The murder of Janet Brochu
Pittsfield, Somerset County, Maine · 1987
Overview
Janet Brochu, a 20-year-old woman who lived with her parents in Winslow, Maine, vanished after a night out in Waterville on December 23, 1987. Her unclothed body was pulled from the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield on March 19, 1988, identified through dental records and jewelry. The case remained cold for more than three decades until the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit reexamined the evidence; advances in forensic DNA testing revealed a genetic link to Gerald Goodale, a man who was already serving 75 years for the 1988 murder of another central Maine woman, Geraldine Finn. A Somerset County grand jury indicted Goodale for Brochu's murder on May 13, 2021, and on March 2, 2023 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 32 and a half years, to run concurrent with his existing term.
How it was solved
Gerald Goodale had been part of the original investigation into Janet Brochu's death in the late 1980s and 1990s, identified as one of the men last seen with her, but at the time investigators could not gather enough evidence to charge him. The break came after the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit took up the case again. According to reporting on the case, DNA evidence preserved from the investigation was reexamined using advances in forensic technology, and the renewed analysis revealed a genetic link tying Goodale to Brochu's murder. By then Goodale was already incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren, serving a 75-year sentence for the 1988 strangulation murder of 23-year-old Geraldine Finn, whom he had left a Waterville-area nightclub with on August 9, 1988. A Somerset County grand jury indicted Goodale, then 61, for the murder of Janet Brochu on May 13, 2021. He initially pleaded not guilty and was held without bail. On March 2, 2023, in a Skowhegan courtroom, Goodale pleaded guilty to Brochu's murder and was sentenced to 32 and a half years in prison, to be served concurrently with his existing sentence. Maine State Police Col. John Cote said the case represented years of combined work by state, local and county investigators, prosecutors and skilled scientists who never relented in their pursuit of the truth.
Sources
- Man arrested in connection with 1987 murder of Winslow woman
“On March 19, three months after she disappeared, Janet Brochu's nude body was pulled from the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield and identified through dental records and jewelry.”
- Man convicted in previous death pleads guilty in 1987 killing of Janet Brochu of Winslow
“Janet Brochu, 20, lived with her parents in Winslow and disappeared from a Waterville nightclub on December 23, 1987; her unclothed body was found in the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield three months later.”
- Maine man gets 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to 1987 murder
“Gerald Goodale pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 32 1/2 years, to run concurrent with his existing 75-year sentence for the 1988 murder of Geraldine Finn.”
- Convicted murderer sentenced to 32 years in prison for 1987 cold case
“DNA evidence was re-examined using advances in forensic technology after Maine's Unsolved Homicides Unit became involved, revealing a genetic link to Goodale in Brochu's murder.”
- Families see light in Maine's cold case unit a decade later
“DNA analysis and advances in forensic evidence conducted by the Unsolved Homicide Unit finally linked Goodale to the crime; cousin Kathe Vear Welsh said: 'to have a conviction; it's closure.'”
- Suspected killer in 1987 Waterville area cold case held without bail after pleading not guilty
“Goodale pleaded not guilty in the Brochu case and was held without bail as the case moved through the courts.”
- Murder charges filed in 1987 Waterville, Maine cold case
“Gerald Goodale, 61, was charged with the murder of Janet Brochu after new evidence helped prosecutors bring the case to a grand jury; he is incarcerated at Maine State Prison for the 1988 murder of Geraldine Finn.”
- A Maine Convicted Killer Admits to 2nd Cold Case Murder from 1987
“Goodale was initially a suspect in Brochu's death but police could not gather enough evidence to charge him at the time; he pleaded guilty in March 2023 and received 32.5 years.”
- The Murders of Janet Brochu and Geraldine Finn (Maine)
“Janet Brochu, 20, disappeared December 23, 1987 from T. Woody's in Waterville after being refused service because of her age; her parents reported her missing on December 24, 1987.”
- Maine inmate charged with 1987 Waterville murder
“Maine State Police Col. John Cote said the case represents years of combined work by state, local and county investigators, prosecutors and skilled scientists who never relented in their pursuit of the truth.”