Hit Man’s Wrong House Mistake: Contract Killer May Have Been Very Aware He Had The Wrong Target

A hit man had the wrong house and very possibly knew it the whole time. This is what Cleveland, Ohio, authorities stated on Thursday after the indictment of those allegedly responsible.

Daniel Ott, a 31-year-old who was killed in May 2006, faced a very serious situation. A hit was taken out on someone much older by the same name, but it seemed that the name was all Chad South had to go on because he had allegedly lost the address given to him.

The Daniel Ott being targeted was actually 69-years-old. The hit was allegedly ordered by Joseph Rosebrook, 59, on behalf of his younger brother Carl.

A longtime car thief in northwest Ohio was the intended target for the hit man. The wrong house, which South had entered, was also shared with the other Ott’s girlfriend. It was situated in Burton Township, about a half hour drive east of Cleveland.

When it went down, Chad South had allegedly been wearing camouflage and a mask, and he used a shotgun to threaten the younger man’s girlfriend. He allegedly told her to lie face down on the floor after bounding the wrong man with duct tape. The wrong target allegedly eventually broke free and struggled with South, only to get shot in the chest.

The reason for so many years having passed after the mistaken murder with no leads was that allegedly all witnesses were too scared to say anything. Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland recounted a common problem with the case.

“Detectives repeatedly ran into the phrase, ‘I know what you want, but they will kill me. Witnesses flat out refused to talk.”

It seems the order that brought the hit man to the wrong house originated when Carl Rosebrook had allegedly offered the elder Daniel Ott $15,000 to kill a witness who could take down his multi-million-dollar chop shop. He gave him a $2,000 down payment, but instead of killing the witness, Ott had allegedly gone to the authorities.

Sheriff: Hit man kills victim with target’s name; 3 indicted http://t.co/AreFSNN8i0

— Law’s Webb (@LawsenWebb) June 11, 2015

Carl Rosebrook has allegedly earned a reputation as a criminal after being a suspect in a 1983 car bomb that seriously injured a man who had planned to testify against him. This was only one of many illegal activities Rosebrook was allegedly involved in before being sent to prison 10 years for conspiracy to commit murder. After getting out of prison, he’d allegedly moved to Florida in March 2014.

Rosebrook’s brother was allegedly the one who ordered the murder of a witness, which sent a hit man to the wrong house. Both Rosebrook brothers and Chad South were indicted on Wednesday.

[Image via Geauga County Sheriff’s Office / WKYC]