Annie and Raymond's communication, Text

wanttohelp said:

I agree now days people text alot, even for business. But do you have any type of relationship with coworkers?

I think its completely normal that the department would have her number as well.

IMO though you don't use text to communicate unless there is some familiarity with the person. How would you know who the message was from? Most likely there would be familiarity with the number or name, or the signature would be something like
raymond, from the lab, im working on the cage......

Click to expand...

I'm not working at the moment, but I do soccer mom stuff. Other than immediate family, I don't have a personal relationship with anyone else that I text.

I like communication in writing in case I have to refer back to it. Texts and emails allow me that. I may not remember everything said in a phone call. But it's right there in an email or text. This really helps me if I get busy and scattered. And then there is the entire privacy issue. I really feel self consious about strangers listening into my phone calls. You never know what they might do with the information they hear.

Throwing my thoughts into the rink...

I have a cell phone, but am archaic and have not setup text messaging on it. I do, however, get text messages from friends/collegues who do not know I do not text. Perhaps if this guy texts on a regular basis, and does not deal with confrontation well (duh!) that he felt more comfortable texting than calling. I am guessing that the lab techs had all the researchers contact numbers, so instead of calling, he texted. I think that the condition of the mice cages were an excuse to contact/see her however. He was the one in charge of cleaning the cages, so should not have had a need to contact her; if he had a problem with her conduct of the animals, procedure probably dictate he "write" up a report. In this world of litigation, most employers exercise a CYA attitude and require any and all concerns to be documented. I would be curious if that were part of procedure at that lab, and if he did that. Perhaps she confronted him and asked why he was bothering her with this, why he was not just documenting it and issueing her a warning. Why he felt the need to "discuss" the situation in person is the big red flag. In the normal world, unless she was exercising blantant disregard for lab rules, there would be no need to discuss it. I am inclined to think that this was just a way for him to have contact with her, but when he found out she was marrying that week, he flew into a rage.

O/T but this guy must have been a dumba** for thinking he would not get caught. He left a trail of messages, electronic card swipes, etc that place him at the crime scene.

PatientOne said:

Hi everyone! Texting vs. other means of communication doesn't seem to be significant to me under the circumstances.

However, are thorough forensic investigations of any PCs used by perps routinely done? Besides it being worth knowing if Annie was the rare recipient of undue attention regarding lab protocol, and of course any personal communications would be of interest, will investigators be able to determine if he visited or more importantly frequented websites featuring HER (personal/social sites as well as academic/professional sites)?

Click to expand...

I agree...I'd like to know if he routinely annoyed the other doctoral students...or just the ones that he considered weak and "not a threat" (women and maybe some quiet/shy/smallish men)

I do agree that the younger generation does everything by text, but does anyone else think it's odd that this person who is essentially a janitor thinks he has the right to "dress down" a doctoral student?

There is a good article by the NYT in the media thread that addressed the animal technician job at Yale. Basically, the article said that animal techs are policemen. They make sure protocol is followed. There were some complaints about RC. The link to this article can be found in the media thread -- it was one of the more recent articles posted (I like to start at the last page and scroll up!).

My daughter is in Law School and her cell phone number is the way her school contacts her, whether it's Professors telling her class is cancelled, or whatever. I think it's normal for people in their 20's to text each other for work related things. My son is trying to get a job and had to give out his cellphone number so he won't miss any job interviews.

My kids text night and day, and my husband has to text when he is at work because he works in a cubicle with no privacy.

So I see nothing unusual about this guy texting Annie Le over a school-related matter. What bothers me is that he might have been calm in the text, but had a fit when she arrived to discuss things with him. It does seem like a trap was being set.

babycat said:

I often use text to communicate, too, especially if I do not know if the person will be in a class. He might have known Annie was a TA, but didn't know her schedule, and texted her in case she couldn't answer her phone. Or maybe Annie had specifically written that text messaging was her preferred means of communication regarding lab matters. He might have had to contact her before.

What I'd like to know is if he said something in the text like "Hey, this is Ray, from the lab" or if he just texted her the message without including who he was. Even if his name/number was stored in her phone (which would automatically tell who the text was from) he would probably include his name, to make sure she knew who was texting from an unfamiliar number. In my opinion, if you know someone mostly on a professional level, you'd probably still state who you were in the text message.

