Lehigh Student Raped, Strangled in Dorm

The rape and murder of a freshman woman last week shocked the Lehigh College campus, and one of her fellow students has been arrested for the crime.

The victim, Jeanne Ann Cleary of Bryn Mawr, Penn., was found at 11 a.m. Saturday by another student in her dorm. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Northhampton County Coroner Joseph Reichel.

On Monday, police arrested Joseph Henry, originally of Newark, N.J., for the murder. Henry, a sophomore, lives in an off-campus residence within sight of Cleary's dormitory, Stoughton Hall.

He has been charged with criminal homicide, rape, deviant sexual acts, robbery, indecent assault, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, and receiving stolen property. Authorities plan to seek the death penalty, said District Attorney Donald Corriere.

The arrest was made possible by leads from three College students whose names have not been released. "We are grateful for their courageous action," said Bill Johnson, Associate Director of Public Information at Lehigh.

Authorities theorize that Henry entered the unlocked dorm, went to the third floor and entered freely into Cleary's unlocked room. Henry allegedly strangled her with the spring wire from a wind-up toy, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Corriere said that security is extremely lax in the student dorms. "They prop doors open with pizza boxes and cover locks with cotton and tape so they don't have to worry about getting locked out," Corriere said.

The District Attorney's office is still investigating the motive of the crime, but they suspect that Henry intended to burglarize the dorm, Corriere said.

Corriere said that there has been no evidence that Henry had any prior contact with the victim. "We don't think he knew her before," Corriere said.

Swarthmore Strangler

In a separate development, a female sophomore at Swarthmore College escaped the attack of a strangler outside her dorm shortly before midnight last Thursday, said Al Roth, the Director of Security and Safety Services at Swarthmore.

Roth said the woman heard someone run up behind her and screamed when the attacker tried to put a red tie around her neck. In the struggle, the attacker struck the girl in the back of the head and fled.

The woman entered her dorm under her own power, and friends alerted people who were unsuccessful in tracking down the assailant. The victim was treated for minor injuries in the campus health center.

The strangler, still at large, was described by the woman as a stocky man about 25-40 years in age, 5'7" in height, wearing brown pants, a red jacket, and a dark colored ski hat. Security has been tightened throughout the college, Roth said.