Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Le family attorney Joe Tacopina: Justice served.
Animal lab technician Raymond Clark III Thursday pleaded guilty to trying to sexually assault Yale graduate student Annie Le, then strangling her and stuffing her body inside a wall.
Clark appeared in Superior Court on Church Street at 11:30 a.m. As part of a plea bargain, he is to receive a 44-year jail sentence, prosecutor David Strollo announced.
His guilty pleas — to murder and attempted sexual assault — averted what could have been a protracted, grisly and painful process: a court trial in the murder.
It also added a new wrinkle to the case: the attempted sexual assault charge, which the state had not previously disclosed.
The state accused Clark of strangling Annie Le, a 24-year-old pharmacology graduate student, to death. On what would have been her wedding day, her body was found stashed in the walls of a Yale animal research building on Amistad Street. Police arrested Clark, who cleaned mouse cages in that building, on Sept. 17, 2009, and charged him with the murder.
“Guilty,” Clark, who’s 26, quietly said twice Thursday morning in Judge Roland Fasano’s courtroom.
Dressed in a blue button-down shirt and black pants, Clark stood with hands clenched into fists, his knuckles resting on the defense table. His handcuffs had been removed at his lawyer’s request.
As Strollo recited a long narrative detailing the evidence the state was prepared to present to a jury, Clark glanced around the room, occasionally looking over at the prosecutor. (Click here for a previous story detailing much of the evidence the state collected.)
As Fasano asked a string of questions aimed at ensuring Clark fully understood the consequences of his pleas, Clark answered politely, saying “Yes, sir,” and “No, sir.”
Clark pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charge under the Alford Doctrine. That means that he doesn’t necessarily agree for the record that he tried to sexually assault Annie Le, but that he acknowledges the state has enough evidence to convict him of the charge.
Prosecutor Strollo told the court that Annie Le’s body was found with her bra pushed up and her panties pushed down; her shoes and socks were off. And investigators found semen on her panty liner, Strollo said. He said semen from elsewhere at the scene definitively matched Clark’s DNA.
Le also had a broken jaw and collarbone, and a bruise at the back of her head, Strollo said. The medical examiner concluded those injuries happened while Le was alive, he said.
Annie Le’s family members were not present in the New Haven courtroom Thursday. They plan to attend Clark’s sentencing, Strollo said, now tentatively scheduled for May 20.
Strollo said the family was kept in the loop throughout the plea-deal negotiations. Some members of the family had hoped for a longer sentence, he said.
Joe Tacopina, who is representing Le’s mother and her estate, said the family was grateful to prosecutors and investigators for their work. Nothing can bring Annie Le back, he said, but the guilty pleas were welcome news.
“Justice has been served today. Having this predator admit his guilt in open court is something that was obviously very satisfying,” Tacopina said.
The family is happy to avoid a trial, he said, but was prepared to endure one if necessary.
Tacopina said Clark’s refusal to agree with the details of the charge in the attempted sexual assault makes the plea no less relevant.
“He would’ve been found guilty by a jury,” he said. “He was found guilty by his own words today.”
Tacopina said the family will wait until after the sentencing to decide whether to proceed with any civil lawsuits, against Yale or anyone else.
Clark’s family and fiancee did show up in court.
Raymond Clark III’s father, Raymond Clark Jr., and his mother outside the courthouse.
Afterwards, Clark’s father, Raymond Clark Jr., addressed reporters outside the courthouse.
He expressed condolences to the Le family. The Clark family is “heartbroken” but “proud of Ray for taking responsibility for his actions,” the father said.
He said his son had “expressed extreme remorse from the very beginning” in conversations with the family.
“I can’t tell you how many times he sobbed uncontrollably, telling me how sorry he is, telling me how his heart is tortured by the reality that he caused the death of Annie,” Clark Jr. said.
Check back here for updates during the day.
Previous coverage of the Annie Le case:
June 16, 2010
Family Stands By Annie Le Murder Suspect
March 15, 2010
Warrant: Why Cops Sought Saliva Sample From Annie Le’s Alleged Killer’s Fiancee
March 9, 2010
Final Annie Le Warrant To Be Unsealed On Monday
March 3, 2010
Judge Plans To Unseal Final Annie Le Warrant
Tuesday, Jan. 26
• Annie Le’s Alleged Killer Pleads Not Guilty
Wednesday, Dec. 2
• Annie Le Warrants: Blood Found In Kitchen, Car
Tuesday, Nov. 17
• Seal Extended On Annie Le Warrants
Friday, Nov. 13
• Annie Le Warrant: Bloody Boots Read “Ray‑C”
Friday, Nov. 6
• Annie Le Documents To Be Unsealed
Tuesday, Nov. 3
• Hearing Continued For Annie Le Suspect; Judge Will Rule By Week’s End On Warrants: Live Blog
Tuesday, Oct. 20
• Annie Le Suspect Enters No Plea; Warrants Remain Sealed
Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Live Blog: Lawyer For Annie Le Murder Suspect Wants To See The Evidence
Friday, Sept. 25
• Warrant In Annie Le Murder To Stay Sealed
Thursday, Sept. 24
• Cops Back At Annie Le’s Lab Building
Monday, Sept. 21
• What Annie Le Story?
• Public Defender: I Don’t Want Annie Le Reporters Investigated
Thursday, Sept. 17
• After Annie Le Murder, Union Chief Sends Rallying Call
• Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail
• Cops Arrest Lab Tech In Annie Le Murder
• Suspect Arraigned (live blog)
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Cops Stake Out Annie Le Target’s Motel
• Annie Le Case: It’s Coming Down To The DNA
• Annie Le Was Strangled
Tuesday, Sept. 15:
• City, Yale Learned From Jovin In Annie Le Case
• Suspect In Annie Le Case Has Fiancee
• NBC Producer Trampled At Annie Le “Briefing”
• Cops Take DNA From Annie Le Target
• Was That Annie Le’s Killer?
Monday, Sept. 14:
• Body Identified As Annie Le
• “Serious” Suspect In Annie Le Case
• You Can Get In The Wall With A “Butter Knife”
• Lab Building Shuts Down
Sunday, Sept. 13:
• Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found; “A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
• Annie Le Hunt Extends To Hartford
Saturday, Sept. 12
• Focus In Annie Le Probe Less On “State Lines”
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted