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Nancy Grace

Lab Worker Charged in Annie Le Murder

Aired September 17, 2009 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Live to Connecticut and the sudden disappearance of a gorgeous young Ivy League doctoral student just before she`s set to walk down the aisle, the 24-year-old beauty last spotted on grainy surveillance video walking into a Yale research building. A false fire alarm mysteriously goes off in the building. People rush out. And Annie Le is never seen again.

At nearly the exact hour Le set to walk down the aisle -- wedding dress on a hanger in the closet, flowers ordered -- the girls`s body found stuffed in a two-foot wall cable space there at Yale`s research building, bloody clothes found high over investigators` heads behind ceiling tiles.

Bombshell tonight. In the early morning hours, police storm a Super 8 motel 30 miles away to arrest 24-year-old Yale lab technician Raymond Clark on murder one, Clark under police surveillance 24/7 for days. In the late night hours, Connecticut police open the crime lab for emergency DNA tests, and within hours, the arrest goes down. In the last hours, Clark brought in full shackles to a New Haven courtroom, there for a hearing including a reading out loud of formal murder charges.

Tonight, we confirm key card swipes placing Clark at the crime scene just before and after Le last seen alive, revealing he goes in and out of that lab no less than 10 times, Clark spending his work days cleaning cages that house experimental mice. In play tonight, multiple text messages between Clark and his 90-pound victim. Do they reveal motive for murder? Reports Clark sending murder victim Le a text the very morning she`s last seen alive. Five days later, her body found stuffed inside a wall.

Clark reportedly covered with defensive wounds. Also, blood evidence, including bloody surgical gloves and a bead, a bead from Le`s necklace, found torn from her throat, on the floor of the crime scene. Cause of death, traumatic asphyxiation due to neck compression, Le manually strangled to death.

And tonight, uncovered, an alleged history of stalking and harassing women, allegations from a former girlfriend claiming Clark forced her to have sex, then threatened her when she breaks it off. No charges ever filed. With a community and a university reeling, a family grieving and a young groom left at the altar with a broken heart, tonight we want justice for 24-year-old bride-to-be Annie Le.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An arrest warrant was signed by the honorable Judge Fisher (ph) charging Clark for the murder in the death of Annie Le.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is number 15, Raymond Clark III. Mr. Clark, I`ve read you your rights downstairs earlier in the presence of your attorneys, and you understood those rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raymond J. Clark III, 24 years of age, of Middletown, Connecticut, was arrested at a motel in Cromwell, Connecticut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news. Police have arrested a lab technician in the killing of Yale grad student Annie Le. Raymond Clark`s bond was set at $3 million. He was taken into custody at a motel near the campus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The arrest happened this morning, this after Raymond Clark was staying at a hotel that had been under surveillance from police. The police chief here in New Haven made it clear that arrest was really hinging on DNA samples being tested to these hundreds of pieces of evidence that they say they have gathered in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know through our sources that there could be some e-mails linking Clark to Le`s murder in terms of e-mails and correspondence dealing with the treatment of lab animals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not enter a plea. Investigators say he is the only suspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. At almost the exact hour gorgeous young Ivy League grad student Annie Le set to walk down the aisle -- wedding dress on the hanger in the closet, flowers ordered -- the girl`s body found stuffed in a wall at Yale University`s research building. Bombshell tonight. The arrest goes down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based upon numerous interview, forensic evidence and information learned from viewing video surveillance, detectives have secured the arrest warrant for Clark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man suspected of killing a Yale grad student is behind bars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About nine police cars come in, sirens on. The road was closed. We saw them take him out in handcuffs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ray Clark III walked into a New Haven courtroom. His legs were shackled and he appeared to have some redness in his left eye. His bond was officially set at $3 million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s obviously a very serious case. The bond set by Judge Fisher of $3 million is appropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities compared DNA from his hair, fingernails and saliva to more than 250 pieces of evidence collected at the scene at the lab.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t have any suspects -- other suspects at this time. We do have a lot of evidence we still have to analyze.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as how Raymond Clark`s path crossed with Annie Le, the graduate student whose body was found Sunday -- it was hidden behind a wall in a basement -- they work in the same building. His job was to look after laboratory mice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police there say they`ve had their eye really on Raymond Clark all along.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Clark, I`ve read you your rights and understood those rights?

