Police investigators served two warrants Tuesday night on a "person of interest" in this case — Raymond Clark III, an animal lab technician who works for Yale. One warrant was to search Clark’s residence in Middletown, Conn., and another to take DNA samples from his body. Still, police did not officially name him as suspect in Annie Le's murder and did not serve Clark, 24, with an arrest warrant. Clark shares his current apartment with his girlfriend who also worked in the same Yale lab. They plan to marry in 2011.

All of this took place in a day in which police and the Yale University president worked to reassure both students and the local community that the suspected killer of Yale graduate student Annie Le was not in a position to harm anyone else. While no arrest had been made in this case to date, authorities have interviewed over 200 people associated with the deceased student, to include individuals who had access to the laboratory where her body was discovered this past Sunday. Yale's president indicated that investigators had narrowed the suspect pool to a very small number of individuals, none of which were current students.

Some media reports suggest that investigators believe that Le was assaulted in the Yale lab sometime shortly after her arrival there at 10 AM last Tuesday. Her killer eventually hid her fully clothed body in a "chase," in this case a five foot by five foot metal cabinet through which electrical wires and other building support devices are routed, with one usually above the other on every floor of the five story building where Le was murdered. There is a two foot shaft from the roof of the building to the basement that passes through each panel opening. While such panels usually have lockable doors, it is currently unknown as to why, if her body was placed in the shaft within the chase cabinet on Tuesday, she was not found for five days. Police indicate that the cadaver dogs used to search the lab initially were initially ineffective in locating Le's body due to the large number of animals in the lab.

Another issue is that the Yale University PD did not seal off the building until her body was found, something famed forensic specialist Henry Lee said "was a no-no." This judgement call now opens up the crime scene to attack by a future defense attorney who will likely suggest that anyone could have contaminated the crime scene. The defense would likely continue that any linking physical evidence found on or around the victim could have been the result of something other than direct transference from the killer to the victim and that the bloody clothing found in the drop ceiling could have been planted. "Shades of O.J. all over again!"

Raymond Clark, the current "person of interest" in this matter, worked in the same building where Le's body was found and who would have had routine access to the lab in which the victim conducted experiments of small animals. One report suggests that Clark, who had worked for Yale for a few years, would have been very familiar with the area where Le’s body was eventually found because he spent most of his day in just two or three rooms there, tending to the research animals and cleaning their cages. Other reports indicate Clark evidently became a suspect when he allegedly explained scratches on his body as being inflicted by his cats and that he supposedly "failed" an FBI administered polygraph test. It is highly likely that Clark would have been under 24 hour police surveillance since he came to the attention of investigators and continues under such surveillance after being released by the police on Wednesday, 9/16/09.

While investigators continue to develop information concerning the relationship between Le and Clark, should the reported scratches on his body have been inflicted by Annie Le (and not a cat) as she fought the losing battle for her life, his DNA could be quantified through an analysis of skin cells, blood or other bodily fluids left on the victim's body and clothing. Law enforcement will likely use "touch DNA" analysis on both the victim's body and clothing, and, if they have a search warrant, even on the current suspect. Touch DNA allows for minute skin cells to be transferred without any form of fluid exchange, e.g., grabbing a victim's clothing could sluff off enough skin cells on the clothing to allow such to be matched to a scientific absolute to the DNA of a suspect.

Investigators quickly focused their investigation on Clark as his electronic ID card was used to access a room in which Le was working and she was not seen since. His key card also shows him entering rooms he normally did not enter and while authorities believe Le was killed in one room and transferred to another, Clark's key card records indicate he was in these same rooms.

Method of Death and Possible Motive for Murder

On 9/16/09, the local medical examiner reported that Le's direct cause of death was traumatic asphyxiation, basically strangulation, i.e., her killer choked her to death. There are media reports that indicate messages, perhaps e-mails have been discovered between Le and Clark in which Clark appeared upset with the way he believed Le handled the lab mice for which he was responsible. While it is hard to believe that someone died over the care provided to lab mice, as an FBI Agent I saw one brother kill another over who would get the last piece of fried chicken from a box. While human emotions can run high, should Annie Le's murder been over the care of a mouse, such would represent a new low in human nature.

It was previously reported that clothing with traces of blood were found hidden above a false ceiling in the laboratory, clothing not identical to that worn by the victim on the presumed day of her death. Investigators may be able to relate the clothing to any suspect in this case, either by matching a surveillance photograph of him entering the lab where the murder was committed, or by his purchase of such clothing, or, of course, by DNA that may be his or even the victim's, plus the usual hair and fiber comparisons that the police lab will be looking for. With over 250 pieces of physical evidence in the hands of police, DNA and other analysis should help them identify as well as eliminate suspects in Le's death.

While we do not know the reason for Le's murder, most are hopeful that her killer will soon be charged with this terrible crime, with law enforcement probably awaiting some type of "CSI" evidence comparison to support their warrant, if they are right, for his arrest for murder. In the meantime a young woman with everything to live for is dead, a university campus awaits the official word that a killer no longer walks among them, and a nation once again wonders why one person can so callously take the life of another. A crime now believed to be related to mice and men. So many questions and so few answers.

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