"Creepy" Pfizer Worker Charged With Murder

(MoneyWatch)  Eric Lau, the Pfizer (PFE) worker wanted in connection with the beating and stabbing death of a neighbor, was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder. Lau, 32, a contract worker at Pfizer's Pearl River, N.Y., plant, was arrested after a sniffer-dog manhunt in a wooded area near New City, N.Y. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment.

His neighbor, Jami Erlich, also 32, was found dead Sunday night in her apartment. Friends of Erlich's told LoHud.com that Erlich had described Lau as a "creepy" obsessive who constantly asked her out on dates. But she had shrugged off his advances.

Lau has a history of mental problems, according to LoHud, and a felony conviction for attempted robbery and five other arrests in 1996 and 1997, when he was 18 and 19 years old. Lau's face appeared to be injured in court. LoHud:

Police said Lau's cheek and neck were scratched as he tried to avoid capture in the woods.

Pfizer's Pearl River plant -- acquired from Wyeth -- has seen its share of troubles. The company is laying off workers there. One committed suicide in its parking lot. And the plant has been riven with unproven accusations of racism and forced double-shift work.

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