Massachusetts “bad breath rapist” arrested after 16 years

Massachusetts fugitive Tuen Kit Lee, also known as the “Bad Breath Rapist,” was arrested after a 16-year manhunt that ended Tuesday in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lee was accused of kidnapping and raping a co-worker at knifepoint in a Boston suburb in 2005. He was convicted in 2007 but left town before the verdict was announced, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

On Tuesday, officers finally caught him as he and a woman left a multi-million dollar home in Northern California and shortly afterwards stopped the vehicle he was traveling in.

“He was ultimately identified by his DNA and his terrible breath, earning him the nickname ‘The Bad Breath Rapist,'” Massachusetts State Police said.

His partner was identified as a florist with whom he has been together for 15 years. Investigators do not believe that the suspect’s girlfriend knew about his violent past.

Investigators said they finally made a breakthrough that led them to Lee in early 2024, when open-source intelligence imagery and social media helped them track him down.

He initially pretended to be someone else before confessing to police that they had their man in their hands, authorities said.

Lee is expected to be extradited to Massachusetts to face justice.

Sean LoPiccolo, acting head of the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, expressed hope that the “Bad Breath Rapist’s” long-awaited brush with the law “will bring peace of mind to the victim and his family.”