Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Murder of Annie Le: Was Rape the Motive?

Ray Clark, the accused killer of Yale graduate student Annie Le (right, with her fiance), has been charged with "Felony Murder" in the death of Yale student Annie Le. This is in addition to the original charge of "Murder." ABC News explains:
A new charge of felony murder was filed today against accused Yale killer Ray Clark, indicating the homicide of graduate student Annie Le during the commission of another crime.

The new charge was revealed when Clark was arraigned in a Connecticut courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to both the original murder charge and the new charge of felony murder.

Felony murder is defined under Connecticut state law as a homicide that occurs during a felony offense, such as rape or kidnapping. Under the law, prosecutors do not have to prove that a killing was intentional.The court would not release the details of what prompted this second charge, saying that it would be prejudicial to the defendant.  However, one might reasonably surmise that the charge was based on rape.  This is especially true since a former girlfriend of Clark's stated that he raped her but she chose not to prosecute.
Read it all here.

No comments: