Janet Couture (Jack of Diamonds, Connecticut)

Summary

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The Deck – Janet Couture (Jack of Diamonds, Connecticut)

Host: Ashley Flowers
Guest: Detective Christina Johnston, East Hartford Police Department
Release Date: March 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Deck focuses on the decades-old murder of Janet Couture, represented as the Jack of Diamonds in Connecticut’s cold case playing card deck. Janet was brutally murdered in her East Hartford home in 1973. Despite years of investigation, her case remained unsolved for over 50 years until a recent breakthrough finally identified her killer. Host Ashley Flowers and Detective Christina Johnston walk listeners through the chilling details, the dogged investigative work, and the bittersweet resolution.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

Discovery of the Crime and Initial Investigation

[01:34 – 08:48]

• Night of the Incident: Janet Couture, 21, woke her boyfriend Jay Locke around 3am on October 13, 1973, whispering, "I think somebody might be in the house." ([02:53], Ashley Flowers; confirmed by [02:57], Detective Christina Johnston)
• Jay's Account: Jay checked the duplex, found an open window, secured it, and left for work while Janet locked the door.
• Discovery: At 8am, neighbor Paul Taylor saw Janet’s window open with the screen removed. He entered the house, noticed the phone receiver in a drawer, and found Janet's body upstairs—naked, beaten, gagged, hands tied, stabbed with a knife from her own kitchen drawer. ([05:46], Detective Christina Johnston)
• Scene Details: No evidence of burglary or ransacking; valuables, money, jewelry untouched. The motive appeared non-material ([07:52], Detective Christina Johnston).

Early Suspects and Stalled Leads

[08:48 – 10:43]

• Missing Wallet: Janet’s purse was found outside by neighbor Kenneth, missing her wallet (never recovered).
• Suspicions: Boyfriend Jay was cleared after cooperative interviews and passing a polygraph.
• George Identified: Multiple neighbors raised concerns about a man named George, a known acquaintance with a checkered past ([14:45], Detective Christina Johnston).

Spotlight on George

[14:45 – 21:06]

• George’s History: Janet's sister described George as "creepy." He had a history of sexual and violent assaults as a teen—charges often downgraded or minimal fines imposed.
• Alibi & Timeline: George admitted being in the neighborhood the night Janet was killed, gave conflicting stories about his whereabouts, and witnesses saw him drive towards Janet's home ([17:40], Detective Christina Johnston).
• Lack of Physical Evidence: Police found no physical evidence tying George to the murder at the time ([18:41], Detective Christina Johnston).

Breakthroughs & Cold Case Technology

[21:06 – 23:53]

• DNA Limitations: Early attempts to use DNA yielded only complex mixtures—no single-source match for George ([21:06], Detective Christina Johnston).
• Related Crimes: In 2021, George was identified via CODIS in a 1984 Avon, CT kidnapping/sexual assault, triggering renewed interest in Janet’s case ([21:45], Detective Christina Johnston).

The Cold Case Card & New Leads

[24:46 – 25:59]

• Detective Johnston’s Strategy: In 2025, posters of Janet’s cold case card hung in prison—"By March of 2025, Janet’s face was hanging in the McDougal Walker Correctional Institution" ([25:20], Ashley Flowers).
• Prison Informant: A jailhouse informant came forward with damning evidence—a confession signed by George, handwritten notes containing details only the killer could know (e.g., color of the knife handle) ([25:59], Ashley Flowers).

Closing in on the Killer – Confession and Arrest

[31:31 – 34:58]

• Confession Details: A portion of George’s signed confession:
  "In October 1973, I broke into an apartment of a woman I knew. I broke in looking for money to get drugs. While searching the bedroom, Janet woke up and noticed me and said my name. I believe I tied her up as that's what I've done to others. I did go to the kitchen and get a butcher knife." ([32:11], Detective Christina Johnston)
• Discrepancies: Despite the confession, physical evidence (DNA) remained inconclusive—likely due to 1970s evidence collection or gloves.
• Second Confession: After initial evasiveness, two male detectives got a direct confession from George ([34:07], Detective Christina Johnston).

