By Adam Shapiro

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 09/18/09 – This past Sunday was supposed to be the most joyous occasion in Annie Le’s life. The Yale graduate student was scheduled to marry her college sweetheart, Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student in applied physics and mathematics at Columbia University. Instead, after going missing five days earlier, police discovered her body stuffed inside the wall of a Yale research laboratory, where she worked as a medical researcher, on what would have been her wedding day.

Yesterday morning, New Haven police arrested and charged Raymond Clark III, a Yale lab technician, with the murder of Annie Le after DNA evidence linked him to the killing. On Wednesday, Clark was taken into custody for police questioning and was released after a DNA sample was provided. Police kept him under constant surveillance, surrounding a Super 8 hotel in Cromwell, Conn., he checked into, before moving in and making the arrest at 8:10 A.M. EST. Thursday.

The investigation has centered on Clark, the only person publicly named by New Haven police in the case. Authorities were able to gather more than 250 pieces of evidence at the crime scene and from Clark’s Middletown, Conn., apartment to go along with the DNA samples taken from his hair, fingernails and saliva. New Haven Police Chief James Lewis told a news conference there were no other suspects. “Based on numerous interviews, forensic evidence, and information learned from viewing video surveillance, detectives have secured the arrest warrant for Clark,” he said.

Questions remain over a motive for the killing. However, Chief Lewis acted swiftly in denying reports that a romantic relationship existed between Mr. Clark and Ms. Le. He emphasized that Le’s strangulation death was a case of workplace violence. “This is not about urban crime, university crime or domestic crime but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country,” he explained. “We have to really educate ourselves who we work with and how we deal with each other and those issues,” he went on to add.

While Clark is spending his first full-day in a high security prison, more details are emerging about his character and temperament. According to a law enforcement official speaking on the condition of anonymity for The Associated Press, Clark was viewed as an overbearing “control freak” by co-workers. His domineering attitude often led to clashes with researchers, especially over the handling of the mice cages. In fact, sources told ABC News that Clark sent Le a text message on Sept. 8, the day she disappeared, asking Le to meet with him because he had wanted to discuss the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of the mice cages that Le used for her research. In addition, according to ABC News, computer records show that Le used her Yale ID swipe card to enter a small room off a lab in the basement on Sept. 8, and then never used her card again. The Hartford Courant reported that Clark’s swipe card records show that he entered the same room, leading to strong speculation that he was the last person to see Le alive.
Clark, who was arrested without incident, is being held on a $3 million bond and is due back in court Oct. 6.

The family of Le’s fiancé issued a statement Thursday, thanking friends, relatives and law enforcement officials for helping them deal with “our tragic loss” and “a wedding that was not to be.” “Annie will live in our hearts forever.”

Not the first Yale murder