A man who was accused of killing and dismembering his roommate in Groton and leaving part of her body in a suitcase near a cemetery by their apartment has died.
Donald Coffel, 68, of Groton, died on Friday at the Corrigan Correctional Center, according to the Connecticut Department of Correction.
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WATCH HEREThey said his death is not considered suspicious and the medical examiner will determine the cause.
Coffel was charged with the murder of 58-year-old Suzanne Wormser.
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SIGN UP At one point when police responded to the home in February, Coffel told them he was in a lot of pain from cancer, according to the arrest warrant.
During the police investigation into Wormser's death, Coffel admitted that he hit her in the head with a baseball bat, kept her dead body in the apartment they shared for a week-and-a-half, then he dismembered her and put body parts in two garbage bags, which he disposed of in two large trash bins, according to the warrant for his arrest.
It went on to say that he put her torso in a suitcase and wheeled it over to the entrance of the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18.
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A witness found the suitcase near the cemetery on March 19.
On April 9, the office of the chief medical examiner determined that Wormser’s death was a homicide.
Coffel, who previously lived in the area, left the state, returned and Wormser was letting him stay with her in an apartment on Allen Street in Groton, about 800 feet away from where her remains would be found in a suitcase. according to the warrant.
As the investigation progressed, a witness told police that Coffel told them that Wormser had stolen $200 worth of crack cocaine from him and he was going to kill her, according to the arrest warrant. Then, around two months later, Coffel told the witness they were not going to see the “lady” again and she was gone.
Coffel was being held on $1 million bond and made his last court appearance virtually because of health issues.
