Man charged with murder in death of Duxbury, Massachusetts woman in Connecticut home

A man has been arrested for murder in connection with the death of a Duxbury, Massachusetts woman, months after her body was found in a Connecticut home under suspicious circumstances. 

This week, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death for Janina Brooke Murphy to be blunt force injury of head and the manner, homicide.

On Tuesday, Connecticut State Police arrested 28-year-old Cole Werhan of Burlington, Connecticut and charged him with murder. 

Brooke Murphy, as she is referred to by her mother, was found at the bottom of a staircase in March inside the Burlington, Connecticut home where she was living. At the time, Connecticut State Police called the 26-year-old’s death suspicious.

“Another detective got on the phone. He said, ‘I want you to know something. Your daughter didn’t just fall down the stairs. She had wounds all over her,’” Brooke’s mother, Beth Murphy, told WBZ. 

Murphy said her daughter and Werhan were dating, and she is determined to seek justice. “It’s confirmed, it wasn’t an accident. So that part, really, that’s tough,” Murphy said.

Murphy described her daughter as kind and artistic. 

“So many people said she was my best friend. Like, pretty much everybody said Brooke was my best friend. She had a heart of gold,” Murphy said.

Brooke Murphy’s 27th birthday fell on June 17. Connecticut State Police said they are continuing to actively investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.

Werhan was held on a $5,000,000 cash bond and is scheduled to appear in Torrington Superior Court in Connecticut on Wednesday morning.