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Yale Student's Fight for Her Life
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As Annie Le’s fellow students mourn her with vigils, police are sizing up a suspect with defensive wounds, suggesting the petite 24-year-old—whom a friend describes as tougher than people thought—put up a brutal fight to save herself.
At a candlelight vigil Monday night for Annie Le, hundreds of friends, students, faculty, and school personnel gathered in memory of the 24-year-old Yale Ph.D. student, whose body was found Sunday afternoon behind a wall in the basement of 10 Amistad St., the building in downtown New Haven where she was last seen a week ago.
Natalie Powers, Le’s roommate during her two years at Yale, had difficulty getting out the words to describe her friend. Choking back tears, Powers said Le was a kind, generous, honest woman—who at 4-feet-10 and 90 pounds was tougher than people thought.
Choking back tears, Powers said Le was a kind, generous, honest woman—who at 4-feet-10 and 90 pounds was tougher than people thought.
But that toughness may help police put Le’s murderer behind bars for life. A lab technician who worked in the building where Le—whose body was discovered on the day she was to have been married—did her graduate projects is reportedly a prime suspect. The technician, who has not been identified by police, has what are called defensive wounds on his chest and body. Connecticut state police are performing DNA and other tests now that the autopsy of her body has been completed.
• Wendy Murphy: What the Police Know Police are also examining bloodstained clothes found in the building where Le was last seen, a day before her body was recovered. On Sunday, police officials said the clothes were not what Le was last seen wearing.
The lab technician has reportedly failed a lie detector test administered by the authorities. Joe Keenan, a retired New York Police Department detective who told The Daily Beast last week that he believed Le’s body would be found at the building in downtown New Haven, said the killer must have been quite familiar with the building.
“The person who did this knew the building very well,” he said. “That person also had to be somewhat handy. He knew how to remove and replace ceiling tiles so as to hide the bloody clothes. That person also had to know that there were spaces behind the walls in the basement for electrical and Internet cables, as well air ducts that would allow him to stuff Annie’s body. He knew it well enough so that that despite over 100 law enforcement people searching for her, it took them six days to locate her body.”
As of late Monday evening police were still searching the building, and the area around the facility and the adjacent multistory parking garage had been cordoned off.
John Connolly is a former New York City detective turned journalist. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, and is currently finishing a book called The Sin Eater on disgraced and imprisoned Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
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John Connolly is a former New York City detective turned journalist. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, and is currently finishing a book called The Sin Eater on disgraced and imprisoned Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
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John Connolly is a former New York City detective turned journalist. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, and is currently finishing a book called The Sin Eater on disgraced and imprisoned Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
YARROW
It's very sad to see how so many crimes are happening every day. How can people be so cruel? Those defensive wounds are a good peice of evidence. I watch crime stories quite a bit on tv. There's so many heartless people out there. They need to be given the death penalty.
Chandidevi
Actually, the overall crime rate in the country has GONE DOWN! The media is focused on cirmes like this because apparently ratings go up with this type of story.
EdmondDantes
No, Chandidevi, we don't have data yet during the bulk of this economic downturn.
HiredGoons
Do you not see the irony in this statement?
"There's so many heartless people out there. They need to be given the death penalty."
unsuiatlarge
The irony is only lost on the author of that comment.
EdmondDantes
I extend heartfelt condolences to the victim's families. Even though she wasn't yet married, she seems to have already taken on a second family through her fiance. I deeply wish she had won the fight.
aaronsirbaihu
Why do you watch crime stories quite a bit if they make you sad? They are not an accurate representation of reality, but a collection of human garbage from all across the country over a span of years. For example: how many murders have you see in real life with your own eyes? And how many have you seen on TV? TV is a colossal distortion of reality.
Those are just the true crime stories I'm speaking of. If they weren't enough, TV viewers seem to have an appetite for crime stories that are not even true: they want to see *fictional* crimes in addition to real ones. Why? For "entertainment." Think about what you are doing to your own mind. Why do you want to make yourself sad?
