A convicted rapist who fled his 2007 trial in Massachusetts and evaded capture for more than 16 years was arrested Tuesday in California, law enforcement said.
Tuen Kit Lee, 55, was convicted by a Norfolk Superior Court jury of raping and seriously injuring a waitress after breaking into her family’s Quincy, Mass., home in 2005 , according to Massachusetts State Police.
He wore a mask and sexually assaulted the woman at knifepoint.
The victim recognized her attacker by his foul breath, police said, and he was quickly dubbed the “bad breath rapist” in local media.
During his trial, Lee posted $100,000 bail and fled, police said. He was convicted in absentia and could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Law enforcement officials believed Lee had left the state, but were unable to locate him until they obtained information that he was living in Diablo, a small town in northern Texas. California, according to a press release from the US Marshals Service.
Police in nearby Danville looked into the leads, and Massachusetts officials quickly arrived to arrest Lee.
The Marshals Service’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, a group that partners with federal, state and local law enforcement to “locate and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and assist in investigations “large-scale,” was credited with coordinating the arrest.
“There are violent offenders who believe they can commit crimes without being held accountable for their actions,” said Sean LoPiccolo, task force commander. “Tuen Lee had been on the run for more than 16 years,” he said, and the arrest “will hopefully bring peace of mind to the victim and his family.”
California Daily Newspapers
