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 is set to spend decades in prison after brutally torturing and killing his visually impaired girlfriend in a harrowing case that has shocked the local community. The 47-year-old, Daniel J. Varnes, confessed to these horrific crimes, which took place in a motel room where he kept her captive for over a week before remaining beside her lifeless body for several days.
Varnes, facing charges of second-degree murder, torture, and concealing a death, entered a no-contest plea on Tuesday. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, he will serve a 32-year sentence in a state correctional facility. The victim, Teressa M. Johnson, suffered unimaginably at the hands of someone she knew.
The gruesome discovery was made at the Rodeway Inn and Suites on St. Mary’s Lane in Saginaw, approximately 100 miles northwest of Detroit. Her mutilated remains were found in the early hours of September 1, 2024, bringing a tragic end to a horrifying ordeal.
According to a report by MLive, the body was uncovered by a drug dealer who had arranged to meet Varnes at a nearby gas station to sell him crack cocaine. However, Varnes allegedly fled with the drugs without paying the $60 owed. When the dealer pursued him, Varnes directed him to the motel room.
Upon entering the room, the dealer noticed a body on the bed, obscured by a blanket, while Varnes attempted to justify his theft of the drugs. Varnes reportedly pointed to the bed and cryptically mentioned having “this situation going on,” referring to the body beneath the covers.
The dealer, taken aback, asked about what was concealed under the blanket, leading to the grim discovery detailed in the MLive report.
“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.