Arrest, Justice, and Aftermath

[34:58 – 36:42]

• Arrest at 77: George, already imprisoned for other crimes, was processed for Janet’s murder in 2025. He tried to negotiate for some of the reward money in exchange for a guilty plea:
  "If that's happening, if I get some of it, then I'll plead guilty. If I'm not getting some of it, I lied just to get the reward money… I need like maybe 10,000 of it." ([35:28], Detective Christina Johnston)
• No Reward for the Killer: Ashley Flowers remarks, "George was hoping to receive the reward money for a murder that he committed. Obviously, that didn’t happen. No one ended up with the reward money, by the way."
• Closure for Family: Janet’s siblings, especially her brother, were deeply grateful for truth and closure ([36:42], Detective Christina Johnston).

Bittersweet Ending

[36:57 – 37:49]

• George Dies Before Trial: Just over a week after his arrest, George died, robbing Janet’s family of a courtroom resolution ([37:07], Detective Christina Johnston).
• Detective Johnston’s Purpose:
  "There may be other victims out there... I do believe that by getting this information out there, it also gives hope to other detectives who have cold cases that anything is possible. With these cases, they can change at any second." ([37:49], Detective Christina Johnston)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the persistent pursuit of justice:
  "A cold case is never really cold. And today's story proves that." — Ashley Flowers ([01:34])
• Janet’s chilling premonition:
  "I think somebody might be in the house." — Janet Couture (relayed by Jay Locke and Detective Johnston, [02:53])
• On the pain and perseverance over decades:
  "It was like a balloon deflated... We gotta start from square one again." — Detective Christina Johnston ([34:58])
• On George's staggering criminal history:
  "He had been arrested in the past for sexual assaults and incidents that were similar in nature. Nothing like murder or homicide, but other agencies had floated the name around. You might want to talk to this person." — Detective Christina Johnston ([15:22])
• On the chance for broader justice:
  "There may be other victims out there... I do believe that by getting this information out there, it also gives hope to other detectives who have cold cases that anything is possible." — Detective Christina Johnston ([37:49])

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 01:34 | Introduction to Janet Couture’s case | | 02:53 | Janet’s last words and boyfriend’s account | | 03:15–06:23| Crime scene details and discovery | | 07:52 | Detective Johnston on non-robbery motive | | 14:45 | Focus on suspect George, his interactions with Janet | | 17:40 | Eyewitness contradicts George’s alibi | | 21:45 | Turning point with George’s DNA hit in 2021 Avon case | | 24:46 | Cold case card used to solicit prison tips | | 25:59 | Informant produces George’s confession and diagram | | 32:11 | Detective Johnston reads George’s signed confession | | 34:07 | Second interview yields direct confession | | 35:28 | George requests part of the reward money after arrest | | 36:42 | Detective Johnston informs Janet’s family | | 37:07 | George dies, case closed without full court process | | 37:49 | Appeal for information about possible additional victims |

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Final Thoughts & Call to Action

Ashley closes with a heartfelt appeal to listeners, emphasizing Janet’s youth and the lasting impact on her family. If anyone has information about other possible crimes George committed, Detective Johnston urges them to come forward.

Contact Information:
Detective Christina Johnston, East Hartford Police Department: 860-528-4401
Anonymous tip line: 860-289-9911

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This compelling episode underscores the relentless work and emotional toll behind solving cold cases, the importance of innovative approaches, and the complex, bittersweet nature of justice.

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Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

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[Detective Christina Johnston]

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[Ashley Flowers]

Our card this week is Janet Couture, the Jack of Diamonds from Connecticut. There is an old saying in law enforcement, a cold case is never really cold. And today's story proves that. Because just last year there was a new development that closed this unsolved murder case from 1973, proving that it's never too late. And in some cases, the answers might have been in front of you all along. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck. It was around 3am on Saturday, October 13, when 21 year old Janet Couture turned to her sleeping boyfriend on the couch and uttered something pretty terrifying.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

Janet had said to him, I think somebody might be in the house.

[Ashley Flowers]

That's Detective Christina Johnston of the East Hartford Police Department. She spent years poring over the original reports from this case, including the accounts from Janet's boyfriend, J. Locke. According to those reports, after Janet told him what she'd heard, Jay got up and took a look around.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

Now where she lived was a single building that was comprised of four separate units. All these units were within the building, but had their own separate entrances. The front door that leads into the kitchen was unlocked and open and the window was unsecure.

