One Murder. Two Victims?

At about 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1998, a still-unidentified assailant stabbed Yale University Senior Suzanne Jovin 17 times in the head, neck and back. Less than 15 minutes later, police found her near death at the intersection of East Rock and Edgehill roads, a mile from central campus.

The senior was a well liked and respected member of her class. She was active in volunteering and charitable work. The State of Connecticut and Yale University have offered rewards that together are worth a total of $150,000.

Originally, Yale Officials publically identified Suzanne's thesis advisor and at the time Yale Political Science Lecturer, James Van de Velde as a suspect. After years of suspicion, DNA taken from under Suzanne's fingernails failed to match a sample from Van de Velde's, thereby lessening the chance that Van de Velde may have been the murderer.

The case has embarassed Yale and the New Haven Police department. Did they focus on the wrong person?

July 2008, Police released a sketch of a person seen running from the area near where Jovin had been found murdered within the time frame of her murder. The person of interest was described as blonde haired white male with chiseled features. He was reportedly wearing dark clothes and had on a loose-fitting green-colored jacket.

It is over nine years later and Suzanne's killer still has not been caught. There are no witnesses and little physical evidence. The last time she was sighted was around 9:20 pm that night, what happened the next 25 minutes remains a mystery.

NOTE: Some conspiracy theorists have created rumors that Suzanne Jovin was murdered because her senior thesis was about terrorist Osama Bin Laden, however, there is no evidence to suggest any of the such. At that time Bin Laden was already an internationally known figure due to his involvement in attacks on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998.

Noted author and activist Donald Connery has been critical of Law Enforcement's handling of the case and it's main focus on Van de Velde. Witnesses described a brown or tan colored van was sighted near where Suzanne Jovin was last seen alive.

If you have any information on this case please contact the New Haven Police Department at 1-866-888-TIPS.

Judge Releases Car Seized After Le Slaying

NEW HAVEN — Someone is getting Raymond J. Clark III’s red Ford Mustang.

But it’s not clear yet to whom the car belonging to the only suspect in the slaying of Yale graduate student Annie Le will go.

In a Superior Court session that lasted about 30 seconds Wednesday, Judge Roland Fasano granted a motion by Clark’s attorney, Joseph E. Lopez, to release the car. They did not say where the car would go.

Search warrant affidavits released in December in the Le slaying showed police found red-stained items in Clark’s car, a blood-stained kitchen floor in his apartment, and more items with blood-like stains in another car he rode in the day Le disappeared.

Le was found Sept. 13 behind the wall of a Yale research building.

Regarding the car, the arrest warrant affidavit for Clark said: “Officers observed within the vehicle, in plain view, a pair of white sneakers with unknown reddish stains, a blue in color unknown garment similar to hospital ‘scrubs’ and a dark in color garbage bag.”

Police in September towed the car away for testing.

Clark is charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty in the case. He was in court today in an orange prison jumpsuit.

Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Yale Murder Case

USNews.com- This is a case that will be followed closely in the Yale University community and beyond: the trial of Raymond Clark III, a former Yale lab technician accused of murdering graduate student Annie Le. And the first big news from the proceedings happened yesterday.

In a short court appearance Tuesday, Clark pleaded not guilty to the murder of Le, the Yale Daily News reports. The prosecution added a charge of felony murder to the case, which would allow a jury to convict Clark of killing Le even if the death happened unintentionally in the process of committing another felony, the report says.

Clark also waived his right to a probable cause hearing, at which prosecutors would have had to show that they had enough evidence to proceed.

"In any hypothetical homicide, felony murder ensures the prosecution won't get boxed in," Beth Merkin, one of Clark's public defenders, tells the Daily News. "It provides for alternate theories to be made about the crime."

Clark was arrested on September 17 after the discovery of Le's body hidden in a lab building shocked Yale's New Haven, Conn., campus.

Lab Worker Arrested in Yale Student's Killing

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- A Yale University lab technician was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in the slaying of a graduate student whose body was found in the basement wall of an off-campus medical research building, police said.

Raymond Clark was apprehended about 8:10 a.m. ET at a Super 8 motel in Cromwell, Connecticut, where he had spent the night after being released Wednesday following his submission to DNA testing.

Bond for Clark has been set at $3 million, New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said.

Annie Le's body was found in the basement wall of an off-campus medical research building Sunday. She had been strangled.

Le, 24, a pharmacology student, was last seen alive September 8, the day she appeared in a surveillance video entering a four-story lab at 10 Amistad St., about 10 blocks from the main campus.

Her body was found on what was to have been her wedding day.

