“Rapist with bad breath” caught after nearly 17 years on the run

A Massachusetts man who fled during his 2007 rape trial and was convicted in absentia had been living for more than a decade with a woman in California who had no idea he was a fugitive, authorities said.

But the man’s hidden past came to light Tuesday when police officers in Danville, California, about 30 miles east of San Francisco, arrested Tuen Kit Lee, 55, who was known as the “bad breath rapist,” Massachusetts State Police said.

Mr. Lee, who fled shortly before closing arguments at his trial in Quincy, Massachusetts, had been living with the woman, a flower shop owner, in her multimillion-dollar home in Diablo, a community of about 1,200 people just outside Danville, state police said.

When stopped by police, Mr. Lee initially gave a false name, but “ultimately confessed when asked his true identity,” state police said. “Fingerprints confirmed his identity,” they said. “His partner never knew who he really was after 15 years of being together in California.”

Captain Daniel Guarente of the Quincy Police Department said investigators were able to track down Mr Lee after they “received information that he was in California and may have been in contact with family members. Based on that information, they began to investigate and eventually found him in California.”

Mr. Lee was found guilty in 2007 of brutally raping a waitress who worked at his family’s restaurant in Quincy, south of Boston. State police said he was wearing a mask when he broke into her home on Feb. 2, 2005, held her at knifepoint, tied her to a bed with zip ties and sexually assaulted her.

She was found several hours later by her boyfriend, who went to her home after being unable to reach her by phone, state police said.

Investigators identified Mr. Lee as the attacker in part because his victim recognized his foul breath, state police said. DNA evidence also linked him to the crime, state police said.

Mr Lee, who was arrested and charged with rape, was released on $100,000 bail before his trial, but disappeared shortly before closing arguments.

His then-attorney, Philip A. Tracy Jr., said in an interview on Wednesday that Mr. Lee was afraid of going back to prison, where he was beaten.

“He was worried and scared,” Mr. Tracy said. “I thought I would never see or hear from him again.”

Mr Lee’s trial continued without him and he was found guilty – but not convicted – of rape, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Investigators spent hundreds of hours searching for Mr. Lee, and his case was featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted,” state police said. Last year, authorities offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

But the trail seemed to go cold until earlier this year, when “new information completely cleared up the case,” state police said, without giving further details.

Authorities said Mr Lee would be returned to Massachusetts for sentencing after nearly 17 years on the run.

“There are violent offenders who believe they can commit crimes without being held accountable for their actions,” Sean LoPiccolo, the acting head of a U.S. Marshals Service task force that helped arrest Mr. Lee, said in a statement. The arrest, Mr. LoPiccolo said, “hopefully brings peace of mind to the victim and her family.”