CT man accused of killing, dismembering roommate in Groton dies in custody

Yahoo

13-05-2025

A man with terminal cancer who was facing murder and tampering with evidence charges in connection with the death of his roommate whose remains were found in trash bags and luggage at a cemetery in Groton in March has died while in custody.
Donald Coffel, 68, died last Friday at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Correction. He was being held on $1 million bond in the death of 58-year-old Suzanne Worser.
Coffel's death was not considered suspicious, the spokesperson said, adding that an autopsy was expected to be completed to determine the cause. Connecticut State Police were notified of the death, according to the DOC.
'As standard procedure, the matter is under review by our Security Division,' the DOC spokesperson said.
Gruesome details revealed: CT man allegedly admits disposing of woman's body in trash bags, luggage
Coffel was charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and improper disposal of a body in connection with Worser's death. Her remains were found on March 19 when officers with the City of Groton Police Department responded to Colonel Ledyard Cemetery at 240 Mitchell St. on the report of a black luggage bag next to two trash cans that smelled something was rotting inside, according to the warrant affidavit supporting Coffel's arrest. Police opened the bag and found a human torso that had been wrapped in a black trash bag, the warrant affidavit said.
Detectives responded to the scene and were assisted by the Connecticut State's Attorney's Office and the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later found that the torso belonged to a woman between 45 and 65 years old who may have had Turner Syndrome, a developmental disability resulting in underdeveloped reproductive organs and growth, according to the warrant affidavit. After police released this information to the public, two family members of Worser contacted authorities and reported that they had not heard from her in some time, the warrant affidavit said.
Investigators could not locate Worser at her residence on Allen Street, but they were able to find a record of a medical assist at the residence in December 2024 that showed Coffel was living with her and was taken to the hospital at that time, according to the warrant affidavit. Detectives returned to the residence on April 17 and spoke to the property manager, who said Coffel had terminal pancreatic cancer and had not been living there since about three weeks prior when he went to the hospital, police wrote.
Investigators were let into the residence where they allegedly found cleaning product on a stool and a baseball bat with what appeared to be dried blood and hair on it, according to the warrant affidavit. Detectives later obtained a search warrant and allegedly found multiple stains that appeared to be a blood-like substance, the warrant affidavit said. Worser's purse, wallet and identification were also found in a trash bag along with men and women's clothing covered in a blood-like substance.
Investigators later interviewed Coffel at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital where he said he had been in and out of the hospital since December 2024 and that, after one of his hospital visits, he found that Worser was no longer at the Allen Street residence, the warrant affidavit said. He said he believed she went missing between January and February but did not notify authorities.
During a follow-up interview with Coffel at the hospital, detectives stepped out of his room upon receiving a tip from a witness who alleged that Coffel told him he hit Worser with a baseball bat and cut her up after she stole $200 from him, the warrant affidavit said. Coffel denied this when confronted with the information and later ended the interview.
In an interview with police, the witness said he allowed Coffel to stay with him at some point in December when Coffel allegedly told him a woman had stolen his crack cocaine and that he was going to kill her, according to the warrant affidavit. The witness said the next time he saw Coffel, he allegedly told him he hit a woman three times in the head with a baseball bat, killing her, and cut her into pieces, putting her body parts in plastic bags that were thrown in the trash, the warrant affidavit said.
During an interview with Coffel the next day, he allegedly conceded that what the witness said was true. He told investigators that, one day, possibly in early January, he grabbed a bat and hit Worser's head three times and that she died afterward, the warrant affidavit said.
Coffel claimed that he kept Worser in the apartment for about 1 1/2 weeks before dismembering her, according to the warrant affidavit. He said he then put the body parts in black trash bags and disposed of those in two different dumpsters. Coffel allegedly said he was unable to dispose of one of the pieces and wheeled it to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery entrance in a suitcase, investigators wrote.
Coffel had been in custody since he was arrested on April 25. He had not entered a plea to the charges and was set to appear in New London Superior Court on June 10, court records show.
Information from Courant editor Kellie Love was used in this report.