A Groton, Connecticut man faced a judge Monday for allegedly killing his roommate and depositing her dismembered remains in a suitcase outside a cemetery, sparking public fears that a serial killer was on the loose.
Donald Coffel, 68, was arrested and charged Friday in the death of Suzanne Wormser, 58. He appeared virtually for health reasons in New London Superior Court to face charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence and improper disposal of a body. He told police that he bludgeoned her in the head with a baseball bat and kept her body in their shared apartment for a week and a half before dismembering her, WVIT-TV reported.
He filled two garbage bags with her body parts and put them into two large trash bins, then stuffed her torso into a rolling suitcase and wheeled her to the entrance of Colonel Ledyard Cemetery, 800 feet from their apartment, and left her there, according to an arrest warrant obtained by WVIT. A witness made the grisly discovery on March 19 after finding and opening the suitcase, the warrant stated, but neither suspect nor victim were publicly identified until Friday.
At the time, police asked for the public’s help in identifying the woman, and tiplines were set up with help from the FBI’s New Haven Field Office. Some of those calls came in from Wormser’s family members, saying they had not heard from her in some time, WVIT reported.
Wormser, a widow, had not been seen around the community for some time, neighbor Stephanie Oceane told WFSB-TV. Wormser had been letting Coffel stay with her after he moved back from out of state, according to WVIT.
In addition to reports of Wormser’s disappearance, investigators learned that Wormser had Turner Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that gives a person, usually a woman, a short stature and wide neck that also helped identify her and lead to a suspect, WTNH-TV reported.
A witness had also told police that Coffel had said he was going to kill Wormser for stealing $200 worth of crack cocaine from him, according to the arrest warrant. Two months later he told the same person that the “lady” was gone.
Investigators found a baseball bat, a handsaw, blood, a garbage bag with clothing and another with Wormser’s purse, wallet, identification cards and other cards in the apartment, WVIT reported, citing the warrant.
Initially Wormser’s seemingly random disappearance spooked the public into suspecting a serial killer, WFSB reported. But police later confirmed that Coffel had acted alone and posed no ongoing threat to the public. He’s being held on $1 million bond.