Lewis said the arrest "went smoothly."

He could not release details about the charges or whether DNA results led police to arrest Clark, who was initially described as a person of interest in the case.

"This arrest warrant has been sealed, so no further information can be released in order to comply with this court order," Lewis said.

He called the killing "an issue of workplace violence."

Clark could have been arrested Wednesday if he had declined to provide DNA samples and allow police to search his home, but he was released after complying, New Haven city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga.

Two other search warrants also were executed Wednesday -- one on property belonging to Clark that was not named in the first warrant, and a second for Clark's vehicle, which was being processed Wednesday evening, Lewis said earlier.

He said Clark is a technician who does "custodial-type" work at the building. He answered police's questions for a while at first, but later retained an attorney and stopped, Lewis said.

Lewis said Clark and Le worked in the same building and passed in the hallway, but he refused to comment further on whether they knew each other.

Investigators have collected about 250 pieces of evidence, Lewis said.

"If we have one match on a person we know was at that location," police will seek an arrest warrant, he said Wednesday. Lewis earlier said police had reviewed about 700 hours of video and interviewed more than 150 people, some more than once.

A senior police official disputed Yale University President Richard Levin's claims that the suspect pool would be a "limited number" of people who had been in the basement the day Le disappeared.

"We know everyone that was in the basement ... and we passed that on to police," Levin said. "There is an abundance of evidence."

But the police official, whom CNN is not naming because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation, said investigators believe dozens of people could have had access to that area of the building.

Authorities have not released information on what DNA evidence may have been found, although investigators said earlier that bloody clothing was found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling in another part of the building.

Police have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they might have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the bloodstained garments.

But Thomas Kaplan, editor in chief of the Yale Daily News, said a Yale police official told the college paper that the clothes were not what Le was wearing when she entered the building.

Lewis said Wednesday that processing of the building was nearing completion and police would likely clear it Thursday morning.

Le was to have been married Sunday on New York's Long Island to Jonathan Widawsky, a Columbia University graduate student.

Le was from Placerville, California, and seemed to have been aware of the risks of crime in a university town. In February, she compared crime and safety at Yale with other Ivy League schools for a piece for B magazine, published by the medical school.

Among the tips she offered: Keep a minimum amount on your person. When she walked over to the research building last week, she left her purse, credit cards and cell phone in her office.

Police Seek DNA From Yale Worker in Death of Student

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- Police said Tuesday night they have a Yale University employee in custody in connection with the killing of Yale student Annie Le.

A judge has issued a search warrant and a body warrant on Raymond Clark, 24, of Middletown, police said.

The body warrant allows police to collect DNA from Clark, who will be arrested if he does not comply but will be released if he does, police said.

Le's body was found Sunday in a wall of an off-campus medical research building, police said.

Clark is a lab technician at Yale, police said at a news conference Tuesday night.

Earlier Tuesday, a senior police official told CNN that investigators have interviewed more than 200 people in the case.

The official also disputed Yale University President Richard Levin, who had indicated that the suspect pool would be a "limited number" of people who had been in the basement the day Le disappeared.

"We know everyone that was in the basement ... and we passed that on to police," Levin said. "There is an abundance of evidence."

But the police official, whom CNN is not naming because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation, said investigators believe dozens of people could have had access to that area of the building.

Le, 24, disappeared September 8. She was last seen on surveillance video as she entered the four-story lab at 10 Amistad Street, about 10 blocks from the main campus. After going over hours of tapes, authorities said they had not found images of her leaving the building.

The police official said that investigators were unlikely to make any arrest until DNA evidence is returned from analysis and that the probe could take days.

Police have not released information on what DNA evidence may have been found, although investigators said earlier that bloody clothing was found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling in another part of the building.

Authorities have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they might have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the bloodstained clothes.

But Thomas Kaplan, editor in chief of the Yale Daily News, said a Yale police official told the paper that the clothes were not what Le was wearing when she entered the building.

On Sunday, New Haven Police spokesman Joe Avery said that Le's killing was not a random act but would not elaborate.

Meanwhile, a home in Middletown, Connecticut -- believed to be the home of a Yale technician -- was the scene of a large police presence Tuesday. Police, however, would not say whether their presence at the home was related to their investigation of Le's death.

Le, a graduate student in Yale's pharmacology program, was to have been married Sunday on New York's Long Island to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University.

Her friend Vanessa Flores said Le was overjoyed about getting married.

