Arrest No Longer Imminent in Yale Murder
New Haven police officials are batting down reports that an arrest is imminent in the murder of Yale student Annie Le, and are bizarrely denying nonexistent reports that they had a suspect in custody.
This morning, citing police officials, MSNBC reported that an arrest in the case could come as early as today, and two New Haven papers reported that a technician in the lab where Le worked and where her body was found had emerged as a prime suspect.
But in a brief press conference this afternoon, New Haven Police Officer Joe Avery told reporters that they were "talking to a lot of people" and had no suspect in custody:
"You guys made up the fact that we had somebody in custody, the media in general," Avery told reporters outside the police department Tuesday. "We're talking to a lot of people."
Which is odd, because no one reported that they had a suspect in custody—just that they had a suspect, and that he may be arrested imminently. The New Haven police department seems to be trying to avoid getting ahead of itself on the case, which as it learned in the still-unsolved case of Suzanne Jovin, is usually a good idea, police-procedure-wise.
Avery had no comment on what news outlets actually did report: That a lab tech who worked in the building had wounds on his arms and chest, had failed a polygraph test administered by the FBI, had stopped cooperating and asked for an attorney, and is considered a suspect.