Very informative articles! Thanks for posting them!
They raise more questions:
Where was the clothing iron? Had it been left out or did the attacker have to find it in a cabinet/closet? Was she ironing at the time of her attack? Did the attacker have to find it, plug it in, wait for it to get hot, and then burn her? Was she burned before or after she died?
Did the knife come from inside the apartment or did the killer bring it to the scene? If the knife was Michelle's, then it means the killer had to get it from the kitchen at some point. Was it in a drawer, sink, or on the counter in view?
Being stabbed in the throat with the knife left in the wound is significant, imo. This could mean the killer either didn't want her to tell something or perhaps she already had said things which enraged him/her. The simple word "No" could have set someone off (stalker type).
The girls had only lived there for a month. Being new to the area they would probably not know neighbors or others well enough to invite them into the apartment unless someone were pretending to need help in some way to get inside. The text to the co-worker is interesting on Saturday.
Michelle was bound, bludgeoned, stabbed, burned, raped (?), and left nude to be found which further humiliates her. Definite overkill. Unless they find semen or male DNA...they need to look for motives from both sexes.
Investigators said Lee was stabbed in the neck and suffered a head wound. A kitchen knife was found near the bed. Cops believe she had been hit in the head with a clothing iron.
Sources said Lee was completely naked and tied to the bed. There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing seemed to be missing, sources said. Nor were there any signs of a struggle, they added.
Neighbors said the women had lived in the apartment for only about a month.
The roommate, who also works in the crime lab, had been away for the weekend and returned Sunday night. She went to sleep that night in a room just yards away from the body, authorities said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04282009/news/regionalnews/sex_slay_shocker_166555.htm
Second Article. The two articles are conflicting about the knife:
Investigators believe Michelle Lee was knocked unconscious with the iron, bound to her bed with the cord of a cell phone charger and then stabbed in the throat with a kitchen knife.
~snip~
Detectives are also fingerprinting the knife that was left in her throat.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_...riminalist_michelle_lee_was_burned_with_.html