"She was just so excited about this wedding and everything from, you know, her flowers to her wedding dress and just certain details about it," Flores told HLN's Nancy Grace. "We talked about this back in 2008. She was already thinking about the weather, whether June, July was going to be too hot, August, so September, would it be nice?"

Le was from Placerville, California, and seemed to have been well aware of the risks of crime in a university town. In February, she compared crime and safety at Yale with other Ivy League schools for a piece for B magazine, published by the medical school.

Among the tips she offered: Keep a minimum amount on your person. When she walked over to the research building on September 8, she left her purse, credit cards and cell phone in her office.

Yale Student's Killing Wasn't Random, Police Say

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- The killing of Yale student Annie Le was not random and could only have been committed by one of a small number of people with access to the building where her body was found, authorities said.

Le's body was found hidden in a wall in the basement of a Yale medical research building Sunday, the day she was supposed to be married. The 24-year-old graduate student had been missing for almost a week. Bloody clothes were found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling elsewhere in the building, investigators said.

Her killing was not a random act, New Haven Police spokesman Joe Avery said. He would not elaborate.

Yale University President Richard Levin told students Monday: "We know everyone that was in the basement. There were limited number of people in the basement and we passed that on to police. There is an abundance of evidence."

Yale professor Gary Rudnick, who interviewed Le when she applied for admission to the graduate program in pharmacology, told CNN that the building where Le's body was found had good security, and only certain people could enter, let alone access specific areas. He said the circumstances suggested there could be a "murderer among us."

Thomas Kaplan, editor in chief of the Yale Daily News, said Le's killing had left Yale students shocked and wary.

"Only Yalies had access to that basement, and that seems to point to someone in our community being involved in this," Kaplan said. "That's what is so frightening."

No suspects were in custody, but investigators were questioning several people in the case, police said.

Authorities have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they might have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the bloodstained clothes.

Kaplan said a Yale police official told the paper that the clothes were not what Le was wearing when she entered the building.

Security cameras captured video of Le as she entered the four-story lab building at 10 Amistad Street, about 10 blocks from the main campus, on September 8. After poring over hours of surveillance tapes, authorities said they had not found images of her leaving the building.

Le was to be married Sunday on New York's Long Island to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University.

Her friend Vanessa Flores said Le was overjoyed about getting married.

"She was just so excited about this wedding and everything from, you know, her flowers to her wedding dress and just certain details about it," Flores told HLN's Nancy Grace. "We talked about this back in 2008. She was already thinking about the weather, whether June, July was going to be too hot, August, so September, would it be nice?"

Le was from Placerville, California, and seemed to have been well aware of the risks of crime in a university town. In February, she compared crime and safety at Yale with other Ivy League schools for a piece for B magazine, published by the medical school.

Among the tips she offered: Keep a minimum amount on your person. When she walked over to the research building on Tuesday, she left her purse, credit cards and cell phone in her office.

On Monday night at Yale, several hundred people turned out for a vigil for Le.

Her roommate, Natalie Powers, said Le "was as good a human being as you'd ever hope to meet."

"She was also really tenacious and had a sense of humor that was never far away, and she was tougher than you'd think by just looking at her," Powers said.

"That this horrible tragedy happened at all is incomprehensible, but that it happened to her, I think, is infinitely more so. It seems completely senseless."

Missing Yale Student's Body Reportedly Found

Fox News- New reports about missing Yale University graduate student Annie Le, are painting a grim picture to what could end the search for her.

Police sources told FOX 61 in Connecticut that the 24-year-old's body was found inside the building she was last seen.

Bloody clothes and other evidence was also found reported found in the ceiling of the same building, the New Haven Register reported.

More information is expected to be released at a news conference Saturday evening.

Detectives questioned a Yale professor Friday who suddenly canceled class about the same time graduate student Annie Le vanished, a police source told the New York Daily News.

Le, 24, a doctoral student in pharmacology at the Ivy League university, was supposed to attend the class Tuesday afternoon. But the course was canceled shortly before Le was reported missing, according to the News.

A New Haven police source told the paper that investigators grew suspicious about the timing and questioned the professor. It wasn't known what came out of the interview.

University Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer told the Yale Daily News that there is no reason to believe a professor is a suspect in the Le case, and authorities are "interviewing tons of people." Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said police haven't named any suspects in the student's disappearance.

Meanwhile, the missing woman's family canceled her Sunday wedding on Long Island, N.Y., according to a supervisor at the hall where the ceremony and reception were to have taken place.

"The wedding is off," Nadeen Fotopoulos, a manager at the North Ritz Club in Syosset, told the News. She said 160 guests were supposed to attend.