RAYMOND CLARK, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to CNN correspondent Mary Snow, joining us there at the police station. Mary, thank you for being with us. Can you explain to me the details of how the arrest went down?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Nancy. Tonight, Raymond Clark is in a maximum security prison, this after he was taken into custody shortly after 8:00 AM this morning. He was staying at a motel just about 30 miles outside of New Haven. He was released on Wednesday, after police took him into custody to gain those DNA samples, but they have kept him under surveillance ever since then.

And police swarmed that hotel. It was without incident that he was arrested and taken here to the New Haven Police Department to be processed and then over to court, where he was arraigned. He was not obligated to enter a plea in that arraignment today.

And police are saying that because that arrest warrant was sealed, the New Haven police chief did not reveal details about the case, only to say that that arrest warrant was based on forensic evidence, on interviews, and also on surveillance tape.

In terms of the relationship that Young (SIC) had with Le, he would not comment on that, as well, but would only say that this was a crime of workplace violence.

GRACE: That is interesting, Mary Snow. Of course, the prosecution does not have to prove motive at trial. But police refer to it as workplace violence? I don`t know what that means because it`s pretty rare that you manually strangle your 90-pound co-worker to death and stuff her body in the wall. Any idea what he means by "workplace violence"?

SNOW: Well, the police chief would not comment on reports that there had been some e-mail exchanges. This based on according to various reports on the condition of some of these cages that contain the mice. The police chief wouldn`t comment on that at all, but that gave us some indication into some of the conditions at work. He was the lab technician looking after mice. The police described the relationship -- he was the guy who would clean cages that these lab mice -- where they were held. She was the Ph.D. student who did research in that laboratory, in the basement of that building at Yale where her body was found on Sunday.

GRACE: OK, Mary Snow -- Mary Snow, what is he doing bunked up at the Motel 6 when he has an apartment that he shared with his fiancee just a few miles away?

SNOW: Police had -- went into -- had gone into his apartment when he was taken into custody. They had been searching through that apartment and had executed two search warrants even yesterday. Why he was at that motel -- you know, police had said after they released him that he was free to go but that they were keeping him under surveillance.

GRACE: Joining me right now, Al Jones with 1010 WINS radio. He was in court. Just hours ago, Clark, Raymond Clark, the lab technician charged in murder one in connection with the death of a 24-year-old graduate student, Annie Le. Al Jones, what happened in court? Is the bail set? And is that a tattoo I see on his arm?

AL JONES, 1010 WINS RADIO: There`s a tattoo on both arms. It was as strange a court appearance as you can imagine. Connecticut courts, like most courts, usually drag out. This was a very quick affair. They cleared the courtroom, took out all the traffic violation people. They brought in all the reporters. We all got a seat. And within a matter of 10 minutes, they brought in Raymond Clark. There was also a camera and microphones in the courtroom, this for a first appearance.

Now, Clark was wearing a striped polo shirt, bare arms, khakis, no belt, and chain irons. In fact, we could hear the irons clanking as he came walking into the courtroom. That was about the only sound. Now, we couldn`t really see any marks on his arms. Of course, the shirt would block any marks anywhere else. There was a noticeable bruise on his face. Clark really had his head down throughout the three-minute proceeding, said almost nothing except to acknowledge that he did understand his rights. Bail`s set at $3 million, and he`ll be back on October 6th.

GRACE: Al Jones, it`s my understanding that he has already given a statement to police. And now -- if this is correct, he`s locked into this, by the way -- that he blames -- the defensive wounds, to my understanding, are bruises and scratches on the arms, the chest, the bare chest, the back, under the right eye. There`s also bruises, scratches and abrasions. He`s blaming all that on his three cats and injuries from a recent softball game? Have you heard those reports?

JONES: He did play softball on Sunday. In fact, police surveillance teams were on him at the time. They had sent a narcotics unit to follow him since Sunday. Narcotics units, as you know, are covert by nature. So on Sunday, they were doing it undercover. And they did see him playing baseball. He did go to a local fair, did normal Sunday things. No word of any cats.

GRACE: OK.

JONES: And neighbors didn`t know how many cats he had in his apartment.

