Dead at the Bottom of the Stairs: How a Fake Hinge "Charmer" Took a Young Sister's Life While the Courts Slept
Janina Brooke Murphy was only 26 when her life was stolen, and the wildest part is the system already knew her killer was out here choking women.
We gotta keep it 100 about how dangerous it is out here for young women, especially with these fake-ass "charmers" using dating apps to hunt for their next victim. Cole Theodore Werhan, 28, just got locked up by the Connecticut State Police and charged with murder for the death of 26-year-old Janina Brooke Murphy. Murphy, who went by Brooke, was found dead back in March at the bottom of a staircase in the Burlington home where she was staying. The police originally called it "suspicious," but the medical examiner just dropped the real truth: she died from blunt force head trauma, and it was a straight-up homicide.
Brooke's mother, Beth Murphy, spoke out about the devastating phone call she got from the detectives. She said they told her straight up that her daughter didn't just fall down the stairs—she had wounds all over her body. Beth remembered her daughter as a kind, artistic girl with a "heart of gold." Hearing that her daughter's death was ruled a homicide confirmed the family's worst nightmare, and it's a pain no mother should ever have to carry.
But what's really got the community heated is the fact that this tragedy should have never happened. Court records show Werhan was already out on the streets with a pending domestic violence case in Torrington Superior Court. Why was this dude still walking around, looking for his next target on Hinge, when he was already caught putting hands on women? The system failed this young sister big time, letting a violent abuser run loose while her family paid the price.
According to the arrest warrant, another woman met Werhan on Hinge and said he started off with "love bombing"—acting all sweet and perfect online to get her guard down. But the minute she showed up to his spot in Burlington, he was drinking and put his hands on her on the very first date. That's a predator, plain and simple, using these apps to lure women into a trap.
Between May and August 2025, this coward ran a reign of terror on that victim, slapping her, pulling her hair, screaming in her face, and physically pinning her down. The warrant says when she tried to run out of the house to save herself, Werhan ran up behind her, grabbed her, threw her back inside, and held her down. The system knew about this, but they let him stay out on bail.
It gets even crazier. The victim told police that Werhan got on top of her and choked her, squeezing her neck until she couldn't breathe, leaving bruises on her neck for a whole week. The streets know that when a man chokes a woman, he's showing you he's ready to take her life. On top of that, he was constantly screaming at her, telling her he hated her and explicitly saying he wanted to kill her.
All the warning signs were there, documented by the police and the courts, but they just put his case on "pending" and let him keep his freedom. While the judges were dragging their feet, Werhan was free to match with Brooke, leading to her being found dead at the bottom of those stairs. This is what happens when the courts don't take domestic violence seriously until a body drops.
We gotta protect our sisters because these dating apps and these courts aren't doing it. Watch out for these fake-ass dudes online, check the red flags, and make sure we hold this system accountable for letting violent abusers slide. Let's make sure this dude stays locked behind bars forever, and keep Brooke's family in our prayers.
