Prominent cancer researcher found slain in high-rise condo

Homicide detectives were examining security video Wednesday for clues to the killer of a prominent cancer researcher found dead in her 20th-floor luxury Midtown condo late Tuesday night.

The victim was identified as 57-year-old Eugenia “Jeanne” Calle.

Eugenia “Jeanne” Calle

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Police said she had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and that there was evidence of a struggle inside her upscale unit at the Aqua complex, at 10th and West Peachtree streets.

Calle retired last month from the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society, where she was vice president of the epidemiology department. She was also a former adjunct professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

Epidemiology is the study of disease in the human population.

“She was a major force in epidemiology,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society and Calle’s supervisor. “Science has lost a great scientist.”

In Calle’s time at the Cancer Society, she headed major studies that took decades to complete. Some of her best work, Brawley said, is scheduled to be published in the next couple months.

Brawley described her as organized, meticulous and not afraid to march into his office and demand more resources for her studies.

A previous study that established the link between obesity and cancer resulted in Calle being interviewed a few years ago by newscaster Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes.

Calle’s condo at Aqua is for sale, and Meadows said investigators were working to determine whether a person seen on security video visiting the condo on Tuesday was a potential buyer there to view the property.

Lt. Keith Meadows, commander of the Atlanta police homicide unit, said Calle’s body was discovered about 11 p.m. Tuesday by her boyfriend, an Atlanta attorney whose name was not released.

Calle had apparently been dead for about 12 to 16 hours when her body was found, according to Meadows. That would mean she died between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Investigators had not determined a motive for the slaying, said Meadows. Calle’s body was fully-clothed when found, but he said an autopsy would be necessary to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted. There were no signs of forced entry into the unit.

Meadows said Calle and her boyfriend were engaged, and “she was actually in the process of selling her condominium and she was moving in with him.”

He said the victim’s boyfriend had been cooperative and “helpful in the investigation.”

Calle did not have any children.

Her former husband, Richard Letz, also a professor at Emory, died from cancer a few years ago, according to an Emory spokeswoman.

Calle was from a small town near Dayton, Ohio, and moved to Atlanta in 1985 to work for the Centers for Disease Control, Brawley said.

The American Cancer Society lured her from CDC in 1989, Brawley said.

Her co-workers held two going-away gatherings for Calle; a reception at the American Cancer Society’s building and a smaller party at another colleague’s home.

About 400 people showed up at the work reception, Brawley said, adding that it was “one of the largest I’ve ever been to.”