[Ashley Flowers]

Unsecure and open. But Jay didn't find anyone hiding out when he went through the apartment room by room, making sure to close the open window as he did. The two bedroom duplex wasn't large and Janet's roommate was away for the weekend, so he cleared the place pretty quickly.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

He said to Janet, I'm going to leave because he had to work in the morning. So she says, okay, I'm going to go upstairs, I'm going to go to bed. Because she wasn't feeling good that day, she was sick. And then she let him out. He said she locked the door. That was about approximately 3 o' clock in the morning. Between 3 and 3:10, Jay made sure

[Ashley Flowers]

the front door was locked as he left, leaving Janet to sleep in the still house in, I kid you not, Mayberry Village. But it was in these quiet moments that something happened. Around 8am, Janet's next door neighbor, Paul Taylor, came out to warm up his car. And he noticed that one of Janet's windows was wide open and the screen had been yanked out and was leaning against the building. Unbeknownst to him, this is the same exact window that Jay had secured just hours earlier. But still this was concerning enough of a sight to Paul that he called out to Janet, but she didn't respond.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

So when the neighbor walked into the front door, which leads into the kitchen, he observed a telephone on the wall. The receiver had been removed and put into a drawer.

[Ashley Flowers]

Whether it was the site of this receiver still connected to the wall mount half peeking out of a drawer or something else. Paul got the sense that he had to find Janet. Something was off and he knew he was right. When he finally made it into Janet's upstairs bedroom, Janet was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Paul rushed out and called the police from his place next door. And within a few hours the place was an active crime scene crawling with police and and detectives trying to make sense of what they were looking at. Starting with that phone in the drawer.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

That particular drawer was where she kept all the silverware. And there were some knives in there as well. They proceeded into the living room, which was fairly neat. There was no signs of a struggle. They then walked upstairs to the second floor. They noticed that there was two bedrooms. One bedroom was undisturbed and then the other bedroom which was Janet's bedroom. They noticed her on the floor. She was lying on her side, Closest to the wall and a night table. They observed that there was a knife still in her chest. She was not wearing any clothes, and her nightgown was in close proximity to her.

[Ashley Flowers]

There was also an unraveled wire hanger on top of the dresser. And judging by all of the marks that they saw on her body, in addition to the stab wound and the bloodstains on the mattress and the wall, it seemed like Janet had been beaten with the hanger and stabbed with the knife While she was on the bed. And then from there, she had somehow moved or been moved to the floor where they found her. She didn't stand much of a chance fighting back at whoever was torturing her because her face had been covered by a pillowcase Secured with ripped up pieces of her green bedsheets so she couldn't see. And then more of that bed sheet Was later found in her mouth, gagging her. Her hands were also tied behind her back with a telephone cord. Though worth noting, it wasn't the cord from the phone in the drawer downstairs. But detectives quickly surmised that the knife that was used had likely come from that drawer, or if not that drawer, Somewhere within Janet's own home. Oftentimes, when a killer doesn't bring their own weapon, it's an indication that the murder was not the motive. Usually you'll see them pull a weapon from the house In a case of a burglary gone wrong, where they get surprised thinking that no one was home, and then it turns into a robbery and a homicide. But that's not what they thought this was. Nothing looked ransacked. Valuable items like money and jewelry, Even a safety deposit box, Were all untouched.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

The motive wasn't robbery. It most likely was something else. They weren't there to steal anything of hers for monetary purposes.

[Ashley Flowers]

That didn't necessarily mean that they didn't take anything, though. When detectives began asking questions to the growing crowd of neighbors and looky loos gathering outside, A man named Kenneth approached them holding something in his hands. A purse that he had found outside earlier that morning.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

He was returning home from work after working the midnight shift, and there was a purse lying on the ground in front of his front door. He picked up the purse and brought it inside. He spoke with his wife, Thinking that it was one of their kids play purses, and she said, no, that is not ours. They then opened the purse and dumped out the contents and located a birth control pack that had Janet's name on it.

