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Newton Falls police: Brazzon acted alone
By Ed Runyan
NEWTON FALLS
By late afternoon July 6, Newton Falls Police Chief John Kuivila said that it appeared one person, Robb Brazzon, had committed all four homicides in the village that day and killed himself a short time later in the Newton Township cemetery.
But one question remained unanswered: Was there a second man in the vehicle with Brazzon when it left the East River Gardens neighborhood after the deadly assault?
Kuivila said Tuesday that police have cleared a second man they took into custody that day and questioned about his involvement.
“There was information that there might be two people in the car,” Kuivila said. But further examination of the videotape evidence showed that Brazzon was alone.
“The video showed there was only one person in the car,” Kuivila said. The second man has not been charged.
A resident of the neighborhood told reporters that a video camera on his home picked up images of Brazzon’s car leaving the area just after the shootings, and that he informed police of the video and turned it over to police a short time after the killings.
Police used a still frame from the video the day of the killings — releasing the image through the news media. The image was used to tell the public to be on watch for the vehicle and Brazzon, who was at large for several hours after the killings, which occurred at noon.
Brazzon killed himself about 4 p.m. with a gunshot wound after police found him and the Dodge Stratus in the cemetery.
Though Kuivila said he believes Brazzon acted alone, he still would like Trumbull County prosecutors to present the case to a grand jury when it is complete to get a determination that Brazzon was responsible for the killings.
Newton Falls police still are awaiting a report from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Kuivila said. But once that is available, Kuivila plans to turn over everything to the prosecutor’s office.
The Trumbull County Coroner’s office ruled the deaths of Rikki Cogley, 42; Cogley’s wife, Kathy Cogley, 39; Kathy Cogley’s son, Everett Greathouse, 15; and Brazzon’s girlfriend, Tracey Engler, 38, homicides.
It ruled the death of Brazzon, 55, a suicide.