Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II has announced that Joseph Janulewicz, a 65-year-old resident of West Nyack, New York, has been sentenced in Rockland County Court before the Honorable Anne B. Bianchi to fifteen years in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. This sentence is based on Janulewicz’s guilty plea, which he entered on November 22, 2023, to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree in connection with the homicide of Brian Romney.
On June 10, 2022, a relative of Brian Romney reported him as missing to the Village of Greenwood Lake Police Department. This report was made when Romney failed to arrive at his relative’s home as expected on June 8, 2022, and had not been in communication with family and friends since that morning. The New York State Police became involved in the missing person investigation. Brian Romney’s vehicle was discovered on June 15, 2022, in West Nyack, NY, in close proximity to East Street.
The investigation led the New York State Police to execute a search warrant at the residence of Joseph Janulewicz, located at 35 East Street in West Nyack. On June 16, 2022, they discovered the deceased body of Brian Romney concealed in a tarp inside a storage room within Janulewicz’s residence. Romney had suffered multiple stab wounds, and the Medical Examiner ruled his death as a homicide.
In his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he intended to inflict serious physical injury on Brian Romney when he repeatedly stabbed him, including delivering a fatal wound to his back, which resulted in his death. Janulewicz then acknowledged that he concealed Romney’s body in a blue tarp inside his residence until it was discovered by the New York State Police.
District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II commended the New York State Police, with assistance from the Village of Greenwood Lake Police Department, for their dedicated and exceptional investigative work in this case. He noted that the defendant has been removed from the streets and will serve a lengthy prison term for his actions.
The case was investigated by the New York State Police and the Village of Greenwood Lake Police Department, while the prosecution was conducted by First Assistant District Attorney Doreen Lloyd and Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic.