Raymond Clark III Arrested for the Murder of Yale University Doctoral Student Annie Le

UPDATE #2: Raymond Clark III was arrested Thursday and charged with the suffocation death of a graduate student whose body was found stuffed in a research building wall on what was to be her wedding day.

UPDATE#1: A Yale University employee has been released from police custody after investigators detained him Tuesday night to collect DNA, said a spokeswoman for the city of New Haven.

Raymond Clark III have been taken into custody by New Haven police as a person of interest in the murder of Yale University doctoral student Annie Le. Clark, a Yale University animal research technician was taken into custody by the police to collect DNA samples. The police searched his apartment last night for evidence that might link him to this horrific crime. The police said he will be released after they obtain the evidence they need from him and his Middletown apartment.New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said Clark has been under watch since Le’s body was found Sunday, which was supposed to be her wedding day.

George Ruhe for the New York Times/

Chief Lewis said they are hoping to compare DNA taken from Clark's hair, fingernails and saliva to more than 150 pieces of evidence collected from the crime scene. The investigators are hoping to ascertain within days whether Clark can be ruled out as the killer. So far, the police have collected more than 700 hours of videotape and sifted through computer records documenting who may have entered what parts of the research building where Ms. Le met her untimely death.

Clark shares an apartment with his girlfriend, Jennifer Hromadka, whom he is reportedly engaged to marry in December 2011, according to the couple's web site. It is unclear how long Clark worked for the university as a lab technician. Officials had hoped to release the autopsy results, but they were blocked by prosecutors out of concern that it could hinder the investigation. No matter how you look at this crime, it is incomprehensible and it should not have happened. No one deserves to meet such a fate.

Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal Widens, Closed to the Public as More Bones Found

The scandal widens as Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart declared all of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, a crime scene last night after more remains and altered grave sites were found in a second part of the cemetery. Four cemetery workers have been charged, thus far, with digging up hundreds of graves and reselling the plots. Authorities have said that the bodies were dumped into at least one mass grave as part of a scam that netted the workers about $300,000. The cops were alerted after the cemetery owner, Perpetua Inc, expressed concern about shady financial dealings at the site. This is unconscionable and disturbing on so many levels.

“It has become abundantly clear to us that this crime scene is going to continue to grow,” Dart said. “We do not have an end in sight.”

The newly discovered remains were found in the southern part of the cemetery near 127th Street. But missing or fake paperwork kept by cemetery workers will make it difficult to determine how many graves may have been disturbed.

Asked if the number of affected graves would exceed his estimate Thursday of 300, Dart said: “I would be shocked if it doesn’t change the number,” he said. “It’s becoming clear there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery.” Source: Chicago Sun Times

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes said Friday he has begun license-revocation proceedings against Perpetua Holdings Inc., the owner of the cemetery.

Cemetery general manager Carolyn Towns, foreman Keith Nicks, Terrence Nicks and Maurice Dailey have each been charged with one count of dismembering a human body, which is a Class X felony. Authorities said they also issued an arrest warrant for another woman who was a secretary at Burr Oak. She was never charged in the scam because police determined that she was only acting on orders from Carolyn.

Police suspect that the four were able to get away with their plot because families of the deceased often purchase graves with cash. After Carolyn took the money she would dispose of the deeds for already occupied graves. Carolyn is being held on a $250,000 bond. The other four suspects were ordered to be held on $200,000 bond. They could each face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. They should all be denied bond and should rot in jail for the rest of their lives.

This is a tragedy on so many levels. Burr Oak is one of the nation’s first Black cemeteries and historical figures like Emmett Till and Dinah Washington are interred there.