An NYPD crime-lab worker yesterday wound up on the other side of the microscope — the possible victim of a sex slaying similar to the ones she would typically be investigating.
Cops said Michelle Lee’s roommate found the young Queens woman’s bound, naked body in a pool of blood in her bed shortly after 8 a.m., when she tried to wake her.
“[The roommate] came running out” of the house on 41st Street in Sunnyside, said neighbor Milenko Nijat, 69.
“She was screaming. I asked what happened. She said, ‘She’s dead in the bed.’ They seemed like nice girls.”
Investigators said Lee was stabbed in the neck and suffered a head wound. A kitchen knife was found near the bed. Cops believe she had been hit in the head with a clothing iron.
Sources said Lee was completely naked and tied to the bed. There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing seemed to be missing, sources said. Nor were there any signs of a struggle, they added.
Neighbors said the women had lived in the apartment for only about a month.
The roommate, who also works in the crime lab, had been away for the weekend and returned Sunday night. She went to sleep that night in a room just yards away from the body, authorities said.
She came home and saw Lee’s bedroom door ajar, but did not check on her friend until the next morning, sources said.
When she peeked in, she saw the frightening scene with evidence as grisly as some that Lee, 24, had pored over at the NYPD crime lab.
Investigators said they believed she was killed between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.
They said Lee had gone to a gym late Friday night and text-messaged a co-worker on Saturday.
In her job as a criminalist, Lee tested powders, and ran hair and fiber analyses in the department’s Queens lab.
“She was extremely nice, extremely professional,” said an officer who worked with her. “She asked lots of questions.”
Lee became an intern in the lab after graduating from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and was hired full time in September.
She was also a graduate of Francis Lewis HS.
Cops are looking to interview some of Lee’s ex-boyfriends, a source said.
Although the murder appeared to be an isolated incident, neighbors said they were still worried.
“My wife took the window guards out because it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing,” said Shane Michael. “But they’re going back up today.”