EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — An arrest was made Wednesday in a 53-year-old cold case homicide in East Hartford, according to police.

George Legere, 77, was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly killing 21-year-old Janet Couture.

Couture was home alone on Oct. 13, 1973 when she was stabbed to death in her Cannon Road Home in East Hartford, police said. The suspect entered through a window to commit the crime.

The murder remained under investigation for over five decades.

East Hartford police said a major breakthrough came through in 2021 when Avon police arrested Legere for kidnapping a woman in a separate 1984 cold case. Legere had also been an early suspect for Couture's murder, but insufficient evidence at the time prevented charges.

Avon police's arrest of Legere assisted

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