Massachusetts’ most wanted ‘bad breath rapist’ caught in California

Photo credit: Massachusetts State Police

BOSTON (WWLP) – A man who was convicted of rape in 2005 but fled before sentencing was tracked down and arrested in California.

According to police Tuen Kit Lee broke into the home of a waitress who worked at his family’s restaurant on February 2, 2005, and sexually assaulted the woman while wearing a mask, tying her to the bed with zip ties, and holding a knife to her. Lee was later identified as a suspect based on his DNA and terrible breath, and was nicknamed the “Bad Breath Rapist.”

After a two-day trial in 2007, Lee was found guilty on all charges, but he had previously posted his $100,000 bail and fled before he could be sentenced.

For more than 12 years, state police and Quincy police have worked to find Lee, including promoting the case on “America’s Most Wanted” and offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Then, earlier this year, investigators received new information that led them to a multimillion-dollar home in Diablo, California, owned by a flower shop owner. Pictures of Lee had surfaced on social media.

On Tuesday, Massachusetts police, working with Northern California’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, arrested Lee. A man and woman were observed leaving the Diablo home in a vehicle. Officers conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle, during which Lee initially gave a false name, but then confessed when asked about his true identity.

The woman who was with Lee for 15 years in California never knew who he really was. Lee was arrested and later deported back to Massachusetts.