in the case. Annie Le's aforementioned fiance has been ruled out by authorities. Police served four search warrants this week to compare DNA taken from Clark with evidence collected at the crime scene on the Ivy League campus and from Clark's Middletown, Conn., apartment, where he lived with his fiancee, Jennifer Hromadka.

Police had theorized the crime was an "inside job" as the laboratory where Le was last seen on Tuesday required passcard access and had some 75 security cameras. Clark, his fiancee, his sister and his brother-in-law all work for Yale as animal lab technicians.