Fugitive ‘bad breath rapist’ Tuen Lee hid for 10 years working as floral shop assistant for multimillionaire girlfriend: source
A fugitive dubbed the “bad breath rapist,” who was arrested yesterday in a police sting, had been working as an assistant in a high-end floral shop in the area for a decade, sources told The Post Friday.
Convicted sexual predator, Tuen Kit Lee, 55, was arrested near his unsuspecting girlfriend’s $4.3 million San Francisco area mansion on Tuesday, after going on the run ahead of his rape conviction in Massachusetts 17 years ago.
Lee had been living with his partner, a wealthy florist, who Massachusetts State Police say had no clue about his violent past and thought his name was ‘Randy’.
He had worked out of the girlfriend’s flower shop as a pruner, according to authorities.
“[Lee] was going around pruning (flowers for people in) high-end homes,” Quincy’s Chief of Police Mark Kennedy told The Post.
“It looks like he was doing it full-time for at least 10 years.”
Kennedy added Lee will be escorted by authorities on a flight back to Massachusetts tonight where he will face new charges, including for being a fugitive from justice.
“He’ll be booked on a warrant here,” Kennedy said, adding Lee is then expected to be arraigned in Quincy District Court on Friday.
Officers had watched Lee and the unidentified woman, whom police described as a longtime “companion,” leave her home on Tuesday, then pulled them over in a traffic stop.
Lee first gave his fake name, but later admitted to his true identity, which was confirmed via fingerprints.
What to know about the 'Bad Breath Rapist' Tuen Lee:
- Tuen Lee — a convicted sexual predator known as the “Bad Breath Rapist” — was captured in California on May 28, 2024, after being on the run for nearly 17 years.
- Lee was found guilty of raping a waitress at his family’s restaurant in Quincy, Mass. at knifepoint after breaking into her home and zip-tying her to her bed on Feb. 2, 2005.
- He was identified by DNA evidence left at the crime scene as well as the victim recognizing the smell of his bad breath.
- The rapist was released on $100,000 cash bail before his trial but went missing right before closing arguments began in September 2007. The notorious fugitive was later featured on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
- For the past decade, Lee has been working in the San Francisco area as a landscaper at a company owned by his girlfriend — who had no idea about his sordid past and thought his name was “Randy.”
- Lee was arrested after leaving a $4.3 million home in Diablo he lived in with the wealthy florist. He now faces life in prison.
“His female companion, after 15 years of being together in California, never knew who he really was,” the state police said.
Lee’s dark past saw him break into the home of a waitress who worked at his family’s restaurant in the Boston suburb of Quincy, on Feb. 2, 2005.
He held his victim at knifepoint, zip-tied her hands to a bed and brutally 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, according to cops.
“He was ultimately identified by DNA and his horrible breath, which produced the nickname ‘The Bad Breath Rapist’,” the state police said.
DNA evidence also linked Lee to the crime scene and he was found guilty at a 2007 trial on charges of kidnapping and rape.
He had already fled the state by the time the jury delivered the verdict and went on to evade authorities for the next 16 years.
At one point, Lee was even featured on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
But after images surfaced on social media of a man believed to be Lee, investigators were able to track him to California’s Contra Costa County, the US Marshals Service said.
Kennedy told The Post that phone and internet records also helped investigators track the rapist down to Diablo, a small town just outside of San Francisco.
“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, in a statement about Lee’s arrest.
“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.
