# Anyone else following the Annie Le murder case (Yale grad student)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631 "2009-09-18T19:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/1 "2009-09-18T19:00:47Z")
> **[Source: DNA match led to lab tech's arrest in Yale murder - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/18/yale.killing.arrest/index.html)** > > A DNA match linking Raymond J. Clark III to Yale student Annie Le led to his arrest on murder charges, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. This case has really bothered me, perhaps because I work in academia, and this situation (as far as we know) is really odd. The victim, Annie Le, was supposed to get married this weekend… instead her family and her fiancee are planning a funeral. The suspect’s DNA was found on the victim’s body. It sounds like this guy was a little OCD and had an issue with the young lady’s cleanliness in the lab. So it appears he killed her. :mad: He apparently texted her for a meeting to discuss the state of the rat cages… and now she’s dead, apparently strangled to death. It also reminds me of a thread that **monstro** (I think it was that twin) posted a while ago about a creepy co-worker in a lab. It’s early days, innocent until proven guilty and all of that, but this makes me really, really sad. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/2 "2009-09-18T22:10:15Z")
i’ve been following it. very tragic story. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/3 "2009-09-18T22:23:26Z")
I haven’t been following it closely, but something puzzled me. Why did the cops let the suspect go and then arrest him a very short time later, at a motel? The account I read said that the cops surrounded the motel, implying (or I’m inferring) that they were concerned that he wouldn’t come quietly. Why did they let him go in the first place? Seems unlikely that a few hours would make a difference, as far as evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/4 "2009-09-18T22:32:13Z")
When I heard that she was killed so close to her wedding day, I thought it was likely that the killer was probably a jilted ex, or at worst her fiancee. The latest developments are even more disturbing.It is a very depressing story. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/5 "2009-09-18T22:35:29Z")
This was precipitated because of lab tidiness? Holy Crow. [begins to tidy office…quits] ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/6 "2009-09-18T23:20:48Z")
If a secured building with 75 CAMERAS in it and you need a key card to get it - if that place isn’t safe, what place on gods green earth IS? Oh, and I love the interviews with the friends who are shocked - SHOCKED - this guy would be accused of strangulation and murder. Typical stupid men! “Well, I’ve known him x number of years and he seemed like a regular guy to ME!” Yeah, because he strangles a young WOMAN, not his good buddy! (Same thing during the trial of Marv Albert years ago - “I’ve known Marv x number of years and he never seemed to want to take a bite out of ME.” No, not you, idiot. Women!) Oh, and this is small and petty, but I hope that striped polo shirt he was wearing when hauled into custody came from Abercrombie & Fitch. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/7 "2009-09-19T00:31:42Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > If a secured building with 75 CAMERAS in it and you need a key card to get it - if that place isn’t safe, what place on gods green earth IS? As I understand, the 75 cameras are on the outside of the building. And he worked there, so he would have had no problem getting in and out. And I’ve been following the story because it’s local to where I grew up, and partly because of the idea that she was killed only a few days before she was to be married. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/8 "2009-09-19T00:57:05Z")
It’s very creepy - I was interested in the whole “body found inside a wall” aspect of it. I admit I loved the Fark headline: “Body of Yale graduate student found inside wall. Cask of Amontillado still unaccounted for.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/9 "2009-09-19T01:11:56Z")
Yeah, I’m puzzled as to how you can hide a body inside a wall without it being obvious, unless you’re on a construction site or something, which this wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/10 "2009-09-19T01:12:02Z")
Honesntly I don’t care. It’s sad, but I’ve no connection with either the victim or the suspect and this doesn’t effect me at all. Now if only my coworkers would stop talking about it and asking me what I think about the latest development. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/11 "2009-09-19T01:33:56Z")
the body was in a utility chase. this is an area between rooms or behind a dividing wall that might be a couple feet wide. this would be used in multistory buildings like that to run pipes and cables vertically in. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/12 "2009-09-19T01:36:51Z")
Okay, still fighting my ignorance–how do you access that without cutting a hole in the wall? Or are there access panels or something? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/13 "2009-09-19T01:44:51Z")
a utility chase if large could be accessed by a full width or a half width door. if smaller could have a hinged or screwed access panels. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/14 "2009-09-19T05:02:50Z")
