Metro

Bloody trail in Yale slay

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An animal research technician charged with killing a Yale grad student raised suspicions when he began scrubbing floors after the crime and tried to move a box of bloody wipes from the view of an investigator, according to an arrest warrant released yesterday.

The body of 24-year-old Annie Le was found stuffed behind a Yale research lab wall in September. An autopsy determined she was strangled.

Authorities say in the warrant that a green-ink pen found under Le’s body had her blood on it, as well as DNA from suspect Raymond Clark, on its cap. Police have said Clark signed into the secure building with a green pen on Sept. 8, the day Le disappeared.

The warrant says DNA from both Le and Clark was on a bloody sock found hidden in a ceiling.

The document also says Clark moved a box of wipes to hide blood spatters on it. Clark had a scratch on his face and left biceps that he said came from a cat, according to the affidavit.

Joe Lopez, Clark’s public defender, declined to comment yesterday.

Clark, 24, is charged with murder. Le vanished Sept. 8 from the Yale medical school research building where she and Clark worked, and her body was found five days later, on what was to be her wedding day.

Clark has not yet entered a plea, but his attorney has said he will plead not guilty.

Two days after Le disappeared, a graduate student showed a Yale police officer a box of “wipe-alls” on a cart in a lab that had what appeared to be blood splattered on it. The officer watched Clark move the box of wipes and turn the box so that the bloody spots were not visible, authorities said.

“Once Clark moved the box of wipes, he then leaned up against the cart and made small talk” with the officer, the affidavit states.

The blood spatter on the wipes matched the victim’s DNA, authorities said.

Clark later came back into the room and began scrubbing the floor with SOS pads and cleaning solution even though the floor appeared to be clean, according to the affidavit.

The blood at the scene suggests there was a struggle, experts said.

Authorities said Clark changed his clothes at least once when the FBI was processing the scene, citing video surveillance of the building.