YARROW
In cases of rape, if the person isn't killed, they could be given a choice of castration or prison, in my opinion.
crymeariver
Who said anything about rape? Besides, pedophiles who
are castrated still find ways of sexually assaulting children.
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n--Y--mblipsroadhunter
I've not heard that. Men who have been castrated lose all sexual interest.
deegeezee
roadhunter: that's old-fashioned castration; today they use chemical castration.
Yarrow: stop being reactionary. people in prison are exonerated with astonishing frequency, and prison release is a lot easier than re-attaching giblets.
DaniellenCavin
Pediophiles should be microchipped like animals and they should be moved after release form jail to a community for pedophiles... They would have there own needs in the community as stores and doctors they don't need any of the luxeries that the people who are not convicted need or want....
scott1607
Actually, due to zoning laws in many cities and towns, defacto "communities" of sex offenders are being formed. But now that they are zoned off into specific areas, people start to freak out and want them moved again because there are too many sex offenders congregated in one area.
aibeta18
To Roadhunter:
Rape is not always about sexual interest. The perpetrators find other ways or tools to inflict damage onto their victims. Sometimes it's about power over a weaker person, sometimes it's about repeating abuse that was done to them in the past. Permanent incarceration is the safest solution.
JeffreyinLA
What nonsense! Haven't you heard that rape is not about sex? It's about power. Also, a majority of rapes do not involve penile penetration.
pulmanomancer
Statistically speaking, rape probably is about sex: the target demographic peaks at around age 21, and drops off rapidly with increased age. If rape wasn't about sex, you'd expect distribution of victims to less accurately match fertility.
DaniellenCavin
In cases of rape yes that should be option.... But that option shold be manditory and they should still spend the time in jail... I am a rape victim and I am lucky to be alive and yes it still haunts me.....I think that if any female becomes a victim of rappe should be the one who decides the fate of castiration and jail time if convicted....
GPatton
If Annie had been carrying a weapon, this story might have ended differently. George Patton
namedujour
If Annie had been carrying a weapon - if it was permissible in that building - then her assaulter would likely have had one as well. So might everyone else. Then the story might have been about a shootout where 11 innocent people were dead instead of only one.
GPatton
Namedujour: I don't think so. Seems like he only wanted to kill one specific person, Annie. He didn't want to kill indiscriminatly. And he figured she'd be unarmed. Tough lady, too bad she didn't have a stilletto...George Patton
roadhunter
Not true. Perhaps he did have a weapon. Criminals often do have them in places in which they are not permitted. Upstanding citizens do not, and become innocent victims as a result.
I'm really doubting that there were 11 other people around. In fact, I don't believe there was another person there. He surely didn't do all of this in front of a crowd. Your reasoning is quite flawed.
To GPatton below, if a 90 lb woman had a stiletto, she would have been stabbed with it. Knives are useless self defense weapons. That's why you hear about people getting stabbed 17 times. It's very hard to take someone down with a knife.
A gun would have been ideal, but even pepper spray likely would have given her time to escape.
namedujour
roadhunter,
My reasoning isn't flawed. You're just fabricating justification for guns, which people only purchase because they've given themselves permission to kill - for whatever the reason...because you don't buy guns as a planter, or to fix your cars, am I right? You buy them to kill, whether you see yourself as the good guy or the bad one. Otherwise you'd buy potting soil or a lug nut.
If you have a gun, your intention is to find a reason to use it - that was GPatton's point: "Dang! A missed opportunity to kill someone!" It was camouflaged as a missed opportunity to SAVE someone - I get that. But the primary use of a gun is to kill. That's why you bought it. Any other reason is rationalization.
But guns don't limit the number of deaths. They just give criminals, who can't buy them legally, a reason to steal yours and turn you into their supplier so they can use your gun to commit their crimes.