[Ashley Flowers]

What seemed to be missing from the purse was Janet's wallet. And upon closer inspection, they realized that wasn't in the house either. And to this day, Janet's wallet has never been recovered. So did the killer take money from her wallet? Was the wallet a trophy? Is it possible Janet herself lost her bag earlier in the day? If so, she never mentioned it to another neighbor who told police that he'd been over hanging out with Janet and her boyfriend jay until like 10:30 the night before. And this is when police learned that she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who, based on everything they knew at the time, seemed like the last one to be with their victim before she was murdered. But those suspicious high eyebrows lowered pretty quickly. When they actually connected with Jay, he was instantly cooperative and took and passed a polygraph. So police believed that he was being truthful about his month long relationship with Janet and most importantly, about his last night with her. How she woke him up because she heard a strange noise. How he searched the place and closed the window but after not finding anything, decided to go home. A decision that I am sure aided him for years to come. Now, out of all the other neighbors that they spoke to, no one else heard the noise that woke Janet up at 3am and there were no reports of odd cars or strange men lurking around the building at that time. But what if that's because Janet's killer wasn't a stranger? Because interestingly, in the same breath that neighbors would say they didn't hear or see anything, many of them also told police about one man in particular that they were suspicious of someone who just so happened to be friends with with Janet's neighbor.

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Detective Christina Johnston]

The sister had stated that Janet expressed to her that he's creepy and he would knock on my door from time to time and ask to use my phone. Janet's sister had told her, don't let him in anymore. If you don't feel comfortable, don't have him come in and use your phone.

[Ashley Flowers]

If he ever was permitted to come in and use the phone, it likely would have been the one on the first floor, the one that police found off the hook and in the knife drawer. According to one news report, Janet's sister said that George had asked Janet out on multiple occasions. And George was on the radar of law enforcement too.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

He had been arrested in the past for sexual assaults and incidents that were similar in nature. Nothing like murder or homicide, but other agencies had floated the name around. You might want to talk to this

[Ashley Flowers]

person and for good reason. In the mid-60s George had been arrested multiple times for violent assaults on women when he was still a teenager. All four of these assaults took place in a two year period. Three of these were alleged sexual assaults. George was charged with rape, attempted rape and carnal knowledge of a minor. Now we know two of those were downgraded and all of them only resulted in a fine. One as low as $35. In one non sexual assault that he was arrested for, George punched a woman after she refused to go out with him. Now by the time East Hartford PD officers were able to get in front of George, it was Halloween 1973. In that conversation, George told police that he had gone to the Mayberry Village neighborhood on the night of October 12th for a party. He also confirmed what neighbors had previously told police, that he had stopped by Lee's apartment twice, actually. Once earlier in the evening on the 12th and then again between 1:30 and 2:00 clock in the morning on the

[Detective Christina Johnston]

13th and he knocked on the door. He said nobody was home. So then he just went to the party, Grey Hill Road. He said he arrived around 2 o' clock in the morning at that party.

[Ashley Flowers]

The party at Great Hill Road was just a four minute walk from Janet's building. George said that he stayed there until he left at around 5am Then he stopped at a gas station on the way home, which police tried to confirm by talking to other people who had been at the party that evening. Now, a few partygoers remembered George, but they remembered him arriving later and leaving earlier, although it was a party, so it's hard to know how reliable those accounts are. That said, one woman told police that she remembered seeing George leave and then she pointed out that he had driven away in a different direction than one might expect if he was heading towards the gas station that he mentioned to police.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

The female witness then saw George drive away on Great Hill and made a. She said he made a left hand turn which would have been onto Woodlawn Circle, which was the direction to go to Janet's house.

[Ashley Flowers]

But George told detectives he had turned right the opposite direction to head towards the gas station that he mentioned he stopped at. So police followed up on that too.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

They had showed the gas attendant who was working that evening of the early morning hours of 13 October, a picture of George's car. And I believe they also showed him a photograph of George. And the gas attendant did not remember the vehicle and did not remember seeing George again.

[Ashley Flowers]

This was a few weeks after Janet's death. It's totally possible that the attendant just couldn't remember the evening clearly. But either way, detectives were doing their due diligence with George and they went beyond just a basic interview.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

They did take pictures of him, his body. They took pictures of him with a shirt off to see if he had any type of wounds or bruising or anything like that. They also did take photographs of his car.

[Ashley Flowers]

There wasn't anything that came from the car, though. George didn't have any suspicious marks or bruises on his body either. And what he said when asked if he was involved with Janet's murder, well, that I couldn't tell you because Detective Johnston said there is no note in the case file of that question being asked. So it's hard to say how seriously the department was looking at this guy. But that didn't mean he was off their radar by any means. In fact, just eight days later, he put himself front and center for police.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

On November 2, 1973, Vernon police receive a incident report from a woman who claimed that she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted from a shopping plaza. In Vernon, Connecticut, in the daylight hours. And Shortly thereafter, on November 8, 1973, they arrest Georgia Gere for kidnapping in the first degree, risk of injury of a minor, and sex assault in the first degree.

