Mistaken I.D. murder mastermind loses appeal

The mastermind in a 2006 Burton Township mistaken identity murder case has lost his fight for a new trial.

Joseph Rosebrook, 61, is serving life in prison without parole at the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima for his role in 31-year-old Daniel E. Ott’s slaying.

The victim was killed at his home on May 26, 2006, by gunman Chad South.

In 2016, a Geauga County Common Pleas Court jury found Rosebrook guilty of aggravated murder and kidnapping.

On appeal, Rosebrook argued then-Judge David L. Fuhry erred by denying multiple requests for a mistrial.

He first challenged the admission of testimony regarding his prior convictions on auto theft

charges.

Rosebrook previously served 10 years in prison for operating a chopshop operation in Logan County. Inmates who testified at Rosebrook’s aggravated murder trial said Rosebrook wanted revenge on “the snitch” who wore a wire and turned state’s evidence against him in the chopshop case.

The 11th District Court of Appeals recently affirmed Rosebrook’s convictions.

Writing for the court, appellate Judge Thomas R. Wright said evidence of his prior convictions was allowed because the state offered the evidence for the limited purpose of establishing his motive for having Ott killed.

“The trial court repeatedly cautioned the jury to limit its consideration of this testimony as to Rosebrook’s motive here, not to show that he is a bad man who acted in conformity with his bad character,” Wright stated.

Prosecutors said Rosebrook hired South to kill Daniel C. Ott, a car thief from Bath Township who was in his late 60s at the time. Instead, South shot the decades-younger Daniel E. Ott of Burton Township.

Rosebrook has maintained he was not involved in the killing plot.

Rosebrook also accused the judge of improperly allowing the state to use his ex-sister-in-law’s prior inconsistent statements to detectives to impeach her credibility.

Pamela Rosebrook was asked questions on the stand about her former husband’s handling of Rosebrook’s finances while he was in prison.

Her testimony did not match up with a prior recorded interview with detectives in which she told officials her ex-husband had hundreds of thousands of dollars of his incarcerated brother’s money.

She was excused from the stand that day after invoking her Fifth Amendment right not to testify, and the recording was not played.

However, she was again called to testify after being granted immunity for her testimony, and the court allowed the state to play portions of her interview with detectives that contradicted her prior statements.

The appellate panel found the court’s decision to allow prosecutors to play the audio recording was permissible because the state was unaware she was going to change her story.

Appellate judges also found no merit to Rosebrook’s argument that he was denied access to transcripts from South’s trial.

Eleventh District Judges Timothy P. Cannon and Colleen Mary O’Toole concurred.

South, who was convicted of murder and kidnapping, is serving 28 years to life. Two people who were with South in the car on the day of the murder, Mindie Mock Stanifer and Alva Jacobs, were sentenced to 18 years in prison and 30 days in jail, respectively, for their parts in the crime.

Joseph Rosebrook’s brother, Carl “Jeff” Rosebrook, was the alleged money man. Carl Rosebrook pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of official business. He received a $1,000 fine and no jail time.

South and Stanifer previously lost their appeals.