GRACE: Al Jones, is it true that at this jailhouse -- I know Mary referred to it as maximum security -- but is it true that he has access to yoga classes, poetry classes, dance classes, a whole list of amenities, Al? Do we have that list, Norm (ph)?

JONES: I`m not sure what he`s -- what he has at his disposal. It is a higher-level jail, much higher than...

GRACE: Art classes, upholstery...

JONES: ... say, the local correctional center.

GRACE: ... step aerobics, sculpture, dance, poetry, foreign language. What about it?

Let`s quickly unleash the lawyers. We are taking your calls live. Susan Moss, John Burris, Michael Mazzariello (ph). Susan Moss, step aerobics, yoga -- did you hear that?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: That`s -- I don`t know whether it`s -- it`s some sort of Club Med or it`s a prison. But we`re going to see how this lab tech likes being in his own cage. If they had enough evidence to bring him in and to make that arrest warrant, then I think they`re going to make good on it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The breaking news today, police arrested the lab technician in the killing of Yale grad student Annie Le.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raymond Clark III arrested and now being charged with the murder of Annie Le, the Yale student whose body was found on her wedding day. The police chief called this an episode of workplace violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators gathering over 200 pieces of evidence in the case, including, sources say, text messages between Le and Clark arranging to meet on the day she disappeared. Authorities are also relying on computer records detailing use of key swipe cards to gain access to parts of the lab, including the basement. "The Hartford Courant" reports those records indicate Clark was the last to see Le alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state medical examiner says the 24-year-old Le was strangled to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened here could have happened anywhere. It says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about anything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight back to Al Jones, reporter 1010 WINS, in court today when Clark appeared in full shackles for an out-loud reading of charges on murder one. So you got a look at him in his khaki pants and his nice- looking polo shirt. What do those tattoos say on either arm?

JONES: They really don`t say anything. They`re more of a herringbone encircling his biceps, both of them halfway up the arm. With the short sleeves, you could see it quite clearly, but there was nothing spelled out, no message there. He did have...

GRACE: Wait. What`s a herringbone?

JONES: ... a very dazed look on his face.

GRACE: What do you mean by herringbone?

JONES: Herringbone, like a -- the diagonal in a pattern, sort of like a sport coat, but it went around his arm.

GRACE: So it`s just going around just below the elbow?

JONES: Yes, just a band between your elbow and your shoulder.

GRACE: What, to, like, show off his muscles?

JONES: If you like that kind of thing, yes.

GRACE: OK. Good to know. We are taking your calls live. But first, to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent with In Session. Jean, I want to find out about two things right now. What can you tell me about this former girlfriend that states he terrorized her and harassed her, made her have forced sex? That`s rape, OK? Everybody keeps saying "forced sex." That is rape. No charges ever filed. Number one. And number two, I want to find out about these e-mails between him and the murder victim. What do you know on either of those two topics, Jean Casarez?

JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: All right. Number one, Nancy, the incident that you`re talking about, 2003, Raymond Clark was in high school. He had a girlfriend. She wanted to break up with him. He retaliated by writing on her locker. The police were called in. The school called them. End of incident.

But then she and her mother went to the police station and she told the police that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but he forced her to have sex. Now, that is what you are equating with sexual assault, rape. She would not fill out an affidavit, and so it was case closed before it even began. But she has reportedly said that when she saw he was a suspect, she relived that 2003 incident. Number two -- what was your other question?

GRACE: Hey, Jean?

CASAREZ: Yes?

GRACE: Jean, we`re showing everybody right now photos that we obtained today of Raymond Clark from his high school yearbook. We went up there trying to find the girl, to find out about this pattern of violence and harassment of women. There the shots that we obtained. I wanted to find out about that and I wanted to find out about these e-mails that went back and forth between the 90-pound victim, Annie Le, and this guy now charged with murder one. What do you know about those e-mails?

CASAREZ: It`s being reported that these text messages or e-mails had maybe two different subject matters, one being that he, who maintained the cages and the animals, was upset at her, Annie Le, because she was leaving her cage in disorder or dirty or not in the condition that he wanted the cage left in. But I think even most importantly was it`s being reported that there was a text message the morning of the day she went missing asking her to meet with him at the lab, that they were going to meet together.