Or, guns force that criminal to shoot you because you're aiming one at him, when he initially only wanted to scare you.
Give EVERYONE a gun, and you've guaranteed that a gun is in the hands of SOMEBODY stupid or inept, or SOMEBODY who's just looking for a reason to use his gun. Sooner or later multiple people will die in some bad situation or another that involves a stupid person, an inept person, or a wannabee Rambo. Blammo.
My comment merely presented a speculative scenario that went over your head. Hope this clarified it.
crymeariver
GPatton: If Annie had been carrying a weapon, this story might have ended differently. George Patton.
------------------------------
You mean like the many people (men and women) who get their guns
used against them to both murder them and other people.
Yes, I can see someone grabbing her from behind and she would have
the time to stop, think, pull out her gun, aim.....Lord help me from
people who watch too much t.v.! Your best defense is exactly what
Annie Le used, your hands and your body.
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n--Y--Portmanteaucrymeariver
Yes, because the bad guys always give you time to go and find
an object or to get your gun, release it, aim it.... Of course you
would use an object if possible but what are the chances that
you just happen to have an object standing bye to grab?
I recommend you take some martial arts classes and learn to
use your body to defend yourself. It's with you 24 hours a day
even when you are in the shower naked!
DakLak
It shouldn't be necessary, anywhere, to carry a weapon. Annie was of small stature and only weighed 90 pounds which is not heavy for an American male. She would be no safer if armed.
Whoever did this doesn't deserve death; a long life in supermax solitary would fit the bill perfectly.
iconklee
"...He knew it [the building] well enough so that that despite over 100 law enforcement people searching for her, it took them six days to locate her body."
HERE'S the tragic, inexcusable part in all this ... the "search" for Annie Le was as much an AFFRONT as her murder because: they [local cops & administrators*] DIDN'T start [actively] SEARCHING for her body for FOUR DAYS!
Instead, they hoped for a good outcome because it was easier [for them*] to write Annie off as a "run-away bride." Even though her family, fiancee, Yale friends and fellow students ALL told cops that Annie would "NEVER run away."
The cops simply wouldn't LISTEN.
The family, friends and the nation waited SIX LONG DAYS for them to (finally) find her where they SHOULD have been looking all along.
The search for her was a colossal insult to intelligent women. Nothing excuses the delay in actively LOOKING.
Granite
What haunts me is the thought that perhaps Annie Le was alive and slowly dying while no one was looking for her.
roadhunter
If police went after every missing person immediately, there would be no officers left on the street to protect the public. This is simply not a viable option. However, when they did start searching for her, they should have taken in a cadaver dog. It would have found her as soon as they entered the basement.
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n--Y--charles116crymeariver
Agreed. The FBI and dogs were on site within 24 hours of her
going missing. They had to have found her body before Sunday.
Chances are they leaked the information on Sunday (which would
have been her wedding day) for a specific reason.
ceciliaT
You're right; Why do police always assume its a run away bride? Women today are much more assertive then that. Tomorrow, I have plans to tell my guy to hit the road because, I feel he was given plenty of time to measure up to my standards and he did not even make it to runner up. I am giving him his ring back. To the majority of women, we rather deal with the ugly truth, then a pretty lie. I would write him a Dear John letter but, I prefer face to face communication. Communication is one of the skills he lacks, Oh well, too bad soo Sad, his loss not mine, NEXT! Besides it will be cheaper to part now then to have to pay for a divorce in the future.
Buckar00
What a waste of humanity.
lindeelou
A couple of things...
I thought of the dog immediately... a simple sniff and search of the building by one police officer would have found her at once. I think it's inexcusable and shows poor police work from the beginning. ( runaway bride does not leave all her "stuff" in her office )
Second comment, rape is not a sexually driven crime it is a hate/aggression/power/humiliation crime against women, I can't see that castrating a man would be an alternative to prison time in any way, shape or form. His psyche would still hold the same hate toward women and he can still take out his aggression and hate towards women in other ways sans balls.
