New Haven Police Arrest Lab Worker in Yale Death

Law enforcement officials have charged animal lab technician Raymond Clark III with the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le, who was strangled to death last week, the Yale Daily News reports.

Police arrested the 24-year-old this morning at a Super 8 motel in Cromwell, Conn. Clark had been staying there since yesterday morning, when police released him from custody after serving him with two warrants—one to search his Middletown, Conn., apartment and the other to take samples of his DNA. Clark is being held on $3 million bond and is expected to be arraigned within 24 hours.

Someone familiar with the investigation told the Yale Daily News yesterday that Clark's DNA matched evidence taken from the Yale research facility where Le's body was found Sunday, the day she had planned to wed Jonathan Widawsky.

As an animal lab technician, Clark is responsible for feeding and watering the animals used for testing in the research lab and for cleaning their cages. New Haven Police Chief James Lewis refused today to comment on possible motives for the killing. Lewis did, however, describe the murder as a workplace crime.

"This was not about New Haven crime or university crime or domestic crime," Lewis said. "This was workplace violence."

Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of America's Best Colleges.