GRACE: OK.

CASAREZ: And that is evidenced by the key card access.

GRACE: I want to talk about those swipes. Everybody, you`re seeing photos now of Raymond Clark that we obtained from MySpace.

To editor-in-chief, "Yale Daily News," Thomas Kaplan, who`s been with us from the very beginning. Thomas, welcome. I want to talk about those swipe cards, putting them in and out of the building no less, maybe more, than 10 times in those crucial hours, including after work.

THOMAS KAPLAN, "YALE DAILY NEWS": So it does appear that the record from these swipe cards are sort of a crucial piece of evidence in this case. To get anywhere in this building -- this is a new building -- you need to swipe the ID, and then a computer system records where you go. So that`s how the investigators can tell who was where and when.

GRACE: And Thomas Kaplan, isn`t it true he was going into rooms that he typically had no business in?

KAPLAN: That is what some reports have said. Yes, indeed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arrested for murder. Police slapped the cuffs on a lab tech and charged him with the death of Annie Le.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities swiftly shut down this intersection along 372. The operation to arrest Raymond Clark III was about to reach a peak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About nine police cars come in, sirens on. The road was closed. And they went to the back of the motel, and at one point, we saw them take him out in handcuffs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Annie Le`s battered body was found hidden in a wall of the lab basement, discovered on the day she was to be married. She had been strangled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight back out to Thomas Kaplan with "The Yale Daily News." What can you tell me about sources claiming this guy was a, quote, "control freak" at work? Control what? He cleaned out the mice cages. What`s there to control? And I`m not laughing at that.

KAPLAN: That`s a very good...

GRACE: I`ve had a job where I cleaned the floor, all right?

KAPLAN: Yes.

GRACE: So I`m all fine with that. But control what?

KAPLAN: Well, apparently, he was very concerned about the -- how people kept their -- their mice, their cages. They have been some reports that he got -- he got very upset when people wouldn`t wear plastic booties into the lab or when people wouldn`t keep their cages clean. And there`s some thought that maybe that contributed here to why he might have had a problem with Annie. But all of this is kind of speculation, at this point.

GRACE: But it`s my understanding, Jean Casarez, legal correspondent with In Session -- everybody, you`re seeing private home video of Annie Le. It`s from 2005 from ABC`s "Good Morning America." There you see her right there at her computer station.

Jean, let`s just get down to the brass tacks about these e-mails. Didn`t he confront her, allegedly, in some these e-mails, claiming she was not following protocol, and she responded in a very conciliatory manner, a very nice manner, saying she followed all of the university`s protocols to a T, but she was willing to hear what he had to say and open to making whatever changes he thought was necessary, a very kind and conciliatory text message back to him.

CASAREZ: That`s definitely what`s being reported, that she wasn`t defensive at all, she was willing to improve in any way she could if there was anything she didn`t do correctly.

GRACE: And to you, Bethany Marshall. Dr. Bethany, psychoanalyst, author of "Deal Breakers," what do you make of it?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, so many times, we`ve seen that these men who commit homicides, that they fancy themselves the keeper of the rules. Remember the BTK killer? He went out and measured people`s grass and issued citations that the grass was too long. Jaycee Dugard`s captor made a statement saying that he wanted to say more, but because there was an active investigation, he couldn`t put out a statement. They all feel that they`re the keeper of the rules.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Early this morning police say DNA evidence came back and it set off a sequence of events.

CHIEF JAMES LEWIS, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT POLICE: Raymond Clark III, 24 years of age of Middleton, Connecticut was arrested for the murder in the death of Annie Le.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So a warrant was signed, he was booked into the police department and he`s already been in front of a judge.

Annie Le was strangled to death in the lab where she worked. Clark, who also worked there, is charged with doing it and then trying to hide her body behind a wall in the lab`s basement.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There are two key pieces of evidence that could definitively link Clark to the scene and possibly to the crime itself.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Detectives looked at some 700 hours of video surveillance from inside and around the building including a camera showing Le entering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls live. Out to Winifred in Nevada. Hi, Winifred.

WINIFRED, CALLER FROM NEVADA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Thank you for calling in. What`s your question, dear?