[Ashley Flowers]

A couple of things here. First, Vernon is just a little over 10 miles from east Hartford. And second, the risk of injury to a minor charge came because when George kidnapped this woman, her child was in the backseat of her car. But this time, George couldn't just pay a fine and walk away. He was convicted and sentenced to five to ten years in prison. Now, George's conviction was a good news, bad news situation for the East Hartford pd. Good news was that he was off the streets. Bad news was that this didn't move the needle in Janet's case. They still had nothing to connect George to Janet's murder. And by the end of 1974, there were still no new leads or new evidence. And nothing changed even after George was released on parole in 1978, not even as decades passed by and the department tried to go through old evidence that they collected at the scene to see what was maybe viable for this brand new thing that was all the rage called DNA testing.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

And pretty much everything was a mixture or complex mixture. We did not have anything that was single source DNA. So that made it difficult as well because we would have to get known DNA swabs from individuals to be able to compare it.

[Ashley Flowers]

That was pretty much where Janet's case stood through the new millennium. Police tried here and there to see if updated technology would help, but every time, no dice. But as fate would have it, In May of 2021, another case changed everything for Detective Johnston, who had inherited the case a few years before.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

I was at my house, I was at home, and I was watching the news, and I had learned that Georgia Gare had been arrested for a 1984 cold case out of Avon, Connecticut.

[Ashley Flowers]

Avon is just under a half hour from East Hartford. The department had identified George after a hit on his DNA in CODIS. It started in Massachusetts. Back in 2019, George was convicted of assault with a firearm. That conviction is how his DNA ended up in the system. But not right away. Just before he was released, he was swabbed and his DNA was entered into CODIS. So in 2021, with George's DNA finally in that system, George, Avon PD was able to connect him to their old case from 1984, another sexual assault, slash, kidnapping. So George was eventually convicted of that and sentenced to 25 years for kidnapping. But because it had taken so long to connect him to the case. Sadly, the statute of limitations on the sexual assault had run out. The victim in his 1984 case survived. But without going into too much detail, there were a lot of similarities to Janet's case.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

So this case is what kind of like, really blew the doors off this entire thing, Right? This really got it going again. Once I saw this case, I dug even deeper into the case file and found the Vernon case and then the Vernon from 1973 case. And then I found all the other cases from the 60s that had been documented and that were sitting in the case file.

[Ashley Flowers]

Johnston was able to obtain a search and seizure warrant for George's DNA because they couldn't just use his profile and CODIS for direct comparison.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

On July 26th of 2021, myself and my lieutenant at the time, Lieutenant Olson, went to the prison where Georgia Gere was being held. Because this is before he was on trial for the Avon case. He was awaiting trial. We went there to get the known sample.

[Ashley Flowers]

George refused to talk. He didn't even ask why they were there. They didn't need him to talk, just need him to open wide. They swabbed his cheek, sent the sample

[Detective Christina Johnston]

off, and he was not linked to anything. He was eliminated from some things. Some things it was. They couldn't make a determination. Inconclusive. So there was nothing. We were at square one again. We didn't have any physical evidence to link him to the crime scene. I was absolutely devastated. I was upset because I was like, what do I do now? You know, because you hold onto that hope of. You try to be hopeful, like, yes, yes. Okay, here we are. Here we are. Here we are. And then you're like, nope, no, next. You got to figure something out. Like, what's next?

[Ashley Flowers]

In 2025, Detective Johnston reached out to a colleague, Michael Sheldon, a supervisory inspector for the state's cold case unit, to see if he had any ideas. And he did.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

He goes, why don't you put posters up in the prison? Why don't you blow up her cold case card? It said the date, it was a picture of her, and that she had been stabbed in her apartment at 150 Cannon Road in East Hartford. Very, very short blurb. And at the bottom, it was a $50,000 reward offered by the state.

