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Inset, left to right: Daniel Varnes (Saginaw County Jail) and Teressa M. Johnson (Swartz Funeral Home). Background: Authorities at the motel where Varnes killed Johnson (WJRT).
A Michigan man, aged 47, has been sentenced to several decades in prison for the heinous acts of torturing and murdering his visually impaired girlfriend. He confined her in a motel room, subjecting her to abuse for over a week, and then remained with her lifeless body for days.
Daniel J. Varnes entered a no contest plea on Tuesday, facing charges of second-degree murder, torture, and the concealment of a death related to the tragic demise of Teressa M. Johnson, as revealed by court documents. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Varnes agreed to a 32-year term in a state prison.
Johnson’s body, showing signs of mutilation, was found in the early hours of September 1, 2024, at the Rodeway Inn and Suites on St. Mary’s Lane in Saginaw, located roughly 100 miles northwest of Detroit.
According to a MLive report, her body was discovered by a drug dealer who had arranged to meet Varnes at a nearby gas station for a crack cocaine transaction. Varnes, however, fled without paying the agreed $60 for the drugs. The dealer, trying to track Varnes down, was invited to the motel.
Once inside, the dealer recounted seeing a body on the bed, concealed by a blanket, while Varnes attempted to justify the theft of the drugs. Varnes pointed to the bed, indicating he had “this situation going on,” referring to the grim scene.
The dealer then asked what was beneath the covers on the bed, per MLive.
“You know exactly what that is,” Varnes reportedly responded. He then removed the blanket, revealing Johnson’s body, which the dealer said appeared to have been dead for a few days.
Varnes reportedly claimed Johnson had died from injuries she sustained while visiting friends a few days earlier. Noting that no one knew Johnson was with him at the hotel, Varnes indicated to the dealer that it would be easy to dispose of her body.
The dealer left the room and called 911 to report the body. Police arrived shortly after, and Varnes fled the motel on foot, running into the forest nearby. Authorities located him in the woods at about 4 p.m. that day.
During an interview with detectives, Varnes “admitted to committing several acts of brutality” against Johnson, Flint-based ABC affiliate WJRT reported, citing prosecutors. Such acts reportedly included beating the woman with his fists, boots, and various objects as well as using needle-nose pliers on Johnson’s mouth “to shut her up.”
“He had said at one point that he ‘beat the s— out of her,’” a detective reportedly testified. “At one point in the conversation, he said he hit her at least 10 times.”
Inside the motel room, police recovered scissors, a ratchet, side cutters, screwdrivers, and pliers, all of which reportedly tested positive for Johnson’s blood.
An autopsy determined that Johnson’s cause of death was “multiple traumatic injuries, recent and remote with related complications.”
A woman who had been staying next to Varnes for more than two months told WJRT that she had no inkling anything so violent could have been happening in his room.
“Absolutely not, no, for the entire whole two, two and a half months that he has been our neighbor we have seen him every single day,” she told the station.
Varnes is scheduled to appear for his sentencing hearing April 13.