WINIFRED: Well, I have watched your show since you were in Georgia with your hair on top of your head.

GRACE: I only wish that I could still put my hair on top of my head but I hardly have time do this with it. But the twins.

WINIFRED: I love your babies. I`m older than your mother. I love to watch your family. My question is, isn`t it possible that he threatened her in those text messages that`s why she rushed over there quickly and left all of her belongings in her apartment?

GRACE: That is an excellent question. Because she did leave all of her belongings behind.

But Jean, I thought she left all of her belongings behind at another office?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": She did. And she did leave it at the other office and walked. But, Nancy, this so interesting, it goes to Winifred`s question.

The president of Yale University said that in the upcoming weeks they are going to promote Yale`s zero tolerance policy for violent threatening and abusive behavior. He linked those three words together. We know the violence is there. She was murdered by somebody. But threatening and abusive?

GRACE: You know, Winifred in Nevada may be onto something. Jean, when do you expect the nature of these text messages to be released? I know that they were confronting her about her so-called treatment of demise. In other words, cleaning or not cleaning the cages and keeping them cleaned.

CASAREZ: Well, you know, Nancy, they are keeping so much close to the vest, as you said last Friday which was the second day on your show of this case and they said that there was no evidence of foul play and it`s gone on from there. So I don`t expect those text messages to be released anytime soon.

GRACE: You know, Dr. Bethany, following up on Winifred`s question and what Jean`s has just told us and reported, so many times in the workplace, especially women, but people are afraid to speak out.

If somebody`s harassing you or threatening you, just like his alleged first victim didn`t want to press charges. He raped her, according to her. She didn`t want to press charges. And then vandalized her locker for everybody to see. But it was all dropped. All swept under the rug.

So many times in the workplace, you`re afraid if you say something about how you`re being treated you`ll be the one that`s penalized. You`ll be the one that`s blackballed.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": And it`s true to follow-up on what Winifred said. Was he guilting (ph) her about the mice and then she rushes over to make sure the cages are OK and I think when he said maybe you`re neglecting the mice, maybe he was saying you`re going to get married and you`re going to leave me behind, and that`s neglecting me, so I`m going to kill you.

GRACE: Back to the lawyers. Susan Moss, John Burris, Michael Mazzariello.

John Burris, what about it? He`s already spoken to police to some extent. Now he`s locked into those statements.

JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that`s true. He is locked into those statements depending on the questions that have been asked of him. I think from a defense point of view you really have to kind of go slow here. You got to wait because you don`t really know what the evidence is. There`s a lot of DNA evidence, but you don`t know where that DNA evidence is coming from, whether it really links him or whether any direct evidence or not.

But from a defense point of view, this is really a question of making sure you cover your bases but don`t go too quickly because you don`t know what he said and you don`t know what evidence they have. So from my point of view, you have to be careful here because you just don`t really know and what your defense is going to be right at this moment.

GRACE: You know isn`t that ironic, Michael Mazzariello, veteran trial lawyer? What Burris is saying is absolutely true. It clinches my stomach but it`s true because what he`s saying, Michael, is let`s wait and see what the state`s got before we come up with our defense.

Let`s don`t commit to anything right now because in the end we may have to go with something like insanity if the evidence is too strong. If it`s not that strong, we`ll come up with some due who did it.

MICHAEL MAZZARIELLO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, HOST OF "CLOSING ARGUMENTS": What they already have is a written statement which in -- you`re absolutely right, Nancy, he`s locked into that statement. Try swaying.

GRACE: Come on, his cat did it? What was his cat doing on his back?

MAZZARIELLO: Well, I don`t know. Maybe.

GRACE: On his bare chest.

MAZZARIELLO: Maybe the baseball slide while he was playing softball. He had all these scratches on his chest sliding into home plate. It`s ridiculous. He`s a (INAUDIBLE) and he`s going to go to jail the rest of his life.

GRACE: Well, Michael, Michael. Put Mazzariello up again, Liz. Here`s the problem with that. If he claims that he was injured at that softball game, they can bring in first base, second base, third base, shortstop, pitcher, catcher, to say, no, I don`t remember a ball hitting him or him sliding into any of the bases.

MAZZARIELLO: Well, if it`s under the shirt, Nancy.

