A Michigan registered sex offender is facing decades in prison for torturing and killing his visually impaired girlfriend, then keeping her body stashed in a motel room for days.
Daniel J. Varnes, 47, entered a no contest plea March 3—the same day his trial was scheduled to begin—to charges of second-degree murder, torture and concealing the death of an individual in connection with the 2024 death of his girlfriend Teressa Johnson, according to court records reviewed by Oxygen.com.
“I would say it is fortunate that he chose to plead and not put all the people involved through a trial,” Prosecuting Attorney John McColgan told Oxygen.com. “Due to the heinous nature of this crime whatever time in prison the judge chooses to impose is not enough.”
As part of the deal, McColgan said prosecutors recommend a sentence of 32 years, believing “that keeping him in prison until he is 80 would be sufficient to deter any further such behavior.”
He will be formally sentenced next month.
According to a 2025 preliminary examination, Johnson’s body was discovered inside a room at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Saginaw Township on Sept. 1, 2024, by a drug dealer who’d come to collect money from Varnes after he’d run away before paying him for some crack, per MLive.
The dealer would later testify, per the outlet, that he saw a body, concealed by a blanket, laying on a bed in the motel room. As Varnes was trying to explain why he’d stolen the crack, he also allegedly gestured to the bed, noting that he also had “this situation going on.”
When the dealer asked more about what was going on, MLive reported, Varnes allegedly told him “You know exactly what that is,” before showing him the body hidden under the blanket.
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Investigators estimated that between Aug. 18, 2024, and Sept. 1, 2024, Varnes caused “extreme physical or mental main and suffering” to Johnson as he inflicted “great bodily injury or severe mental pain and suffering,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com.
After his arrest, Varnes allegedly admitted to torturing Johnson—who suffered from a visual impairment—by beating her with his fists, boots and a ratchet, according prosecutor’s account in a bond recommendation obtained by MLive. He also used needle nose pliers on her mouth to “shut her up” and burned her face with a crack pipe, prosecutors wrote.
Investigators later recovered the rachet and pliers—along with scissors, side cutters and screwdrivers—which all tested positive for Johnson’s blood, the outlet reported.
A medical examiner would later determine that Johnson died of “multiple traumatic injuries.”
Investigators believe that Varnes killed Johnson sometime between August. 30, 2024, and Sept. 1, 2024, and then failed to notify anyone of her death, per the complaint.
Varnes is considered a “habitual offender” after having been convicted of at least three prior felonies, including a conviction for felony battery, attempted criminal sexual conduct in the second-degree of a person under 13 and attempted sexual offenders-failure to comply with reporting duties, according to the complaint.
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He’s currently being held at the Saginaw County jail while he awaits his formal sentencing.
Oxygen.com reached to Varnes’ attorney but did not receive an immediate reply.