But obviously that's just my opinion. A lot of factors could influence why he texted, but I don't think it necessarily illustrates a personal or more intimate relationship.

eta: or maybe he sent it via email and she had a smart phone? My emails show up looking kind of like text messages on my blackberry.

Click to expand...

Same here. I totally agree with you.

want help said:

I was a little confused by what you think.
If it was texting, I think they must have known each other on some level.

It would kinda be like if you live in an apartment complex, and you were at the pool and left trash. If the management knew it was you they would most likely contact you. Leave on note on your door or call you. If I received a text that said "we need to meet about the mess you left at the pool", I would think that was really strange.
It would be like getting an appointment confirmation by text.

I would also like to know when the message, text or email, was sent.
On NG, she said Annie had replied with something like whatever I need to do differently, I'll do.

Click to expand...

Yes, I too heard on Nancy's show that Annie's reply was conciliatory. What I think is important is we haven't heard for certain when the text msg. was sent to Annie. What I did hear early on was that she had reserved the lab time for 10am that morning. Was it reserved before or after receiving his message? Had she planned on being there for something other than meeting with RC? :waitasec:

ThoughtFox said:

(respectfully snipped for space)

So I see nothing unusual about this guy texting Annie Le over a school-related matter. What bothers me is that he might have been calm in the text, but had a fit when she arrived to discuss things with him. It does seem like a trap was being set.

Click to expand...

(bolding mine)

That's what I'm inclined to think also. MOO

Originally Posted by ThoughtFox
(respectfully snipped for space)

So I see nothing unusual about this guy texting Annie Le over a school-related matter. What bothers me is that he might have been calm in the text, but had a fit when she arrived to discuss things with him. It does seem like a trap was being set.

Click to expand...

Panthera quote: (bolding mine)

That's what I'm inclined to think also. MOO

Click to expand...

Yes, but it's still hard to believe that he'd be so upset over the state of the cages to kill somebody. I do think he was obsessed with her - it wouldn't surprise me that he never mentioned it to anyone since he was engaged to someone else AND he'd be afraid that his fiancee might find out.


In case like this people only kill for a few reasons...

1) sick/possessive love obsession

2) money - either for financial gain or for fear of job loss

3) to silence someone - for instance, if they walked in during a crime...since he requested the meeting, this is unlikely.

If Raymond Clark was a time bomb waiting to go off, then wouldn't Annie have been hesitant to meet with him unless other people were around? Truly, if Clark was an intimidating presence in the lab, I don't think she'd want to be alone in the same room as him.

We are only guessing at their relationship based on a text or series of texts that may or may not have been addressed between them that morning. We don't even know if they actually saw each other that day.

If they had a history of tension or fighting, then that would have been pretty obvious to everyone in that lab. But we haven't heard anything of that nature. Someone calling him a 'control freak' could just be the ramblings of a person who had a beef with Clark. Everyone else has said he was never a problem.

Labrat said:

Yes, I much prefer it. If I'm in a lab or mouse room, often times the reception is not very good or the area is loud because of equipment running and I have trouble hearing what someone is saying over the phone.

Also, if they are in a lab meeting or class, they can't talk on the phone, but they can discretely answer a text.

Click to expand...

The thing that puzzles me is that there is no cell reception in the basement of the med school buildings. This is something widely lamented now because of what happened to AL, but it's always been true. I guess he could have left the basement and gone outside or upstairs to text her, but it seems to me that a land line call or an email would have been easier. I guess not if he didn't have access to a computer or a phone.

Skigirl said:

The thing that puzzles me is that there is no cell reception in the basement of the med school buildings. This is something widely lamented now because of what happened to AL, but it's always been true. I guess he could have left the basement and gone outside or upstairs to text her, but it seems to me that a land line call or an email would have been easier. I guess not if he didn't have access to a computer or a phone.

Click to expand...

I have a hunch he texted her from home -- or from his car on the way to work -- because he swiped into the Amistad building after Annie did, IIRC.