GRACE: So that`s going to make it up to be a liar on something as inconsequential as a softball game.

MAZZARIELLO: Well, Nancy, if he had raspberries under his shirt, nobody would see that. They do have the detectives, the narcotics agents that were watching him at the time. They probably have photographs of it. If he didn`t slide, he`s done, Nancy, he`s absolutely done. And making that statement without an attorney present that was mistake number one.

GRACE: Out to Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining us from Raleigh, North Carolina, and an expert, he is.

Ben Levitan, the prosecution apparently has him going in and out, in and out, in and out obsessively even in areas where he`s not supposed to be according to our sources even into that basement. He did have access there. But around the time all of this was happening. How does that technology work?

BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via phone): Well, that`s pretty standard, Nancy. You see that -- that`s a very mature technology. You see that on credit cards. It`s just magnetic strips and even if you`ve checked into a hotel and got an electronic key card, it`s simply a database record is created for you at the security site, probably at Yale security.

And in that -- when you swipe your magnetic card, it simply says your identification, information, back to the security data base. The data base checks to see if you`re authorized to enter that area. And that was done ahead of time. If you are, the door unlocks. And it`s -- this is not technology that can be lawyered, if you want to call it that. It`s very secure.

GRACE: Well, unless they have cameras they could easily argue that his swipe card was missing or stolen. There`s all sorts of ways to get around that. But there`s a little problem of alleged DNA evidence.

To Woody Tripp, former police commander joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. Woody, what about the fact that you could claim some type of accident regarding those bloody clothes if it is in fact the victim`s blood. If it`s the defendant`s blood, you can claim all sorts of things about it to explain in a way, innocently.

But the fact that it was then hidden up above the investigator`s heads behind the ceiling tiles, if it had been an innocent accident that caused blood on the clothing, it wasn`t her clothing. She was dressed in her clothes that she`s spotted in on that photo we keep showing. But now that it`s hidden, that gives them a nefarious interpretation, Woody.

WOODROW TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER: Absolutely, it does. And I don`t know of anyone that`s going to hide their clothes that are bloodied in a ceiling tile or anywhere else. If it`s an accident, it`s an accident. You don`t hide your clothes.

GRACE: What do you make of this guy? You`ve seen the photos. He`s all buff. Clearly works out. The tattoos accentuating his arm muscles, his guns, sort of speak. What do you make of this guy? The victim was a 90-pound Asia woman and I have learned that he was a member of an Asian Appreciation Club.

TRIPP: I find that very interesting. And certainly we know that many times in the Asian culture, they`re serviette (ph) to males many times, females are. There is a rage there. There is a very controlling and absolutely from everything that we`ve learned about him, there`s definitely -- you can see it. He`s definitely very focused.

GRACE: To Wesley Tack, joining us tonight, a friend of the murder suspect, Raymond Clark III.

Everyone, you`re seeing private video of Annie Le in 2005 from ABC`s "Good Morning America."

Wesley, you are a friend of Raymond Clark`s. What do you make of all this? I believe I have Wesley Tack with me. Wesley, are you there?

WESLEY TACK, FRIEND OF MURDER SUSPECT, RAYMOND CLARK III (via phone): Yes, I am, hello.

GRACE: Hi, Wesley. Thank you for being with us. Does all of this come as a huge surprise to you? Were there any hints in his personality?

TACK: No, I can`t say that there were. He was always perfectly sociable to me. He never set a cross word to me. A bit of a hellraiser in elementary school but nothing out of the ordinary.

GRACE: What was he like in high school? How would you describe him? And were you aware of that incident with his high school girlfriend?

TACK: Um, towards me, like I said, he never indicated any sort of violent tendencies. I was aware of a rumor, an unsubstantiated rumor that he had an altercation with a prior girlfriend. I didn`t think anything of it at the time, because it`s only word of mouth but -- now watching the news and in recent events it`s become apparent that that was piece of substantiated rumor.

ANNOUNCER: NANCY GRACE brought to you by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEWIS: An arrest warrant was signed by the Honorable Judge Fisher charging Clark for the murder in the death of Annie Le.

