Sep 16, 2009 7:15 pm US/Eastern
Yale Student's Cause Of Death: Traumatic Asphyxia
24-Year-Old Raymond Clark Taken Into Police Custody Tuesday Night As 'Person Of Interest'
Released With His Lawyer At 3 A.M. Wednesday
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBS) ―
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Connecticut's state medical examiner said Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009, Yale University grad student Annie Le died of traumatic asphyxiation due to neck compression.
CBS
Yale University graduate student Annie Le was strangled, Connecticut police revealed Wednesday morning, hours after they released the man they call a "person of interest" in her murder.
Raymond Clark worked in the same lab where Le's body was found, and reports have claimed the Clark had failed a polygraph test and had marks on his body indicating he'd been in a struggle. Police are now piecing together evidence found at Clark's home in Middletown.
Clark gave cops what they wanted – hair, saliva, and fingernail samples for DNA analysis. It's testing that will either incriminate or exonerate the 24-year-old Clark.
"Because DNA not only important to match somebody, equally important to exclude a person," said Dr. Henry Lee a forensic scientist at the University of New Haven.
Lee said testing at the state lab should take at least four days. Experts will compare Clark's DNA with DNA found at the murder scene – a Yale lab building on 10 Amistad Street – and DNA found on the victim.
After earlier ruling her death a homicide, the medical examiner Wednesday said Le died from "traumatic asphyxia due to neck compression," meaning she was choked or strangled.
"Basically it's strangulation, but not necessarily manual strangulation, not necessarily a ligature. Could be something heavy on top of the neck," he said.
Cops know Le and Clark were acquainted. She did research on lab animals that he helped care for. They often crossed paths at 333 Cedar Street where both had offices.
Investigators want to know if Clark had a romantic interest in Le, or if they were in some kind of work-related dispute. One of Clark's coworkers said people in the office seem stunned at his alleged involvement.
"It's very solemn, and people are people pretty much close-lipped about everything, so I guess, innocent until proven guilty," said Animal Care Technician Samantha Sheppard.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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