"It's very sad," she told the paper. "The hall will be dark Sunday morning."

Detectives were spotted Saturday questioning a man outside the lab where Le worked. When they finished talking, the man got in the front seat of an unmarked car and one of the FBI agents got in the back seat. The car then drove away.

Authorities previously said they had no evidence to indicate foul play in Le's disappearance. More than 100 investigators are working on the case.

On Friday, Yale offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the missing student. Investigators searched her office, the lab facilities where she did research and her apartment.

Agent Bill Reiner said the FBI wouldn't answer any questions about the investigation while it's ongoing.

Le was last seen about 10 a.m. Tuesday morning on surveillance camera outside a lab in the Yale School of Medicine complex, less than a mile from the main campus in New Haven, Conn.

About the same time, she swiped her Yale ID at the facility's entrance. There was no footage of her leaving the building, in spite of a fire alarm that went off about 12:40 p.m. The alarm isn't thought to be connected to her disappearance.

Her purse, cell phone, credit cards and money were found in her office, a few blocks from the lab. She has not contacted her fiance, family or friends since Tuesday.

Investigators were examining security camera footage from some 75 cameras near the building where Le was last spotted.

"They are going frame by frame, looking at every image," Conroy said Friday.

Le, a California native, was to be married to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. The two met as undergraduates at the University of Rochester. Widawsky has been cooperating with the investigation and is not considered a suspect, authorities say.

Le is 4-foot-11, 90 pounds and of Asian descent with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Le’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Yale Police Department at (203) 432-4400.

Police: Yale Student, a Bride-to-Be, Disappears

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Police are searching for a Yale University graduate student and bride-to-be who disappeared and was last seen outside a school of medicine building.

Co-worker Debbie Apuzzo told CNN affiliate WTNH-TV that Annie Le, 24, is scheduled to be married Sunday, and "her fiance hasn't heard from her."

"Annie Le's purse containing her cell phone, credit cards and money were left in her office," a Yale University Police Department news release said, adding that friends, family members and co-workers had not heard from her since Tuesday.

CNN has calls in to the Yale Office of Public Affairs, which is handling all Yale Police Department requests.

Bill Reiner in the FBI's New Haven office said the university "asked for our assistance; we are assisting them. We are not getting into any details."

Officer Joseph Avery of the New Haven Police Department said he believes New Haven police are working closely with Yale authorities, but he wasn't certain in what capacity.

"Right now, it's their case, and I can't comment," he said.

Apuzzo, an accountant in Yale's Department of Pharmacology, told CNN affiliate WFSB that Le was conscientious, energetic and "very excited" about getting married.

Contacted via e-mail by CNN, Apuzzo declined to comment, saying her superiors had asked her to refer all media inquiries to the university's public affairs office.

She did, however, forward a letter sent by Yale University Police Chief James Perrotti to all faculty, students and staff.

The letter states Yale police, the FBI, Connecticut State Police and New Haven police are investigating Le's disappearance. Her friends, colleagues, family members and fiance are assisting police, the letter said.

"The State Police have searched the area of Ms. Le's last known appearance with their bloodhounds; law enforcement officers are continuing to undertake detailed searches of the surrounding area; and security officials are reviewing images from closed-circuit cameras in the area," the letter said.

Several media outlets reported that her fiance, Jonathan Widawsky, is a graduate student at Columbia University in New York. Widawsky could not be immediately reached.

A university surveillance photo showed Le was wearing a knee-length brown skirt, a bright-green short-sleeved T-shirt, brown shoes and a brown necklace.

She is 4-foot-11-inches tall, weighs 90 pounds and has shoulder-length brown hair, police said.

She was last seen outside the 120,000-square-foot Yale School of Medicine building on 10 Amistad St. The four-story building houses three of the school's research programs. Le is a pharmacology graduate student.

According to the Yale police news release, Le had no known medical issues. She also does not have access to a vehicle, police said.

Anyone with information on Le's disappearance can call university police at (203) 432-4400.

This Day In History

Jun 24 1947
Businessman pilot Kenneth Arnold encounters a formation of nine flying saucers near Mt. Ranier, Washington, exhibiting unusual movements and velocities of 1,700 mph. No explanation is found for this first report of flying saucers in the recent era, but it does earn Mr. Arnold legions of skeptics and an eventual IRS tax audit.

Jun 24 1948
East Germany blockades the city of West Berlin.



Jun 24 1993
Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter opens a padded envelope in his office when it suddenly explodes. Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand. In this condition he manages to walk down five flights of stairs and over to the university hospital a block away. It is the handiwork of the Unabomber.