The stinkin' friend nailed
Fugitive ‘Bad Breath Rapist’ busted
His hideout stunk.
A convicted sexual predator known as the “Bad Breath Rapist” was found in a multimillion-dollar California home and captured nearly 17 years after he went on the run during his Massachusetts trial.
Tuen Lee was arrested Tuesday in the wealthy Bay Area bedroom community of Diablo, where he’d been living for more than a decade with his flower shop owner girlfriend, who had no clue about his vicious past, according to Massachusetts State Police.
On Feb. 2, 2005, Lee broke into the home of a waitress who worked at his family’s restaurant in the Boston suburb of Quincy, held her at knifepoint, zip-tied her hands to a bed and raped her, police said at the time.
Although he was wearing a ski mask, investigators were able to identify him in part because the victim recognized the smell of her boss’s horrendous halitosis, police said.
DNA evidence also linked Lee, who reportedly went by the fake name “Randy,” to the crime scene, where the victim’s boyfriend found her hours after the attack.
Lee was charged with rape and released on $100,000 cash bail before his trial — but he disappeared not long before closing arguments in September 2007.
He had already fled the state by the time the jury delivered the guilty verdict.
Authorities hunted for the funky-mouthed fugitive for years — and Lee was even featured on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
Earlier this year, investigators got a break in the case when they got a tip that Lee was hiding out in California and had been in touch with family, according to the Quincy Police Department.
Officers watched Lee and the unidentified woman, whom they described as a longtime “companion,” leave the home on Tuesday, and pulled them over in a traffic stop.
Lee initially gave a fake name, but later admitted to his true identity, which was confirmed via fingerprints.
“His female companion, after 15 years of being together in California, never knew who he really was,” the state police said.
He was “ultimately identified by DNA and his horrible breath, which produced the nickname ‘The Bad Breath Rapist,’ ” state police said in a statement Wednesday.
Lee was being taken to the Danville Police Department for booking Wednesday. His transfer to Massachusetts is pending.
“There are violent offenders out there who believe they can commit crimes and not be held accountable for their actions,” said Chief Inspector Sean LoPiccolo, the head of the US Marshals Service Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force.
“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,” he added.
Lee now faces life in prison.