CT police quash New England serial killer rumors, arrest man after woman found dismembered in suitcase

Officials successful Groton, Connecticut, connected Monday announced the apprehension of a antheral successful transportation with the execution of Suzanne Wormser, 58, whose assemblage was recovered dismembered and stuffed into a suitcase adjacent a cemetery connected March 19.

Donald Coffel, Wormser's 68-year-old roommate, is charged with murder, tampering with carnal grounds and disposing of a dormant assemblage successful Connecticut Superior Court aft constabulary recovered Wormser's assemblage connected March 19, though they judge her remains were near successful the cemetery sometime successful mid-March.

"Both the unfortunate and the fishy knew each other. This was a targeted event," Groton Police Department Chief David Burton said during a Monday property league announcing Coffel's arrest.

Burton added that constabulary searched different transgression country astatine the Groton residence Coffel and Wormser shared connected April 17 and interviewed Coffel, a idiosyncratic of involvement astatine the clip who aboriginal became the superior suspect.

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Donald Coffel, Wormser's 68-year-old roommate is charged with murder, tampering with carnal grounds and disposing of a dormant assemblage successful Connecticut Superior Court aft constabulary recovered Wormser's assemblage connected March 19, though they judge her remains were near successful the cemetery sometime successful mid-March. (Groton PD/ iStock)

Coffel allegedly confessed to the execution during his 3rd interrogation with police, saying helium bushed Wormser with a shot bat during an statement implicit crack-cocaine, according to an apprehension warrant obtained by FOX 61. Authorities recovered a bat with humor and hairsbreadth connected it, arsenic good arsenic a manus saw and a woman's covering covered successful a blood-like substance wrong the residence Coffel shared with Wormser, according to the warrant.

Coffel is being held connected $1 cardinal bond. He had a proceeding from a infirmary connected Monday, wherever helium is being treated for cancer, FOX 61 reported.

"Both the unfortunate and the fishy knew each other. This was a targeted event,"

The apprehension warrant states that a passerby noticed a luggage container placed by trash cans adjacent the cemetery for respective weeks. Inside the luggage, authorities discovered a quality torso.

Coffel's apprehension is the archetypal successful a bid of discoveries of quality remains crossed Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts betwixt March and April that person prompted rumors of a serial slayer online.

"During the people of the constabulary department's investigation, determination person been galore rumors and unsubstantiated fear-mongering taking spot connected societal media, making this metropolis and surrounding communities look similar unsafe places to live. I'm present to guarantee you that the City of Groton is among the safest communities successful the Northeast," Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said during a Monday property conference. "Approximately six weeks aft the find of quality remains astatine Colonel Ledyard Cemetery, I americium pleased to denote that an apprehension has been made, and a idiosyncratic of involvement is successful custody."

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The Connecticut State Police told Fox News Digital earlier this period that "there is nary accusation astatine this clip suggesting immoderate transportation to akin remains discoveries, and determination is besides nary known menace to the nationalist astatine this time," regarding the deaths successful Connecticut. 

Other remains person been located successful New Haven, Norwalk, Groton, Killingly and present Rocky Hill, Connecticut; Foster, Rhode Island; and Framingham, Plymouth, Springfield, and present Taunton, Massachusetts.

Remains recovered successful Groton, Conn., person been identified arsenic Suzanne Wormser. (iStock)

The New Haven Police Department precocious identified a unfortunate whose assemblage was discovered connected March 25 connected Rock Creek Road arsenic Denise Leary, 59. She had been missing since September of past year.

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"At the time, we had nary denotation that determination was immoderate transgression facet to her case," New Haven PD Public Information Officer Christian Bruckhart told Fox News Digital successful a Tuesday interview. "This was not needfully antithetic behaviour for her to leave. She had immoderate intelligence wellness diagnoses that she was suffering with, and … we've tried to beryllium cognizant of her family's feelings successful this clip due to the fact that determination was a clip erstwhile she was missing, they wanted her to travel back, past determination were remains recovered a abbreviated region from their house. So I'm definite they were hoping it wasn't her, and present they person to benignant of spell done each this again with benignant of radical online speculating astir her."

Bruckhart wants to punctual the nationalist that victims are not "just the look connected the screen"

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"Her household is inactive suffering and grieving her loss," Bruckhart said.

A aesculapian examiner recovered Leary's origin and mode of decease to beryllium undetermined, but Bruckhard said determination is nary "indication that there's immoderate transgression involvement."

New Haven constabulary bash not fishy immoderate transgression enactment successful Denise Leary's decease astatine this time. (iStock)

"That doesn't mean that we tin definitively accidental determination was not, but … successful the totality of what we saw successful our investigation, determination was thing to bespeak that she was murdered," the serviceman said.

"It's casual to speculate, but that's not thing that we, the police, person needfully the luxury of doing."

Regarding the Wormser lawsuit successful Groton, Bruckhart said constabulary are "not seeing immoderate links, surely betwixt Denise and anyone else," and they besides bash not spot a transportation betwixt Coffel "and the metropolis of New Haven successful general."

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"In a lawsuit of an alleged serial killer, if determination was immoderate transportation that we had oregon that we saw, oregon it was a peculiar area, oregon determination was a motive oregon whatever, we would privation to enactment that retired due to the fact that we privation to support the public," Bruckhart said. "That's what we do. Now, that's not to accidental that we would enactment retired everything that we know, due to the fact that again, if we're trying to drawback this person. Holding immoderate of those facts and not publicizing them mightiness assistance the investigation, mightiness assistance that idiosyncratic get caught. In the lawsuit of Denise, we don't spot immoderate of that."

 A Facebook radical making unsubstatiated connections betwixt the cases, which was formerly called "New England Serial Killer," has changed its sanction owed to the societal media company's policies and present has much than 68,000 followers.