Annie Le, the Yale graduate student whose body was found hidden the wall of a university laboratory building, was strangled to death. According to a spokeswoman for Connecticut's Chief Medical Examiner, Ms. Le died from "traumatic asphyxia," caused by "neck compression": Yale Student Was Strangled, Officials Say. More here: Yale student's cause of death: traumatic asphyxia.
New Haven police are still investigating any links Ms. Le might have had with Raymond Clark III, a lab technician who worked in the same building. He's still being called a "person of interest" -- not a suspect. There's apparently no indication that she had complained of being stalked or harassed by him or anyone else leading up to her death.
Clark, who was in police custody, was held for about five hours before being released to his lawyer early this morning. Meanwhile, details about Clark have been slowly emerging in the news. Clark and Le apparently exchanged emails about the proper care of laboratory mice: Could tale of slain Yale student Annie Le and 'person of interest' Ray Clark be about mice?
Investigators also noted swipe card records that are said to show Clark usually went through the building in an orderly fashion in accordance with the demands of his work. But the swipe card records from the day Le disappeared show Clark moving from room to room with no apparent logic, at points going to places unrelated to his job. This doesn't prove anything, but it certainly doesn't look good.
Finally... the New York Times article notes that Clark graduated from Branford High School in Connecticut, and appears first in the 2004 yearbook as a member of the Asian Awareness Club. "He is photographed next to two women of Asian descent. The club, according to the yearbook, made egg rolls for a faculty luncheon and raised money for a trip to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year in 2004." I'm not sure what this means, but I can think of a few things. Big red flags...
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