Florist didn’t know 15-year partner was fugitive dubbed ‘Bad Breath Rapist,’ cops say
A California florist had no inkling that her partner of 15 years was a wanted man dubbed “The Bad Breath Rapist,” Massachusetts police say.
The woman’s partner, Tuen Kit Lee, was arrested by Danville police after spending nearly 17 years on the run, Massachusetts State Police said in a May 28 news release
“There are violent offenders out there who believe they can commit crimes and not be held accountable for their actions,” Chief Inspector Sean LoPiccolo with the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release. “Tuen Lee was on the run for more than 16 years and the unwavering dedication by law enforcement to locate and arrest him hopefully brings peace of mind to the victim and her family.”
Lee flees
Lee is accused of breaking into co-worker’s home on Feb. 2, 2005, and raping her, police said.
The woman was “violently attacked” by a knife-wielding man wearing a mask, according to the website MassMostWanted.
She was “bound, gagged and sexually assaulted and robbed,” the website says.
Quincy police identified Lee as a suspect “by DNA and his horrible breath, which produced the nickname ‘The Bad Breath Rapist,’” police said.
The case went to trial at Norfolk Superior Court in September 2007, when a jury found Lee guilty on all charges after two days of deliberation, government officials said.
However, Lee, who was out on $100,000 bail, “had already left the state,” according to MassMostWanted and officials.
‘Case wide open’
Over the years, police said Quincy and state police poured “hundreds of hours” into trying to find Lee.
Such efforts included “multiple media campaigns,” wherein authorities talked about the case on the television show “America’s Most Wanted,” police said.
Even still, Lee’s case would eventually grow cold, police said.
But in early 2024, police said, investigators “caught the break” needed to locate Lee.
“New information broke the case wide open,” police said. “Open-source intelligence provided investigators with images of an individual on social media that they believed was Lee.”
Investigation led officials to a multi-million dollar Diablo, California, home owned by a florist, police said.
While observing the home on May 28, police said surveillance officers watched as a woman and man left the home and drove away.
Shortly after, Danville police officers pulled the vehicle over.
At first, police said Lee gave a false name “but ultimately confessed when pressed about his true identity,” which would later be confirmed by fingerprinting.
For 15 years, Lee’s partner “never knew who he really was,” police said.
Lee was arrested and is being held by Danville police pending his transfer to Massachusetts, according to police.
“The arrest brings closure to the victim and law enforcement officers who have worked tirelessly over the 16-plus years to find Lee,” government officials said.
Diablo is about a 30-mile drive east from San Francisco, and Quincy is about a 12-mile drive southeast from Boston.
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Florist didn’t know 15-year partner was fugitive dubbed ‘Bad Breath Rapist,’ cops say."
