DNA Solves a Case in Avon

A cold case in Avon was solved after DNA found at the scene all those years ago which matched with a man already in jail on a different case. Police arrested George Legere who was in Hampden County Jail and House of Correction. He was charged with three counts of kidnapping in the first degree stemming from a case in the 1980s.

In 1984 police responded to Avon wood Road in Avon after a report of a person slumped over onto the steering wheel setting off the horn. When officers talked to the person inside the car, police said they found the person had been abducted and sexually assaulted.

Police added that evidence including DNA was collected and sent to the state’s Forensic Science Laboratory but could not find a suspect at the time. The forensic lab reported to the police of  Avon that a match between the DNA evidence collected on that morning in 1984 matched with DNA entered into the National Offender DNA database. Police say Legere was identified as the offender.Sevasti Papakanakis, DNA Manager at the CT DESPP Division of Scientific Services, said new technology allows them to go back to the old DNA to try to solve the case.

Sometimes they go back to is the actual evidence, and then sometimes what we do is go back to the actual testing extract from the case and that’s also preserved. We re-test them with more sensitive methods and the profile to be compared. Legere has a lengthy criminal record that includes arrests and convictions in 31 separate cases, including convictions for sexual assault and kidnapping, say police. Legere’s DNA was collected at the time of his latest release from a Massachusetts prison. He is being held on a $675,000 bond and will be arraigned in Hartford on May 28. The Avon Police Department released a statement on the arrest thanking officers and medical personnel for their efforts in solving the nearly 40-year-old case.