FREDRICKA WHITEFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: From the moment we first saw him in the back of that cop car, people had been wondering, who is Raymond Clark? We know he worked in the building where Annie Le did research and where her body was found.

RICHARD LEVIN, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Mr. Clark has been a lab technician at Yale since December 2004. His supervisor reports that nothing in the history of his employment here gave any indication that his involvement in such a crime might be possible.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Clark, who is 24, is not a student at Yale but works there taking care of mice in the medical labs. His fiancee and two relatives also work in the labs, according to police. But officials will say little about how Clark knew Annie Le.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say that this arrest warrant has been sealed and because of that they did not speak about the motive. They wouldn`t answer many questions, but they did say what led them to this arrest today was forensic evidence, camera surveillance, and interviews with other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Dr. Michael Bell, Palm Beach County chief medical examiner. Dr. Bell, thank you for being with us. We know that she was extremely petite, weighing in at only 90 pounds. But how could you stuff a human body into a two-foot cable space?

DR. MICHAEL BELL, PALM BEACH CO. CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: You`d be surprised what you could fit a body into. I`ve seen them stuffed into suitcases, even smaller metal containers. So while it`s unusual, it`s far from rare.

GRACE: And what do you make of the formal, the official cause of death that has finally been released? The traumatic asphyxiation. How is that different from any other strangulation?

BELL: You know, it`s interesting the way it`s worded because usually I reserve those terms for deaths that are due to like neck holds or bar holds, rather than manual strangulation. Usually if it`s a strangulation I will call did a strangulation.

GRACE: Back to Wesley Tack, joining us tonight. A special guest. He is a friend of Raymond Clark III, the suspect in this murder one case.

Wesley, again, thank you for being with us. Could you in your own words describe Raymond Clark`s personality?

TACK: Raymond was somewhat reserved in high school. A little on the quiet side. Not so much that it would put you off. He was always friendly towards me. He was a good artist. I remember he was very neat. Very fastidious. He has a very neat penmanship. He was very well groomed. But nothing really stood out about his personality that would really put you off.

GRACE: Well.

TACK: I remember.

GRACE: Go ahead.

TACK: I do remember that when -- in a heated baseball game, he might occasionally lose his temper, but no more so than any other athlete I`d seen on fields so.

GRACE: What do you know, Wesley Tack, about him being a member of the Asian Appreciation Club?

TACK: The Asian Awareness Club.

GRACE: OK.

TACK: The Asian Awareness Club was part of -- was part of cultural diversity of (INAUDIBLE) High School. And it was a club that promoted tolerance and understanding of Asian cultures in the school.

GRACE: Hmm. And what prompted him to be a member of that club?

TACK: I couldn`t venture a guess. I think it was mostly because he had friends who were Asian.

GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing high school photos that we`ve obtained of Raymond Clark III. And with us, Wesley Tack, a friend of his at that time. And through the years.

We are taking your calls live. To Janice in Oklahoma. Hi, Janice.

JANICE, CALLER FROM OKLAHOMA: Hi, Nancy. I love your show. And I think it`s wonderful how you speak for people whose voices have been silent.

GRACE: Janice, I really, really appreciate you saying that. What is your question, dear?

JANICE: My question is, if he`s been possessive with other women, could it be that he was stalking Annie Le for quite a while before he killed her?

GRACE: Excellent question. To Dr. Bethany Marshall, joining us out of L.A. what about it, Bethany?

MARSHALL: I think that`s a great likelihood. And I think that in the face -- possibility that in the face of her impending wedding, that there was a built-up of unbearable distress, anger and homicidal rage and that he could only neutralize that by killing her. Then the idea of the wedding made her feel that he could no longer control the victim. That she was rejecting him and that in fantasy they had a special relationship.

And when you go back to the cages, he`s the one that was supposed to keep the cages clean. Not her. So he`s making this accusation that she`s neglecting the mice. Maybe he feels she`s neglecting him in his own crazy little way.

GRACE: Back to the lawyers. Susan Moss, John Burris, Michael Mazzariello.

Susan, would you had expected to see, if there was a sex assault, those charges today, or do you think that that depends on further lab testing?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: I think it`s going to depend upon further lab testing, the DNA. They can still bring more and more charges to this guy, but if his DNA is on this Yale, you can bet he`ll spend his whole failure jaily.

