Annie Le, a brilliant 24-year-old Yale doctoral student, was found dead on what should have been her wedding day in 2009, her body crushed and stuffed into a wall cavity. The promising Vietnamese-American student had vanished from her laboratory at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, four days earlier.
Born in San Jose, California, Le was her high school's valedictorian and was dubbed 'most likely to be the next Einstein' by classmates. She earned $160,000 in academic awards before completing a degree in cell developmental biology at the University of Rochester, where she met her fiancé, Jonathan Widawsky.
On September 8, 2009, Le entered her lab at 10am, captured on security footage. When she failed to return home, a housemate alerted authorities. Her diary, bag, and bank card were found inside the building. CCTV showed her entering but never leaving the facility, which required ID cards for entry and exit.
On September 13, her body was discovered in a wall cavity in the basement of the Amistad Building. An anonymous police source told The New York Post: 'She was like mush - she was so smashed up you couldn't recognise her.' The cause of death was traumatic asphyxiation by neck compression, and she had also been sexually assaulted.
Lab technician Raymond Clark was arrested on September 17 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. He pleaded guilty to murder and received a 44-year prison sentence, also entering an Alford plea for attempted sexual assault. Clark said: 'I alone am responsible for the death of Annie Le and causing tremendous pain to all who loved and cared about Annie.' His motives remain unclear.
