WINDHAM, Maine — A Maine man charged in a decades-old cold case pleaded guilty to murder Thursday.
Gerald Goodale was sentenced on Thursday to 32 1/2 years for the murder of Janet Brochu of Waterville in 1987.
Goodale is currently serving a 75-year sentence for the 1988 murder of Geraldine Finn. The 32 ½ year sentence will run concurrent to his present sentencing, but will likely extend his prison stay, officials said.
Brochu was out with friends on Christmas Eve in Waterville when the 20-year-old separated from her group and disappeared, according to court records.
Brochu’s body was found in March of 1988 in the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield.
Goodale was charged with her murder in 2021.
Goodale was part of the initial investigation into Brochu’s murder, but new evidence helped prosecutors bring the case to a grand jury, police said.
