Criminologist found strangled in New York

Published: April 28, 2009 at 1:47 PM

NEW YORK, April 28 (UPI) -- A 24-year-old New York police criminologist was found strangled, a knife stuck in her neck and her stomach burned with an iron, police said.

Michelle Lee, an employee of the New York Police Department, was found tied to her bed in Queens and strangled with the cord of a cell phone charger, The New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Detectives said Lee had been stabbed repeatedly and had iron burns on her stomach.

She was found Monday by her roommate, who returned home the night before and then found Lee's body after sleeping all night in the next room, police said.

The roommate, also a police employee, is not considered a suspect, police said.

Lee, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice graduate, joined the department last year and specialized in narcotics testing. Police said they plan to interview Lee's ex-boyfriends, the Daily News reported.

"People are very crazy. You can't believe the things that happen in this city," said a neighbor who described Lee as an "extremely beautiful girl."