Le meutrier de Yale était technicien en laboratoire

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As police charged a Yale animal lab technician with murdering a graduate student who worked in his building, a portrait began to emerge Thursday of an unpleasant stickler for the rules who often clashed with researchers and considered the mice cages his personal fiefdom.

Police charged 24-year-old Raymond Clark III with murder, arresting him at a motel a day after taking hair, fingernail and saliva samples to compare with evidence from the grisly crime scene at Yale's medical school.

The muscular former high school baseball and football player is charged in the death of 24-year-old Annie Le, a pharmacology doctoral student at Yale who vanished Sept. 8. Her body was discovered five days later -- her wedding day -- stuffed into a utility compartment behind a wall in the basement of the research building where she and Clark worked.

Co-workers told police that Clark was a "control freak" who viewed the laboratory and its mice as his territory, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing and many details remain sealed.

The official said police are looking into whether Clark's attitude led to a deadly workplace confrontation with Le, who was just 4-foot-11 and 90 pounds. But investigators say that's just a theory at this point.

The investigator also said authorities do not necessarily need to prove a motive because they have an abundance of strong forensic evidence.

As a technician, Clark's duties included cleaning mouse cages and the floors of the lab.

Le's work involved experiments on mice that were part of research into enzymes that could have implications for treatment of cancer, diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

The New York Times reported that Clark at times grew angry if lab workers did not wear shoe covers. "He would make a big deal of it, instead of just requesting that they wear them," said a researcher who asked not to be identified.

"It is important to note that this is not about urban crime, university crime, domestic crime but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country," Lewis said, adding that he would not rule out additional charges.

This incident could have happened in any city, in any university, or in any workplace. It says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about the extent of security measures," Levin said in a message sent to the Yale community.