[Ashley Flowers]

So Detective Johnston did just that. She blew Janet's card up. And By March of 2025, Janet's face was hanging in the McDougal Walker Correctional Institution. And in roughly two months, Detective Johnston had a new lead.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

May 9, 2025, I received a call from investigator Sheldon, informing me that an inmate had called the hotline from the poster saying that he had information pertaining to our case. So that was like, oh, my God. Okay, the wheels are turning again. So that was a really good phone call. I'll never forget that phone call.

[Ashley Flowers]

When Detective Johnston spoke with the witness, at first, all the guy was interested in was the reward money. But eventually, over the course of three interviews, he started to talk. He said that a man he was in prison with was responsible for Janet's death. And he brought receipts, Handwritten notes that he said came from the killer that had details in them, like the color of the knife handle used in Janet's murder, which was brown. Something that was never made public. By the third time Detective Johnston talked to the witness, he came with a lawyer. And he brought something else. A diagram that the killer had drawn of Janet's place to prove that he had been inside. And a confession signed by none other than Georgesre. Can I tell you my least favorite part of parenting? And I knew this was going to be my least favorite part before I ever even had my daughter. Mealtime. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks in between. I mean, I'm someone who gets one good meal a day if I'm lucky. I just wasn't built for planning out five plus meals and snacks a day. And maybe it sounds small to you, but it grinds me. So I went looking for a solution, and I found Little spoon. They deliver real food for babies, toddlers and big kids straight to your door. So mealtime actually feels easy. Decision fatigue over. And mealtime can be on the go without getting fast food. That is parenting gold. These are organic meals and snacks for babies, toddlers and big kids. Purees, finger foods, hidden veggie plates, and more. All safety tested for 500 toxins. Convenient and best part, under $8 per serving, less than you would pay for a smoothie. Little Spoon is the mealtime hack parents can't stop talking about. Try their no. Prep nutrient packed meals and snacks for babies, toddlers and big kids. And get 30% off your first online order at littlespoon.com deck30 with code deck30 at checkout. That's L I T T L E S P O-O-N.com slow and don't forget to use our show's code for 30% off your first order.

[Commercial Narrator]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Detective Christina Johnston]

He provides us with a statement that is handwritten. He claims that the witness claims that he wrote the statement, but George told him what to write. George then signs this statement and not

[Ashley Flowers]

only was it signed by George, but his signature was also not notarized by a Department of Corrections employee. The deal George had made with the witness was that this confession statement would be turned over after his death. But guess what? George was still very much alive. Now if you're not watching this, we do have a copy of this statement. We asked Detective Johnston to read a short portion of it.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

I do want it known that after 1986 I did change my life and was productive to the community and family. Further, I am sorry for my actions while on drugs and for more drugs from partying at the Mayberry Village in East Hartford. In October 1973, I broke into an apartment of a woman I knew. I broke in looking for money to get drugs. While searching the bedroom, Janet woke up and noticed me and said my name. I believe I tied her up as that's what I've done to others. I did go to the kitchen and get a butcher knife.

[Ashley Flowers]

George goes on to admit that he stabbed Janet and threw her wallet over a bridge, which explains why it was never recovered. The details were all compelling and all credible, but hard to reconcile with the DNA results that had come back without a match. But it turns out there are legitimate reasons why George might not have left DNA at the scene. Like the quality of evidence. For starters, evidence in the 70s wasn't collected and stored the way that we would do it now. So who knows how many people touched this stuff back then. Plus, he could have worn gloves. That's actually one of Detective Johnston's personal theories. With his confession now Detective Johnston had the ammo to go after him, but the first attempt didn't go so well. George just kind of danced around at all, suggesting things but not really admitting to anything. And then finally he asked for a lawyer. But Detective Johnston wasn't about to give up. At the urging of the state attorney's office, they went back at him. And this time, Detective Johnston changed tactics. Clearly, George wasn't fond of women, so she sent in two men.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

One of them was my partner who was familiar with this case and was working with me at the time through all this. And another one was a detective I worked closely with who was familiar with this case as well. And in that time, they were able to get a confession from him. George confessed to killing Janet.

[Ashley Flowers]

Despite George's claim, Janet, that his motive that night was robbery, Detective Johnston believes that this was ultimately a sexually motivated crime. She believes that George came into that house, attempted to get in, which would have been when Janet first heard the noise, and then maybe he saw her boyfriend Jay with her or spotted Jay's car, and then he left and returned later after Jay was gone. The truth is, that part didn't matter much anymore. What mattered is that Detective Johnston now had enough for an arrest warrant.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

I couldn't believe that we had gotten this far because there were so many times where, you know, it was like a balloon deflated. You know, like, we gotta start from square one again. So it was. It was surreal.

