March 17

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Saint Patrick dies, 461
American Revolution
British evacuate Boston, 1776
Automotive
Auto pioneer Gottlieb Daimler born, 1834
Civil War
North and South clash at the Battle of Kelly's Ford, 1863
Cold War
Lithuania rejects Soviet demand to renounce its independence, 1990
Crime
Clark pleads guilty in Yale grad student slaying, 2011
Disaster
Earthquakes kill more than 1,200 in Taiwan, 1906
General Interest
First St. Patrick's Day parade, 1762
The British evacuate Boston, 1776
Van Gogh paintings shown, 1901
Hollywood
Julia Roberts collects $20 million for Erin Brockovich, 2000
Literary
Novelist and playwright Paul Green is born, 1894
Music
The Champs' "Tequila" is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts, 1958
Old West
Jim Bridger born, 1804
Presidential
Franklin Roosevelt marries Eleanor Roosevelt, 1905
Sports
Bobby Jones is born, 1902
Vietnam War
National Security Council reviews situation, 1964
Results of Peers investigation announced, 1970
World War I
Shakeup in French government, 1917
World War II
Todt named Reich Minister for Weapons and Munitions, 1940

Crime

Mar 17, 2011:

Clark pleads guilty in Yale grad student slaying

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On this day in 2011, 26-year-old Raymond Clark III, a former animal research assistant at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, pleads guilty to the murder and attempted sexual assault of 24-year-old Yale graduate student Annie Le. On September 13, 2009, Le’s partially decomposed body was found stuffed behind a wall in the university research building where she was last seen five days earlier.

Le, a doctoral student in pharmacology from Placerville, California, was found dead on the day she was scheduled to be married, prompting initial speculation after her September 8, 2009, disappearance that could be a runaway bride. However, that theory soon appeared to be largely ruled out by investigators. Surveillance video showed Le entering the Yale lab building, which was accessible only by electronic keycard, but never leaving it. Her money, cell phone and ID were found in her office, located in a separate building.
 
Le’s disappearance set off a massive investigation that included more than 100 officers from university, state and local police and the FBI. The case also garnered national media attention. A break came on September 12, when investigators found bloody clothing above ceiling tiles in the lab building. The following day, Le’s body was discovered behind a wall in the building’s basement. It was determined the 4-foot-11-inch, 90-pound Le had been strangled.

Middletown, Connecticut, resident Raymond Clark, who cared for the animals in the lab where Le worked, soon sparked the suspicions of police after he was observed scrubbing the seemingly clean floor in the room where Le was last seen. On September 17, police arrested Clark, after finding DNA and other evidence they said linked him to the crime. Among the evidence was a bloody sock with both Clark’s and Le’s DNA on it, as well as a pen found under Le’s body with Clark’s DNA. Additionally, investigators discovered scratches on Clark’s body (which he claimed were from a cat), and found keycard records placing him and Le in the same room in the lab building on the day she was reported missing.

In January 2010, Clark pleaded not guilty to murder. However, on March 17 of the following year, after negotiations between the prosecutor in the case and Clark’s lawyers, the former lab technician pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempt to commit sexual assault, in order to avoid a trial. He did not specify a motive, and the reason for his actions remains unclear. On June 3, 2011, Clark was sentenced to 44 years in prison without the possibility of early release. 

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This Week in History, Mar 17 - Mar 23

Mar 17, 2011
Clark pleads guilty in Yale grad student slaying
Mar 18, 1999
Three women are murdered at Yosemite
Mar 19, 1999
Bodies found in Yosemite serial killer case
Mar 20, 1995
Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas
Mar 21, 1963
Alcatraz closes its doors
Mar 22, 1984
Teachers are indicted at the McMartin Preschool
Mar 23, 1979
Two men sentenced in murder of former Chilean diplomat

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