Police: In murder of "wrong" Ohio man, witnesses were afraid to talk

CLEVELAND - It only took about six months for investigators in Ohio to realize that the man they'd found shot to death with a shotgun in his home in 2006 had been the victim of a case of mistaken identity, but nine years to arrest the alleged perpetrators who killed the unintended target.

Last week, Joseph Rosebrook, 59; Chad South, 45; and Carl Rosebrook, 57, were indicted on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.

According to Geauga County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Scott Hildenbrand, police believe Joseph Rosebrook hired South to kill Daniel Ott, because Ott had cooperated with authorities in a case against Rosebrook that involved stolen cars.

But South got the wrong man, allegedly killing a 31-year-old greenhouse nursery worker also named Daniel Ott. Hildenbrand would not say how police believe South mistakenly targeted Ott.

According to Hildenbrand, one reason it took so long to make arrests in the case was that people were afraid to talk to cops about Joseph Rosebrook, who "has a history of trying to kill witnesses."

The Associated Press reports that Rosebrook is still a suspect in the 1999 death of an associate killed after he cooperated with authorities in an earlier case against Rosebrook. And police say that the Daniel Ott whom Rosebrook allegedly tried to have killed has since survived two assassination attempts.

"We would talk to people and they'd say, 'we know what you want, but they'll kill us all,'" Hildenbrand told 48 Hours' Crimesider.

He wouldn't go into specifics about how they finally cracked the case, but said wiretaps were involved.

Joseph Rosebrook, who was released from prison on the stolen car conspiracy in 2014, was arrested in Florida. He, along with his brother, Carl, who police say delivered payment for the deed, and the alleged hit man, South, are all being held in Geauga County Jail, just east of Cleveland.