Family of Annie Le slaying suspect at hearing

For the first time since his son was accused of slaying Yale grad student Annie Le, Raymond Clark Jr. has made a public statement, calling his accused murderer son "loving, caring" and "kind-hearted," according to published reports.

The father spoke to reporters after a court appearance Wednesday in Connecticut by his son Raymond Clark III, where the younger man is charged with strangling Le, a Yale doctoral student whose body was found in a wall Sept. 13, the day she was to marry a Huntington man in Syosset.

The father called his son "a loving, caring, kind-hearted son, brother, fiancee, and friend - unlike the picture that has been painted of him."

Clark's mom Diane and his fiancée, Jennifer Hromadka, were also in court, where the case was continued.

"These have been difficult times," the father said, taking no questions. "We have always been, and will continue to be, a strong, loving, and supportive family."

Clark, 25, is jailed on $3 million bond at the high-security MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in South Suffield, Conn.

Police have said a green-ink pen under Le's body had her blood and Clark's DNA. Police said Clark signed into the secure building with a green pen on Sept. 8, the day Le disappeared.

DNA from Le and Clark was on a bloody sock found hidden in a ceiling, authorities say.

Court papers describe a bloody crime scene and Clark's efforts to scrub floors. Investigators say Clark tried to hide a box of cleaning wipes that later was found to have traces of Le's blood.