Man Admits to Chopping Up & Dumping Roomie's Remains, But Serial Killer Fears Persist| Crime Alert 8PM04.29.2025

A Connecticut man admits to the grisly dismemberment & dumping of his roommate's remains at a local cemetery. But the nature of the horrific crime & the recent find of almost a dozen other disturbing discoveries isn't quelling the concern about a serial killer lurking in the Northeast. 

An innocent man is finally walking free after being framed by an acquaintance for a brutal murder in a twisted revenge plot. Plus, an idiot driver's dumb theory has him speeding into some serious charges!  Jennifer Gould reports. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now, I'm Jennifer Gould.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
A gruesome discovery near a cemetery has plunged a normally
tranquil Connecticut town into a maelstrom of fear and speculation,
with the arrest of a local man doing little to
quell the unease. The case involving the dismemberment and disposal
of a woman's remains in Groton, has been amplified by

(00:25):
the recent discoveries of other human remains in the region,
sparking widespread concerns about a potential serial killer at large.
The investigation centers on Donald Kofel, sixty eight, who appeared
in court charged with the murder of his fifty eight
year old roommate, Suzanne Wormser on March nineteenth. Authorities made

(00:45):
the horrifying find a suitcase containing Wormser's torso located a
mere eight hundred feet from the Allen Street apartment she
shared with Kofel, sending an immediate shockwave through the community.
Klas Zeeman, who was friends with Kofel, spoke to w
FSB three News.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
He told me he was having problems with that lady
and made some concerning remarks about how he could make
her disappear, and if he did, they wouldn't come looking
for him as suspects.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
According to the arrest warrant, Coffell allegedly confessed to a
brutal sequence of events. He's accused of striking Wormser in
the head with a baseball bat, keeping her body in
their shared residence for over a week, and then dismembering her.
Police found blood like residue around the apartment, including on
a baseball bat that was tucked behind a dresser. The

(01:39):
warrant for their details how Kofel allegedly placed her remains
into garbage bags and disposed of some while transporting her
torso in a suitcase to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery. Kofell
was arrested following a six week investigation during which Wormser
was idd through forensic analysis. His alleged confession during a

(02:02):
third interview with detectives led to the murder charge. He's
being held on a one million dollar bond. The details
of Wormser's death, combined with the discovery of at least
ten sets of human remains across Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
Massachusetts since March, have fueled intense speculation and fear among residents.

(02:22):
Social media has been inundated with theories about a potential
serial killer operating in the region, leading to a heightened
sense of insecurity. Broughten Police Chief David Burton has tried
to address these concerns, emphasizing that Kofel and wormser knew
each other and that the killing is believed to be
an isolated incident. Here's the chief at the news conference.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
During the course of the police department's investigation, there have
been many rumors and us associated fear mongering taking place
in the social media, making the city and surrounding communities
seem like unsafe places to live.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Authorities maintained that there is no evidence linking Kofel's alleged
actions to other cases in the region, including the recent
guilty plea of convicted serial killer William Devin Howell, but
the nature of the crime and its proximity to other
disturbing discoveries have made it really difficult to completely calm
public fears that there is a serial killer lurking in

(03:23):
the northeast. Kofel, who has cancer and is being treated
at L and M Hospital instead of jail, is due
beck in court on June tenth more Prime and Justice News.
After this, imagine being locked up for a brutal murder,
you did not commit your life hanging by a thread. Well,

(03:44):
that was reality for an Indiana man. But in a
stunning turn of events, prosecutors have ripped the mask off
a sinister plot, freeing Sean Bailey and pointing the finger
at the real culprit, Nigel Thomas. What started as a
seemingly open and shut case of the stabbing death of
fifty two year old Wilma Robertson has morphed into a

(04:07):
shocking tale of betrayal and calculated deception. Bailey, thirty eight,
was initially the prime suspect in the early twenty twenty
four killing. The evidence looked damning his fingerprints at the
crime scene, a bloodied knife in his car, and a
witness placing him near Robert's home in Hanover. First degree

(04:27):
murder chargers loomed, threatening to steal his freedom forever. But
as investigators dug deeper, the carefully constructed case against Bailey
began to crumble. Now prosecutors alleged that Thomas, forty five,
was the puppet master behind the entire gruesome charade. Court
documents reveal a history of animosity between Thomas and Bailey,

(04:49):
stemming from a very bitter business dispute years earlier. Authorities
belief Thomas murdered robertson a mutual acquaintance and then meticulously
planted evidence to frame Bailey for the crime. The very
knife found in Bailey's car, once considered irrefutable proof, was
allegedly placed there by Thomas, who had access to Bailey's car.

(05:11):
Even the witness testimony, once seemingly solid, has come under
intense scrutiny, with new evidence suggesting Thomas coerced a false statement.
In a bombshell announcement, Jefferson County prosecutors dropped all charges
against Bailey, citing quote compelling evidence end quote that exposed
Thomas's elaborate scheme. Thomas was swiftly arrested and slapped with

(05:34):
charges of murder, tampering with evidence, and perjury and is
currently being held without bail. And finally, a Missouri speed
demon allegedly thought he could outsmart the cops by hitting
triple digit speeds. Spoiler alert, James Hill was wrong, So
why the leadfoot His genius cousin cooked up a theorty

(05:54):
that cops won't chase you if you hit triple digits.
Who cops A Hill was clocking ninety five miles per
hour when they lit him up. He then tried to
play grand theft auto, almost wiping out a few innocent drivers.
The chase finally ended with Hill making a beeline for
a random house. Cops caught up and he'll allegedly spilled
the beans about his cripple digit escape plan. Now he's

(06:17):
chilling in the County Slammer on a twenty thousand dollars bond,
So maybe his cousin can visit and explain how wrong
he was from behind bars. For the latest crime of
justice news, follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your
favorite podcast app with this crime Alert, I'm Jennifer Gould.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
How could a beautiful, young first grade teacher be stabbed
twenty times, including in the back, allegedly die of suicide? Yes,
that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a closed
door meeting. He first named it a homicide. Why what
Happened to Ellen Greenberg? A huge American miscarriage of justice.

(07:00):
For an in depth look at the facts, see What
Happened to Ellen on Amazon All proceeds to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children,