[NYPD] No longer here with us - NYPD Forensic Investigator Michelle Lee

...Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly described her as a “very talented young woman”...

New York Police Forensic Investigator Michelle Lee was murdered so horribly that I have not included the details in the news excerpts below. It angers and sickens me. The links are there if you need to know... but for me, a life was stolen leaving a wake of sadness to those who knew and loved her.

NEWS EXCERPTS FROM APRIL 28 TO MAY 24:

SEX-SLAY SHOCKER
New York Post
By Murray Weiss, Larry Celona and ERIN CALABRESE
Last updated: 2:26 pm
April 28, 2009
[Excerpts] An NYPD crime-lab worker yesterday wound up on the other side of the microscope - the possible victim of a sex slaying similar to the ones she would typically be investigating... There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing seemed to be missing... Nor were there any signs of a struggle... In her job as a criminalist, Lee tested powders, and ran hair and fiber analyses in the department's Queens lab. "She was extremely nice, extremely professional," said an officer who worked with her. "She asked lots of questions." Lee became an intern in the lab after graduating from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and was hired full time in September... Cops are looking to interview some of Lee's ex-boyfriends... [Full article here]


CSI: NY MOURNS
Lab Pals Probe Slay Of Co-Worker
New York Post
By Murray Weiss, Ikimulisa Livingston & Larry Celona
April 29, 2009
[Excerpts] ...Stunned colleagues from the NYPD's crime-scene unit spent yesterday and Monday painstakingly scouring every inch of forensic expert Michelle Lee's Queens apartment... For anything to send to the lab... There was no sign of forced entry, nothing appeared to be missing, and there was no evidence of a struggle... [Full article here]

COP-LAB REWARD OF 12G
New York Post
By Murray Weiss
April 30, 2009
[Excerpts] The NYPD put up a $12,000 reward yesterday for information that helps them solve the brutal slaying of a crime-lab worker... "The case obviously caused great concern and upset throughout the department," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. "I can assure you this is very aggressive investigation"... They believe ... her killer wanted it to look like she had been tortured or had been the victim of a sex crime... [Full article here]

FORMER BEAU GARY MCGURK BUSTED IN GRISLY SLAY OF NYPD CSI MICHELE LEE
NYDailyNews.com
BY Nicole Bode and Alison Gendar
Friday, May 22nd 2009, 2:35 AM
[Excerpts] An ex-boyfriend who conned thousands of dollars from his NYPD girlfriend was arrested Thursday in her grisly murder... He was arrested Thursday night at his mother's house in Woodside, Queens, and is being held at the 108th Precinct stationhouse on second-degree murder charges... Investigators were afraid McGurk would flee to his native Ireland and escape justice... She kept the relationship secret from her parents and friends, but laid out McGurk's seduction campaign in her diary, police sources said. The brazen student told Lee he was broke and suffering from cancer, and that he could not afford or get medical insurance, so she gave him money. Investigators don't believe Lee was the first to fall for McGurk's con job. McGurk was a "professional student" who bilked unsuspecting young women to bankroll his life in the U.S., they said... It was unclear if the violence came to a head because the money was drying up and she asked to be repaid, or because she learned the illness was a hoax and grew tired of his games, sources said... [Full article here]

I CHOKED HER DURING SEX, GARY MCGURK, SUSPECT IN NYPD CRIMINALIST MICHELLE LEE'S MURDER, TOLD COPS
NYDailyNews.com
BY Nicole Bode
Saturday, May 23rd 2009, 1:22 AM
[Excerpts] ...At his arraignment in Queens Supreme Court yesterday, McGurk denied killing the beautiful 24-year-old - with whom he had had an on-again, off-again sexual relationship since approaching her at the CUNY John Jay College gym in 2004, where he played soccer. Sources said McGurk bilked thousands of dollars from Lee, who was hired by the NYPD in September for her dream job as a criminalist scouring for forensic clues. "He denied it to me, he denied it to my partner, he denied it to police," McGurk's lawyer, Ron Rubinstein, said. "Hopefully the truth will come out." McGurk was ordered held without bail yesterday on a second-degree murder charge. [Full article here]

CSI RUSE IN NYPD GAL'S SLAY SCENE
New York Post
By Murray Weiss, Kirsten Fleming and Dareh Gregorian
May 23, 2009
[Excerpts] A creepy con man charged with murdering his criminalist ex-girlfriend used his forensic expertise to try covering his tracks... Gary McGurk, 23, portrayed Michelle Lee as being into kink, and he intentionally left behind "a psychopathic crime scene to throw them off his trail," a police source said. "He was pulling pieces from all sorts of different crimes into one scene." The misdirection didn't work, thanks to "substantial" DNA evidence and McGurk's statements to investigators... He pleaded not guilty yesterday and was ordered held without bail... After prodding from detectives, McGurk admitted he lied to Lee about having cancer to swindle cash from her. "I absolutely lied about the cancer. It was a means to an end for me," he said... Lee's father, Sam, said, "It's a bit of a relief that someone has been caught, but this is only the beginning of the case." [Full article here]

NYC FORENSIC COP FOUND STABBED
Using the same investigative techniques NYPD cop was learning, authorities arrest her ex-lover in the case.
Associated Press
Colleen Long
May 24, 2009
[Excerpts] Michelle Lee’s career was solving crimes. Working as a forensic investigator for the New York Police Department, she was training to do the type of “CSI” work made famous on television. But the 24-year-old became a victim of a crime herself... Using the same investigative techniques Lee was learning, authorities on Friday arrested her ex-lover Gary McGurk in the case, charging him with second-degree murder... His attorney, Joseph Corozzo said his client was innocent. “This is a gruesome crime, but my client is not responsible for it,” he said. “We look forward to seeing the purported evidence in this case.” Lee had recently moved out of her parent’s home and was living in Sunnyside, Queens, a quaint neighborhood of working-class families. She started working for the NYPD last September and was training in forensic investigations at a police lab analyzing evidence like hair samples, drugs, gunshot residues and bodily fluids. She was going to specialize in narcotics. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly described her as a “very talented young woman”... McGurk, a 23-year-old Irish-born student at John Jay Criminal College, was apparently the last person to have contact with her, and his statements kept changing, investigators said... After he started dating another girl, their relationship cooled but they still spoke regularly. They chatted online the Saturday before she was found dead. And he was apparently upset investigators didn’t contact him immediately, according to court documents... McGurk was charged Friday by District Attorney Richard Brown with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He maintains his innocence. “If I were to have done this to Michelle I would not only embarrass myself but I would also embarrass my family,” McGurk said, according to court documents. “I did not go into her apartment. She had company. You don’t like it but you accept it.” He is due in court June 4. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. In his court statements, McGurk said he is scheduled to graduate May 28, but he wasn’t sure he could handle the life of a forensic psychologist. [Full article here
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