A Massachusetts woman’s death at the bottom of a Connecticut staircase has now been ruled a homicide – and her former boyfriend has been charged with murder after her mother was told by police that her daughter had ‘wounds all over her.’
Cole Theodore Werhan, 28, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with murder in the death of 26-year-old Janina Brooke Murphy, whose body was discovered in late March inside the Burlington, Connecticut home where she had been living.
The arrest came after the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Murphy died from a blunt force injury to the head and ruled her death a homicide.
Murphy, known to loved ones as Brooke, was found at the bottom of a staircase on March 29, in a case Connecticut State Police immediately described as suspicious.
But it was only after a detective called her mother, Beth Murphy, that the family learned police did not believe the young woman had simply suffered a tragic fall.
‘Another detective got on the phone,’ Beth Murphy told WBZ-TV. ‘He said, ‘I want you to know something. Your daughter didn’t just fall down the stairs. She had wounds all over her.’
The devastating revelation has now been followed by the murder charge against Werhan, who is being held on $5million cash bond and was due to be arraigned in Torrington Superior Court on Wednesday.
State police said their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Murphy’s death remains active.
Cole Theodore Werhan, 28, was arrested Tuesday and charged with the murder of Janina ‘Brooke’ Murphy, 26
Janina ‘Brooke’ Murphy, 26, was found dead at a Burlington, Connecticut home on March 29.
‘It’s confirmed, it wasn’t an accident,’ Murphy told WBZ. ‘So that part, really, that’s tough.’
Murphy said her daughter was a gentle, creative young woman whose warmth made her unforgettable to the people around her.
‘So many people said she was my best friend,’ Beth Murphy said. ‘Like, pretty much everybody said Brooke was my best friend. She had a heart of gold.’
Brooke Murphy would have turned 27 on June 17.
Neighbors in Burlington said they saw troopers take Werhan away in handcuffs from the Claire Hill Road home at around 4pm on Tuesday, months after police descended on the property following Murphy’s death.
State police have released few details about what investigators found that night, beyond describing the death as suspicious and confirming that detectives from the Western District Major Crime unit were assigned to the case.
Neighbors previously said they saw a body removed from the home and watched troopers return roughly a week later, apparently to search the two-story property again.
One Burlington resident, Joe Prespare, said the arrest offered hope that Murphy’s family may finally get answers.
Connecticut State Police said their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Murphy’s death remains active
Murphy was found at the bottom of a staircase inside the Burlington home where Werhan lived
Werhan is being held on $5million cash bond ahead of his scheduled arraignment in Torrington Superior Court
‘As a neighbor and member of this community, hearing about Cole Werhan’s arrest today and with Brooke Murphy’s death now ruled a homicide, I hope this is the beginning of justice for her and her family,’ Prespare said to CT Insider.
‘She deserved better. Women deserve to feel safe. Whatever today brings, it is long overdue.’
The murder charge comes as Werhan was already facing three separate domestic violence cases involving other women, according to court records and arrest warrants.
Those cases involved women he allegedly met through dating apps before becoming violent and attempting to stop them from leaving his home, authorities alleged.
In the earliest case, Werhan was arrested on November 20, 2025, after a woman he met on Bumble told police he became enraged after drinking alcohol, according to an arrest warrant.
The woman alleged Werhan blocked the doorway to his bedroom and slapped her so hard that she fell onto the bed.
She told police he made her show him her phone to ensure she was not calling authorities, according to the warrant.
The document alleged Werhan then told her: ‘Now you have given me something I have always wanted to do, I am going to kill you.’
The woman was eventually able to calm him and persuade him to let her leave, police said.
Brooke Murphy’s mother Beth said the homicide ruling confirmed her daughter’s death was not an accident, describing the news as ‘tough’ after months of uncertainty
Beth Murphy remembered Brooke, center, as a kind, artistic young woman with a ‘heart of gold,’ saying so many people considered her their best friend
Werhan was charged in that case with assault, unlawful restraint, threatening, breach of peace and disorderly conduct.
He was arrested again on April 28 in connection with an alleged December 21 incident involving another woman he met through Bumble, according to state records.
That woman told police Werhan poured a bottle of water over her head and threw an object that struck her in the face, leaving a mark, according to the warrant.
She told investigators she did not believe she could leave the house because she feared what he might do, but was able to get away when a friend arrived to pick her up.
Then, on June 3, Werhan was arrested for a third time in eight months and charged with felony strangulation, as well as disorderly conduct and threatening.
That case stemmed from allegations made by a woman Werhan met on the Hinge dating app and who later moved in with him, according to the arrest warrant.
The woman told police Werhan had become violent on more than one occasion, alleging that he slapped her, pulled her hair and held her down.
In one alleged incident, he put his hands around her neck and squeezed until she could not breathe, according to the warrant.
She also alleged that when she tried to leave the house on another occasion, Werhan ran up behind her, grabbed her, threw her back inside and held her down.
The woman later managed to leave the home at around 5am while Werhan was asleep, police said.
According to the warrant, she told investigators she feared that if she returned to him, ‘she would end up dead.’
Werhan posted $750,000 bond in that case on June 5, according to Andrius Banevicius, a spokesperson for the Connecticut prison system.
Now, just weeks later, he is accused of murdering Murphy.
