Police have made an arrest in a cold case killing in East Hartford that was investigated for more than five decades before a separate arrest in a kidnapping from the 1980s, which had also gone cold, led to a big break in the murder investigation.
George Legere, 77, was charged Wednesday in the death of 21-year-old Janet Couture, who was found after being stabbed to death in her apartment on Cannon Road on October 13, 1973, according to Officer Marc Caruso of the East Hartford Police Department.
In a statement announcing that the decades-old case had been solved, Caruso said the arrest “is a significant step toward justice for Janet Couture and her family, who have waited” more than 50 years for “closure.”
Janet Couture faces one count of murder in the death of Janet Couture. (Courtesy of the East Hartford Police Department)
“Bringing closure to victims’ families is a top priority for our team of detectives,” Police Chief Mack S. Hawkins said in the statement. “We are committed to pursuing justice in every case, no matter how much time has passed. For the Couture family, this is especially significant, and we hope it brings them some measure of peace.”
Investigators believe Couture was home alone when Legere entered her apartment through a window and stabbed her multiple times, Caruso said. When she was found, her hands were bound, she was naked with a pillow case over her head and she had a knife still partially in her chest.
An autopsy confirmed Couture’s death was a homicide, a “heinous crime” that Caruso said “shocked the community.” According to Caruso, Legere was a suspect early in the investigation but had not been previously charged because investigators had “insufficient evidence.”
Janette Couture’s killing went unsolved for decades before investigators said a kidnapping arrest was the break they needed to charge a suspect. (Courtesy of the Division of Criminal Justice)
The case went unsolved for years before detectives reexamined the evidence in 2009. A reward for information leading to Couture’s killer grew over the years and, most recently, had reached $50,000, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.
Caruso said investigators received a big break in the case when the Avon Police Department arrested Legere in 2021 in connection with the kidnapping of a woman in 1984, a case that had also gone cold.
The Avon arrest led to East Hartford detectives uncovering additional cases going back to the 1960s involving Legere allegedly assaulting multiple women, Caruso said. Investigators discovered “disturbing similarities” to the murder of Couture which ultimately led to a warrant being obtained for Legere’s arrest.
According to the DCJ, in May 2023, a jury in Hartford Superior Court convicted Legere of first-degree kidnapping after a “brief” deliberation. In that case, a woman arrived in the parking lot of her apartment in Avon in the early morning hours on April 13, 1984, and, while exiting her vehicle, was forced back inside by a man who blindfolded her and tied her arms.
The man, who was later identified as Legere through DNA testing, then drove her in her vehicle to an unknown location where DCJ officials said he tied her to a tree, beat and raped her. After “several assaults,” Legere fled the area, leaving the victim in her vehicle, according to criminal justice officials.
The victim, who was left naked and with her wrists still bound, was able to blow the horn of the vehicle until someone came to help, DCJ officials said. The woman was brought to a hospital where officials used a sexual assault kit to gather evidence.
In May 2019, while Legere was incarcerated in Massachusetts in connection with an unrelated arrest, authorities took a DNA sample from him, according to DCJ officials. The sample was then used to match DNA that was collected in the kidnapping, which had been submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, a national database. In addition to DNA linking Legere to the kidnapping, his physical characteristics matched the description the victim gave to police.
Legere has been charged with one count of murder in the Couture case while being housed at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, where he is serving a 25-year prison sentence in connection with the kidnapping in Avon, according to Caruso. He could be held until September 2045 in connection with the sentence he received in the kidnapping case, records show.
Court records reviewed Thursday indicated Legere appeared before a judge on Wednesday in Manchester Superior Court to answer to the murder charge. He did not enter a plea, records show.
A judge set Legere’s bail at $1 million and continued the case to Oct. 8, according to court records.
Caruso said East Hartford investigators extended their “gratitude to the Connecticut Department of Corrections and the State of Connecticut Cold Case Unit for their assistance.”
Anyone with additional information about Couture’s death has been asked to contact Det. Christina Johnston at 860-291-7526, the East Hartford Police confidential tip line at 860-289-9134 or the Connecticut Cold Case Unit at 1-866-623-8058.
