A man in Michigan is facing several years in prison after he was arrested for killing his visually impaired girlfriend at a motel and living with her dead body for several days.
Daniel J. Varnes pleaded no contest during a court hearing on Tuesday, March 3, to one count each of second-degree murder, torture and concealing a death in the death of his girlfriend, Teressa M. Johnson, according to Law & Crime.
Varnes, 47, has reached a deal with prosecutors and agreed to serve 32 years in a state correctional facility for the crime.
Johnson was found mutilated at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Saginaw, Michigan, in the early hours of September 1, 2024.
Her body was discovered by a drug dealer who met with Varnes at a nearby gas station to sell him crack, according to MLive. Varnes reportedly took the drugs and ran away without paying the dealer, so the dealer called Varnes and he was told to come to his motel room.
Once the drug dealer got to the motel, he saw a human body on the bed that was covered with a blanket. He said that Varnes tried to explain why he stole the drugs as he gestured toward the bed and said he had “this situation going on.”
The dealer then asked Varnes what was beneath the covers, and he reportedly responded, “You know exactly what that is,” according to MLive.
The drug dealer said that Varnes then removed the blanket and revealed Johnson’s body, which the dealer said appeared to have been dead for several days.
Varnes reportedly claimed that Johnson died from injuries she sustained when she was visiting friends days earlier. After Varnes noted that no one knew her body was at the motel with him, he reportedly told the drug dealer that it would be easy to get rid of her body.
After the dealer left the room, he called 911 to report the body. Police arrived soon after and Varnes fled the motel on foot. However, authorities managed to locate him in a nearby wooded area later that day around 4 p.m.
Varnes then spoke to detectives and “admitted to committing several acts of brutality” against Johnson, according to WJRT. He reportedly admitted to beating the woman with his fists and other objects, as well as using needle-nose pliers on her mouth “to shut her up.”
“He had said at one point that he ‘beat the s**t out of her,’” a detective reportedly testified, per the outlet. “At one point in the conversation, he said he hit her at least 10 times.”
Police recovered scissors, a ratchet, side cutters, screwdrivers and pliers from the motel room, which all reportedly tested positive for Johnson’s blood.
An autopsy also determined that Johnson’s cause of death was “multiple traumatic injuries, recent and remote with related complications,” according to the outlet.
It is not clear if Varnes had a motive while committing the crime.
Varnes is scheduled to return to court for his sentencing hearing on April 13.
