She Trusted the Wrong Person: Woman Brutally Murdered by Roommate in Chilling Horror Scene
In a heartbreaking and horrifying case out of Groton, Connecticut, a community is mourning the tragic death of 58-year-old Suzanne Wormser — a woman remembered by loved ones as kind, funny, and endlessly generous — after police say she was brutally murdered by her roommate and left to decompose in their shared home.
The man accused is 68-year-old Donald Coffel. According to police, he not only killed Suzanne with a baseball bat but lived with her body in the apartment for over a week before attempting to dispose of it in pieces. Part of her remains — a torso — was discovered in a suitcase near a cemetery, wrapped in garbage bags.
The image has haunted many who knew her, and even those who didn’t.
Suzanne, who had been navigating tough times financially, had moved in with Coffel, reportedly a friend or acquaintance, as a way to get back on her feet. Friends say she was the kind of person who gave more than she had and trusted people easily — sometimes too easily.
Authorities say she was killed sometime before mid-March, though no one reported her missing until April. Her family, desperate for answers, hadn’t heard from her in weeks and finally called police. That call led to a wellness check at the apartment — and ultimately to the unthinkable.
Inside the home, officers found a scene straight out of a nightmare. The smell of decomposition filled the space, and blood evidence was found throughout. A bloodied baseball bat with hair embedded in it was recovered. Coffel reportedly told detectives that after striking Suzanne in the head, he left her body in the apartment, eventually cutting it up with the intention of disposing of it.
In a brief statement to investigators, Coffel claimed the killing happened during an argument. But for Suzanne’s family, no excuse will ever be enough.
“She was trusting,” one relative said. “She didn’t deserve this.”
Coffel is currently hospitalized with late-stage cancer. He appeared in court via video, lying in a hospital bed as a judge read the charges: murder, evidence tampering, and abuse of a corpse. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
Law enforcement, trying to quell fears of a serial killer, said this was a “targeted, isolated act.” But in the neighborhood where Suzanne once smiled at passersby and chatted with neighbors, fear and grief linger.
Her loved ones are now focused on preserving her memory — not for how her life ended, but for how she lived: with heart, humor, and hope.
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