Groton Man Opts for Trial in Case Where Body Was Found in Freezer

Luis Otero, who stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Madeline Brisson, and hiding her body in a freezer at the apartment they shared at 1184 Gold Star Highway (Route 184) in Groton, has opted to take his case to trial.

Otero, 51, appeared in New London Superior Court Tuesday to reject a plea offer of 27 years in prison. Judge Patrick J. Clifford cautioned Otero that should he be found guilty of murder, he faces a possible life sentence--which in Connecticut amounts to 50 years. If Otero is convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, he faces a sentence of 25 years.

“If you change your mind short of trial, the offer [of 27 years] is not there,” Clifford told Otero. “In all probability, the offer will be higher.”

Clifford added that one of the victim’s family members had contacted the court to voice opposition to the plea offer. The judge ordered the case be placed on the jury list to proceed to trial. However, it’s not likely to be an easy case for Public Defender Bruce Sturman, who is representing Otero.

According to the arrest warrant, Otero walked into the Groton City Police Department shortly before 10:30 p.m. on March 7, 2010, and told officers that a woman’s body was in a freezer in the basement of an apartment at 1184 Gold Star Highway. When police asked him how he knew that, Otero replied he had “put her body there.” Otero added that he had left the lights on so police officers would be able to see.  

Responding officers arrived at the apartment, which was rented by Brisson, and proceeded to the basement. Inside a freezer they found the fully dressed body of a woman wrapped in a sheet and covered with a blue tarp. Police found a driver’s license in the pocket of the victim’s pajamas, which allowed them to positively identify the woman as 51-year-old Brisson.

“The body was frozen solid, indicative of it having been there for some time,” the arrest warrant states.

Indeed, the arrest warrant suggests Brisson might have been dead for several days before Otero turned himself in to police. Otero called his sister Sandra William on March 4 but had been unable to speak with her until three days later. When they finally connected by cell phone, William said Otero confessed to killing Brisson. She told police she believed her brother was on his way to police headquarters when they spoke. 

Otero also called his cousin Carol Hudnall “to say goodbye” on March 8. According to the arrest warrant, he told both women that he and Brisson had been drinking when they got into an argument over his daughter. In an interview with police, Hudnall said that Otero told her Brisson was kicking him out of the apartment and moving his daughter in with her to be her lover. Hudnall told police that Otero said he “flipped out” and that she feared he had killed Brisson.

William told police Otero said, “he had been having nightmares about what he’d done.”