[Ashley Flowers]

In September of 2025, Detective Johnston headed to the McDougal Walker Correctional Institution to formally arrest then 77 year old George. Now, he was already in prison, so all they had to do was process him, you know, prints, mugshot, et cetera.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

When I went to arrest him, he states, quote, everything I said before, I said only because I could get some of the reward money. He continued to state, quote, if that's happening, if I get some of it, then I'll plead guilty. And quote, if I'm not getting some of it, I lied just to get the reward money, end quote. Then stated, quote, I need like maybe 10,000 of it. The other can go to the family, but I want some of it.

[Ashley Flowers]

You heard that correctly. George was hoping to receive the reward money for a murder that he committed. Obviously, that didn't happen. No one ended up with the reward money, by the way. This arrest had been in the making for over 50 years before Janet's case was East Hartford Peady's oldest unsolved murder. And now Detective Johnston could bring some semblance of closure to her family. This was A moment that her mother had hoped to be alive to see. And she was so close. But unfortunately, she passed away in 2023, before the press could get a hold of it. Detective Johnston reached out to Janet's siblings.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

They were relieved. They were thankful. That's what I remember. In particular, they were very thankful. I met with Janet's brother in person, and he was very, very thankful that an arrest had been made.

[Ashley Flowers]

But here's the thing about justice. Sometimes it can be elusive. A little over a week after his arrest for Janet's murder, George passed away.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

When I found out that he died, it was like the balloon deflated all over again, you know? But there was nothing I could do about it. I knew he was in bad shape, you know, I knew he was old, and I knew it could happen. I was just hoping that we would get maybe a little further in the court process before it happened.

[Ashley Flowers]

With George now deceased, the East Hartford police have closed the books on Janet's case. But there are still questions that remain specifically around George. A man with such a violent past spread across decades, it makes detective Johnston wonder, could he be involved in other unsolved or even unknown cases?

[Detective Christina Johnston]

And that is the one reason why I agreed to do this project, is because I do believe that there may be other victims out there. There may be people that are missing and may have not been recovered. I do believe that by getting this information out there, it also gives hope to other detectives who have cold cases that anything is possible. With these cases, they can change at any second.

[Ashley Flowers]

If Janet were alive today, she would have been 73 years old. And I think that emphasizes how young she truly was when George decided to take her life. She deserved better. And if there are other victims of George still out there, they deserve better, too. So if you're listening or watching this and you know something, please speak up. Let's not let another case go unsolved for as long as Janet's did. So if you have any information about other crimes Georgesre might have been involved in, or if you believe you were a victim of his, contact detective Christina Johnston of the East Hartford Police Department at 860-528-4401 or if you'd like to remain anonymous, you can call 860-28991. The deck is an audio Chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com I think Chuck would approve.

[Detective Christina Johnston]

Warning. The following ziprecruiter radio spot you are about to hear is going to be

[Ashley Flowers]

filled with F words when you're hiring. We at ZipRecruiter know you can feel frustrated, forlorn, even, like your efforts are futile. And you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people, only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine. Fortunately, ZipRecruiter figured out how to fix all that, and right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip with ZipRecruiter you can forget your frustrations because we find the right people for your roles fast, which is our absolute favorite F word. In fact, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Fantastic. So whether you need to hire four, 40 or 400 people, get ready to meet first rate talent. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com Zip to try ZipRecruiter for free. Don't forget that's ZipRecruiter.com Zip finally, that's ZipRecruiter.Com Zip hi everyone. Ashley Flowers here. If you're like me, diving into true crime is about more than just the details of a case. It is also about giving a voice to the victims and understanding the lives behind the headlines. And this is what host Kylie Lowe does each week on her podcast, Dark Down East. Every Thursday, Kylie dives into New England's most gripping mysteries, uncovering stories in a way you won't hear hear anywhere else. And she digs through archives, connects with families, and shines a light on the voices that deserve to be heard. From cold cases to moments of long awaited justice, Dark down east is the perfect blend of investigations and honoring the stories behind them. You can find Dark down east now wherever you're listening.