NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Clues increasingly pointed to an inside job Monday in the slaying of a Yale graduate student whose body was found stuffed inside a wall five days after she vanished from a heavily secured lab building accessible only to university employees.
Police on Monday sought to calm fears on the Ivy League campus, saying the death of 24-year-old Annie Le was a targeted act but would not say why anyone would want to kill her.
“We’re not believing it’s a random act,” said Officer Joe Avery, a police spokesman.
No one else is in danger, he said, though he would not provide details other than to say that police believe no other students were involved. He also denied reports that police had a suspect in custody.
Several news organizations reported that police were interviewing a possible suspect who failed a polygraph test and has defensive wounds on his body. ABC News, WNBC-TV, The New Haven Register and the New Haven Independent cited anonymous sources in their reports. The Register and WNBC- TV also identified a possible suspect as a lab technician.
Yale officials said the building where Le worked would reopen under increased security. Still, some students worried about their safety.
“I’m not walking at nights by myself anymore,” said student Natoya Peart, 21, of Jamaica. “It could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.”
Police found Le’s body about 5 p.m. Sunday, the day she was to marry Columbia University graduate student Jonathan Widawsky. The couple met as undergraduates at the University of Rochester. Police have said Widawsky is not a suspect and has helped in the investigation.
Le’s body was found in the basement in the wall chase — a deep recess where utilities and cables run between floors.
The university held a candlelight vigil Monday evening.
