Janina Brooke Murphy was found dead in March at a Burlington, Connecticut, home.
BURLINGTON, CT — A Burlington man has been charged with murder after the death of 26-year-old Janina Brooke Murphy, a Massachusetts woman with Duxbury ties, was ruled a homicide months after she was found dead inside a Connecticut home.
Connecticut State Police said Cole Theodore Werhan, 28, was arrested Tuesday after the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Murphy died from blunt force injury to the head. The ruling changed a case that police had called suspicious since late March into a homicide investigation with a named defendant and a pending court case.
Murphy, who was known to her family as Brooke, was found March 29 at a residence on Claire Hill Road in Burlington, a small town west of Hartford. Early reports from the scene said she was found at the bottom of a staircase. Police have not released a full account of what they believe happened inside the home, and the arrest warrant details were not immediately available in public reports Tuesday night. Murphy’s mother described her daughter as kind and artistic and said many people considered her their best friend. “She had a heart of gold,” her mother said in a television interview after the homicide ruling.
State police said Western District Major Crime detectives took over the investigation after Murphy’s body was found. Troopers initially said the public was not believed to be in danger, but they released few details in the weeks that followed. Neighbors told local reporters that police returned to the Claire Hill Road property after the death and appeared to search the two-story home. Some residents also reported seeing officers remove a body from the home and later escort Werhan at the property. Police did not publicly name a suspect when the investigation began, and the medical examiner’s ruling was not announced until June. Murphy would have turned 27 earlier this month.
Werhan was charged after the medical examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide. State police said he was held on $5 million bail and was expected to appear in Superior Court in Torrington. His attorney could not be reached for comment in early reports. The murder charge follows several other pending domestic violence cases involving Werhan, according to court and police records described in local reports. Those cases involved allegations from women who said they met him through dating apps. The allegations included assault, unlawful restraint, threatening and strangulation. Werhan has not been convicted in those pending cases, and the murder charge is only an accusation unless proven in court.
The earlier domestic violence cases drew new attention after Murphy’s death because Werhan lived at the Burlington property where investigators focused their work. In one case, a woman told police Werhan became violent after they met through a dating app and accused him of threatening to kill her. In another, police said a woman reported being strangled and held down during encounters in 2025. A judge raised Werhan’s bond in one of those cases to $750,000, and a protective order was issued. Those records now form part of the public context around the homicide case, though police have not said how, or whether, they connect to Murphy’s death.
Murphy’s death also drew attention in Massachusetts, where she had ties to Duxbury and was reported to have graduated from Duxbury High School in 2017. Friends and relatives remembered her as creative, warm and close to the people around her. Her family’s public comments have focused on grief and accountability as the case moves from a death investigation to a criminal prosecution. Neighbors in Burlington said the arrest brought some relief after months of uncertainty on Claire Hill Road. Resident Joe Prespare said he hoped the arrest was “the beginning of justice for her and her family.”
The next step is Werhan’s arraignment in Torrington Superior Court, where a judge is expected to review the murder charge, bail and any protective conditions. Investigators have not publicly released a full timeline of Murphy’s final hours, the evidence that led to the arrest or whether additional charges could be filed.
Author note: Last updated June 24, 2026.