Trigger Warning: The article contains details of death and violent crimes. Reader discretion is advised.
The death of George Legere has sparked new questions. A man who was suspected of the murder of a 21-year-old woman in 1973 in East Hartford was found unresponsive in his prison cell. It was discovered that Slater died, as per the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
Police had arrested 77-year-old George Legere earlier and said that he’s the suspect in the brutal murder of the 21-year-old Janet Couture in October 1973. Reports stated that Couture was found dead after she was stabbed to death in her home in Cannon Road, East Hartford, on October 13, 1973.
Police concluded that she was alone at home, and that is when Legere broke into her house through the window and killed her. The officials of the Department of Corrections stated that Legere was recently found unresponsive in his prison cell at around 11 p.m. on Friday.
George Legere, who was arrested and charged in connection to the 53-year-old cold case murder of Janet Couture of East Hartford in September, is dead after being found unresponsive in his cell on Friday evening. https://t.co/fXOiXxiAry
— WTNH News 8 (@WTNH) October 7, 2025
The officials tried to perform lifesaving measures to save him; however, he was pronounced dead at the nearby local hospital, authorities claimed. Connecticut State Police described the incident as an untimely death and said they’re investigating.
The manner and cause of his death are pending and are still undergoing investigation. Along with the murder of Janet Couture, Legere was also held for the kidnapping of the 25-year-old Avon in 1984.
On September 21, the East Hartford police arrested Legere for the murder of Janet. Her older sister, Shirlene Couture, said her feelings towards Legere’s death are mixed. “It just has been a shock,” Shirlene Couture, 76, said by phone Tuesday afternoon. “I wanted him to be responsible for what he did. “My sister didn’t deserve what he did to her,” she added.
She also worries that there may have been more victims. “How many other women are there?” she said. “It might be more women.” Janet Couture was ‘quiet and kind’, her sister said. “I never saw her yell at anybody,” Shirlene Couture said. “She was very sweet. She cared a lot about people, and everybody loved her.”
It was the Avon arrest that helped East Hartford investigators finally uncover the closed cases against Legere. These cases date back to the 1960s and involve Legere assaulting women, revealing “disturbing similarities to Couture’s murder,” according to East Hartford police Officer Marc Caruso.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Legere confessed to killing Janet Couture two weeks ago. He even confessed that he tried to steal money for narcotics. “I went into the apartment looking for money and unfortunately the person woke up and recognized me and that left me no choice to do what I did,” Legere said, according to police. “I ended up stabbing her.”
The interview with police came only after Legere told a fellow inmate that he killed Couture and even signed a confession in July that was written by the other inmate and also signed by a correction officer, the affidavit said.
Legere told the other inmate that he did not want the confession to be released before his death. This is because Legere did not want anyone to label him as a ‘creep’ or a ‘pervert’, the warrant says.
