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George Brinkman Jr. was sentenced to death for the murders of five people in North Royalton and Lake Township, Ohio, in June 2017. Brinkman was 45 that month. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor said he had known Suzanne Taylor, of North Royalton, since elementary school. Rogell "Gene" John and Roberta "Bobbi" John, of Lake Township in Stark County, had known him for about a decade. He had worked for a company co-owned by Gene John and his son and was house-sitting for the Johns and watching their dog while they vacationed.

On June 9, 2017, Brinkman bought ammunition and a knife at a Walmart. Text messages on June 10 show he asked to visit Suzanne Taylor while her daughters were out. At her home, he bound Suzanne Taylor, 45, and her daughters Taylor Pifer, 21, and Kylie Pifer, 18, with zip ties and duct tape on a bed. The medical examiner found Suzanne Taylor died of sharp force injuries and her daughters of asphyxia. Taylor Pifer's boyfriend forced open the front door on June 11. Police found the three women face down on a bed, two under blankets.

The Johns returned from vacation on June 11. Brinkman held them at gunpoint with Gene John's own handgun and took them to an upstairs bedroom. Rogell John, 71, and Roberta John, 64, died of gunshot wounds. The deputy coroner found blunt force trauma to Roberta John's head and neck also contributed. Brinkman took their cell phones and $140 in cash. Gene John's son found their bodies there on June 12.

Police contacted Brinkman on June 12. He said he knew about the murders and agreed to come to the station but did not appear. A ping of his phone led police to a friend's house in Brunswick, where a standoff followed. North Royalton police arrested him at about 5:30 a.m. on June 13. The city's police department led the North Royalton investigation, assisted by the FBI and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

At the North Royalton police station, Brinkman waived his Miranda rights. On the afternoon of June 13, he denied involvement in the North Royalton killings and denied the John killings to a Stark County sheriff's deputy questioning him there. Late that night, he said, "For the sake of the family, you have the right guy," and confessed to the North Royalton murders after being read his rights again. On June 14, a Stark County sheriff's deputy and an FBI agent interviewed him about the John killings. He said he loaded a handgun he found on Gene John's desk, ordered the Johns upstairs after an argument over the dog, and that the gun "went off" and hit Gene John in the hip.

In Cuyahoga County, Brinkman pleaded guilty before a three-judge panel in November 2018. The panel sentenced him to death for the three murders on December 28, 2018. On July 21, 2021, the Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously vacated the convictions and sentences because the panel had not advised him at the plea that he was waiving his rights to confront witnesses and to make the state prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He pleaded guilty again on November 9, 2022, with a jury waived, before a new panel. On November 14, it found him guilty of six counts of aggravated murder and of aggravated burglary, kidnapping and gross abuse of a corpse. On May 31, 2023, it sentenced him to death for each victim. The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the convictions and death sentences on August 20, 2026. Justice Brunner concurred in part and would have reversed the death sentences.

In Stark County, Brinkman pleaded guilty on October 1, 2019, to six counts, including two of aggravated murder. On October 3, a three-judge panel sentenced him to death on both. On July 28, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously affirmed the convictions and death sentences, reversing only the postrelease control imposed on three merged counts. As of November 1, 2026, Brinkman is held at Ross Correctional Institution, and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction lists death sentences from both counties.

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Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.