I mean the reality is that the science is so good now that if there was a sexual assault, we`re going to know about it through the DNA evidence.

GRACE: What about it, John Burris?

BURRIS: Well, that`s probably true. I mean I don`t -- it wouldn`t surprise me that they were able to come up with that in the very near future. I don`t know, if he`s going to be charged with murder one, it sounds to me and to put a sexual charge.

GRACE: What?

BURRIS: . and then the question is whether it`s going to be.

GRACE: Wait, did you say he`s not going to be charged with murder one?

BURRIS: No, I said he will be charged with murder one, given the evidence that we have, and if you add another charge to it, I don`t know if it matters that much unless you want to go to the death penalty, which is I don`t know if Connecticut has that.

But certainly the more important question is it`s a murder and the defense has got to go deal with that, sexual assault or not.

GRACE: Michael Mazzariello, there is a death penalty in Connecticut. And I imagine that what they`re doing right now is if there had been any semen on or about her body, I mean she had a fiancee. They`ve got do a DNA comparison there to determine the origin of that.

MAZZARIELLO: Absolutely. And that -- he has no priors but it`s certainly a death penalty eligible case due to the violence and if she was sexually assaulted that makes it even worse. A jury is just not going to like to hear that, that`s for sure.

GRACE: Right. Jean Casarez what about the DP in Connecticut?

CASAREZ: Right. They have the death penalty and in order for it to be eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole you have to have some special circumstances. One being that there was a sexual assault. We don`t know that answer.

Another that there was a kidnapping. And I looked kidnapping. It`s abduction and restraint. Those are the buzz words in Connecticut. Abduction can be solely a restraint so someone cannot have their freedom.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live. But right now, we recognize a tiny crime-fighter. 7-year-old Presley. Loved Hannah Montana, reading, spending time with her kitty cat and three dogs. She loves interrogating people. Mother and daughter never miss our show.

Tonight, thoughts and prayers to Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Anderson, DS 13 Glen (INAUDIBLE), and soldiers from the 244th Brigade. The unit in Iraq and Afghanistan. With them, Command Sergeant Major Glen Bowens. Tonight, their message, all their love home to their families and wives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVIN: This is not about urban crime. It`s not about university crime. It`s not about domestic crime. But an issue of workplace violence which has become a growing concern around the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to the lines. Janice in Oklahoma, hi, Janice. Janice, are you with me? Hold on. Sally Sue, Missouri. Hi, Sally Sue.

SALLY SUE, CALLER FROM MISSOURI: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

SALLY SUE: Love your show. How`s the twins doing?

GRACE: They are keeping mommy up all night. That`s how they`re doing. But they`re happy and healthy, praise the Lord.

SALLY SUE: That`s good. I was just wondering how he got her in that wall and what kind of wall it was.

GRACE: To Thomas Kaplan, isn`t it a two-foot spot for cable wires?

THOMAS KAPLAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, YALE DAILY NEWS, NEWSPAPER BROKE STORY OF MISSING YALE STUDENT: It is. It`s a shaft that runs from floor to floor so that the cables can go to each floor of the building.

GRACE: Dr. Michael Bell, I`m going to have to go back to you, although you were a little vague when I asked you the first time. You started talking about suitcases. How can you get a human body in a 24-inch space?

BELL: Well, she is rather petite, I believe under five foot, less than 100 pounds.

GRACE: Yes.

BELL: You just keep pushing and pushing until it fits.

GRACE: OK.

Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Randy Haney, 27, Orlando, Florida. On a third tour. Loved snowboarding, restoring his Honda Civic. Studying Tae Kwon Do. Dreamed of starting his own martial arts studio.

Leaves behind mother, Amanda, two brothers, two sisters, widow and high school sweetheart, Katie. 5-year-old daughter Aubrey. 2-year-old little boy, Austin.

Randy Haney, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. Congratulations to veteran trial attorney Michael Mazzariello launching his own legal show "Street Court." September 21. Judge Mazz taking justice to the street, deciding cases where they happen. Homes, backyards, neighborhoods.

"Street Court," Monday, September 21, check your listings for times and stations. And a special good night from friend of the show, Virginia Gunn. Isn`t he beautiful?

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END