Police in Northern California enlisted the help of U.S. marshals on Tuesday to arrest a fugitive wanted in a Massachusetts rape case who fled the state nearly two decades ago while awaiting trial, authorities said.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Marshals Service, the man in custody was identified as Tuyen Kit Lee, who was on trial for kidnapping and raping a young woman at knifepoint in Quincy, Massachusetts in 2005. Lee was convicted at trial in September 2007 but fled before his sentence was handed down, according to the press release.
Massachusetts State Police have offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Lee’s arrest, and he has made multiple appearances on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” to discuss the case.
After the media revealed that one of the pieces of evidence proving Lee was the perpetrator was his bad breath, he came to be called the “bad breath rapist.”
Lee is believed to be a fugitive from Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. His whereabouts were unknown until earlier this year, when Massachusetts State Police investigators received a tip that he may have been in Diablo, a census-designated place in Contra Costa County a few miles from Danville in the East Bay.
Investigative leads were sent to the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force (PSWRFTF) in Northern California, who worked with the Danville Police Department to identify Lee as a person living in the area. On Tuesday, officers from the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Unit (VFAS) and Quincy Police Department, with assistance from the USMS Massachusetts Fugitive Task Force and Danville Police Department, arrested Lee.
“Any cold case is very unusual. Someone who’s been on the run for 17 years is probably pretty used to it. It’s unusual, especially with a case as violent as this, that there hasn’t been any additional crime that we haven’t seen.”
Authorities confirmed that Lee was taken into custody near the intersection of Hill and Diablo streets, near Green Valley Elementary School.
Massachusetts State Police later confirmed that Lee was taken into custody after a Danville police officer stopped his vehicle. Lee initially gave a false name but eventually confessed when authorities confronted him about his identity. Police were able to confirm his identity with fingerprints.
“We’d always been told this was a very close-knit community, and if police were there, all the neighbors would know, so we didn’t want to throw away the idea that police would be there,” said Senior Inspector Chris Tamayo with the U.S. Marshals Service. “This will likely come as a big shock, and hopefully the fact that someone is hiding out here doesn’t cause them any concern.”
State police noted that the woman who was with him at the time of his arrest did not know who he really was, even though they had lived together in California for 15 years.
The release said the arrest brings closure for the victim and for the police officers who have worked hard for more than 16 years to locate Lee.
“There are violent criminals out there who believe they will not be held accountable for their crimes,” said Chief Inspector Sean LoPiccolo, Acting Commander of the PSWRFTF. “Tuyen Ly has been at large for more than 16 years, but we hope that law enforcement’s unwavering determination to locate and apprehend him will bring some peace of mind to his victims and their families.”
“We are extremely grateful to the officers of the Massachusetts State Police Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service for their work in making this arrest possible,” Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy said in a statement.
Authorities said Lee was arrested by Danville police and will remain in their custody pending extradition to Massachusetts.