I’m following it, and I am sort of riding the fence. One the one side, this is a horrible thing for one human being to do to another, especially so close to her wedding day and the beginning of a whole new life for her. Unless a personal history of psychosis or just plain ol’ crazy behaviour from her toward co-workers, it makes me sad. On the other side, I am interested to see if this guy turns out to be the next Dahmer or BTK or whatever. This does not seem like something that he did out of an impulsive moment (if he is the assailant), but rather evidence of the horrible stuff that a person can be capable of. I’m glad to see the police are taking their time, hopefully to obtain all the correct warrants and not screw up any evidence collection. (At least, I hope that’s why they’re going slowly.) I’m sure more will come of this. I’m interested. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/15 "2009-09-19T05:08:23Z")
According to an expert on Nancy Grace (I paused! Briefly! I swear!) he’d previously had the cops called on him for a fight with his girlfriend, who admitted that he’d raped her (though she didn’t use that word) but continued seeing him. Scary, scary stuff. Someone I know heads a lab and recently had several women come to him to complain about a coworker who’d been harassing them, always when they working alone with him late at night. I’ve been by, it’s pretty isolated. ETA It sound slike the guy was just being sleazy. Also, it happened before this crime. Didn’t want to imply that there are real parallels, just that it can be a scary environment with odd hours. Oh and also the guy apparently pulled the fire alarm, too, at one point to give him time to clean up. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/16 "2009-09-19T05:44:11Z")
This very sad case shows that there is really little defense against a nut job like the apparent murderer that killed Annie Le. She was no dummy and was certainly smart enough to avoid dangerous situations, but not when she was attacked by a non-stranger twice her size in a secured building. Such a talented life snuffed out by an obviously unstable person who wasn’t that smart. He left evidence all over the place and his security card left an indisputable record of his movements inside the building where the murder occurred. As to why the police let him go that first time after their initial questioning, I heard that the release actually allowed the police to do their investigation faster without a suspect in custody. While in custody, certain rights can be invoked by the suspect that could have delayed the investigation. At least that’s what I heard. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/17 "2009-09-19T06:36:24Z")
From all I’ve heard, the suspect is at best a weirdo. There’s a bizarre posting from his girlfriend’s MySpace page that was in the NY Post: > [@](#): > > When “rumors” surfaced last year that Yale lab worker Raymond Clark was having “a fling” with a woman at work, his faithful fiancée flatly denied it – while acknowledging that he makes mistakes. > > “He is a bit naive, doesn’t always use the best judgement, definitely is not the best judge of character but, he is a good guy,” blogged girlfriend Jennifer Hromadka, 23, last year, in an entry filled with typos and misspellings. > > "He has a big heart and tries to see the best in people ALL THE TIME! even when everyone else is telling him that the person is a psycho or that the person can’t be trusted. he thinks everyone deserves a second chance. and has a hard time hurting peoples feelings and it takes him getting burned to learn. > > "My boyfriend, Ray, if you don’t know him, has no interest in any of the other girls at [the university research center] as anything more than friends. > > "This rumor of a ‘fling’ is probably the most stupid thing i have ever heard and really is not even worth going into detail about. > > “Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I’m not perfect and I don’t live to be, but before you start pointing fingers make sure your hands are clean!!” This is pretty weird. It sounds like a public blog - who is she talking to? I suppose she has friends that visit her page, but she’s basically admitting to the world that she has a weird, sheltered boyfriend. And the choice to announce to the world that the rumors of his infidelity are false? Whoa. Still, I feel bad for her… hell of a shock to discover your boyfriend is possibly a murderer. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/18 "2009-09-19T06:49:04Z")
Yes, I looked for a thread here yesterday and didn’t find anything. I will be watching this interesting case. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/19 "2009-09-19T10:02:49Z")
I’d been wondering why this case was getting so much attention. I figured it was because it happened to an attractive young woman on an Ivy League campus days before her wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631/20 "2009-09-19T18:35:53Z")
Well, yes, **Leaper** , those are all reasons. When I first heard it, I figured it was a runaway bride kind of story. I thought maybe she was in some arranged marriage type of deal and decided to bolt. People get murdered every day, but you have to admit it’s highly unusual that it happens in a high-tech research lab. Especially if it’s over dirty rat cages. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-following-the-annie-le-murder-case-yale-grad-student/510631.md?page=2)