Ken Rogulski / Greg Coburn / news@whmi.com


A Livingston County man was charged in connection with the slaying of a St. Clair County woman 25 years ago.

54-year-old John Germain of Hartland Township was arrested by Michigan State Police at his home in connection with the May 1997 slaying of 79-year-old Virginia Cecelia Farrell of St. Clair County.

Prosecutors charged Germain with open murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and breaking and entering, court records show. Farrell was discovered beaten and stabbed to death in her Clay Township home.

An initial Michigan State Police cold case investigation in 2007 developed a DNA profile but no suspects were identified. It was a second cold case investigation started in 2019 and advancements in DNA technology that helped crack the case.

DNA evidence was collected at the crime scene that gave police a lead. Germain is being held on a million-dollar bond.