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When asked by reporters whether lab technician Raymond Clark is a "suspect" or "a person of interest" in the homicide of a Yale graduate student, Annie Le, New Haven Assistant Chief Peter Reichard said, "person of interest."
The somewhat ambiguous designation is used by police when they are not confident enough to call a target of investigation a suspect.
Clark, 24, was apprehended Tuesday and placed in handcuffs with a warrant. Investigators scraped under his fingernails, cut locks of his hair and swabbed for his saliva in order to aquire DNA that will be matched with evidence taken from the crime scene.
The term "person of interest" was used in 1996 as a designation for Richard Jewell, the security guard who was inccorectly tied to the Atlanta Olympics bombing. Jewell was ultimately exonerated but claimed that his life was ruined by the reference..
After 9/11 anthrax mailings, scientist Steven Hatfill was deemed a "person of interest" and filed a lawsuit against the government for the label. The suit was eventually settled.
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