It is such a sad story.
The crime rate statistics have nothing to do with this story.
Also - on her wedding day. I am sure that the devastation of this crime has affected many, many people.
Random acts of such violence just can't be explained, the man was obviously mentally unstable, a frontal lobotomy and padded cell should serve the public nicely - being able to sit in prison and read, exercise, hang with the other prisoners, perhaps take a lover, that's too good for someone like this.
Death is also too good.
GPatton
This is not a random act of violence. The killer did not just kill anyone. He had a specific victim chosen, Annie Le RIP. George Patton
crymeariver
There were dogs and FBI on site within 24 hours of being reported missing.
Her body was ANNOUNCED to have been found on Sunday. No one but
the police know when they really found her body.
amapola101
I don.t want to analyze how and when and why.and the status of crime in america. How sad,how horrible, so many lives were destroyed. How terrible.My deepest concolences to her family,fiance,and all her friends.Terrible loss. The person hopefully will be put to death.Predators,of children who rape and violate,abuse and molest children should also be put away. There is a priest who has been reinstated after 7 years of being in jail. for molestation,The church answered,he is not preaching to children???This is happening now,in the Us.Until the man does not rape,and kill again, he is forgiven. The same as the snipper. We kill in war those who are terrorist and kill americans.I feel the snipper was the same. and whoever killed this beautiful girl,was a terrorist.Killed someone unjustly.We worry about smoking,the environment,pesticides, but we do nothing about the killers.Very sorry for her death,and the police in this case were very slow.It was evident this was not a runaway bride,its better to have made a mistake by searching too soon.I know the police try do the best always,but something happened here.
crymeariver
As far as we know, this is a MURDER investigation.
There is no need to go on about rape and pedophiles unless
it concerns this case. I'm sure her family already feels like
crap without people coming up with various additional acts
performed on her person. Let's all just come down until
he find out more FACTS about the case.
Hippievet
I'm left to wonder whether the "facts" as stated in these comments, are, actually, facts. No need for conjecture when the answers will be revealed shortly and certainly no need to indict the police prematurely.
I pray that Annie let marks that leave no doubt as to who her killer.
namedujour
If the bloody clothes they found were not what she was last seen wearing, could there be another body? They never explain.
crymeariver
I think the assumption is that the bloody clothes either belonged
to her murdered (from damage done to his body by her), or is
just from some animal experiment. The police haven't made any
further references to it.
BasPos
As a Texas resident I find the calls for the death penalty irresponsible. I have taught inmates and have found such a life to be unbelievable. The finality of the death penalty and the already sloppy police work should cause any thinking person to doubt that justice is served by any of this. Hopefully justice will be served as it is the only way that her death can be borne. Her family will never be relieved. Her suffering is over, and theirs is only beginning.
EdmondDantes
Is someone recording the proceedings of this exalted discussion?
ceciliaT
It takes more than a handy man to hide a body the way it was hidden. I think it took two people at least one with master level construction type knowledge. Perhaps this person or persons worked during the original construction of the walls or the building where the body was found and now at least one of them somehow has access to the lab. She difinetly knew her killer or killers. Maybe the clothes do not belong to the victim or, another victim but, to one that helped or the killer. That's just what I am feeling right now. I think this was pre-planned. Ok, or maybe I've been watching to much CSI!
cabela20032003
nobody can justify the crime committed. crimes done daily are almost the same then as to now, it's just that communications made these crime known to almost everybody, anywhere, where internet tech is available. man has not changed at all, he is the same as when we knew of him way in the dark ages, perhaps this time he looks cuter and dresses swell. but his mind works almost the same....
magicman
From all accounts it would seem the Police at Yale do a far better job than the Police at Harvard (see Prof. Gates break-in). Yales wins.
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