A state prosecutor said on Wednesday that a man who was connected to a 1984 rape and kidnapping case in Connecticut by DNA evidence found decades later had been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After being found guilty of first-degree abduction by a state jury in Hartford in May, George Legere, 75, of Springfield, Massachusetts, received his prison sentence on July 21, according to Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott.
In the wee hours of April 13, 1984, in Avon, the victim was discovered naked, shackled, and hunched over the steering wheel of a car with the horn blaring, according to the authorities. She escaped the assault.
Just as the woman was pulling out of her car at her apartment complex, Legere threw her back inside, blindfolded her, and shackled her arms, according to the police. According to authorities, he then took her to another place and battered and sexually assaulted her.
Wednesday, messages were left for Legere’s public defender by phone and email requesting a response.
Avon, Connecticut, police reported that although DNA from the 1984 crime was obtained, the state crime lab was unable to identify a suspect at the time. Avon is located approximately ten miles west of Hartford. The data was added to a nationwide database.
The crime lab reportedly alerted the police in 2021 when a match was found between Legere’s DNA and the DNA evidence. Following his release from a Massachusetts jail sentence, Legere had a DNA sample taken from him, according to the authorities. He faced kidnapping charges. Charges of sexual assault could not be brought since the statute of limitations had passed.
Following Legere’s arrest in 2021, a different public defender stated that Legere is a former resident of Windsor, Connecticut, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a master’s degree in computer science. His extensive criminal history dates back to the 1960s and includes more than 30 arrests and convictions, some of which are related to sexual assault, kidnapping, and negligent homicide.