NEWTON FALLS - More than 30 homemade explosives were removed from the home of the man authorities said killed four people then himself last week.
Investigators removed 34 homemade M-250 explosives inside Rob Brazzon's garage at 604 Newton Drive, where Brazzon's girlfriend was found fatally shot.
Youngstown police Lt. Douglas Bobovnyik, head of the Youngstown Bomb Squad that takes care of the six surrounding counties, said his unit removed the bombs late July 6 as investigators from several agencies combed through the home.
"With 34 all together, they could have caused a lot of damage," Bobovnyik said. "It could have caused extensive damage to the garage and possibly started a fire."
Brazzon, 55, had been caught with homemade explosives in his home 13 years ago after an 18-month investigation by the Newton Falls police and state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Brazzon, according to records, was selling the prescription painkiller Vicodin and was found to have 47 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammunition and homemade explosives eventually removed by the bomb squad at the time. Brazzon was charged in a 27-count indictment and received two years of probation in that case.
The guns and ammunition were eventually given back to Brazzon's son and brother, court records show.
Investigators said that on July 6 Brazzon killed his live-in girlfriend Tracey Engler, 38, with two gunshots to the head and face, then went to his ex-brother-in-law's home at 72 Trumbull Ave. a block away and killed Rikki Cogley Sr., his wife Kathy Cogley and her son, 15-year-old Everett Greathouse.
The Cogleys and Greathouse, a freshman at Newton Falls High School, were killed by multiple gunshot wounds. The 911 call, in which a caller inside the home left the phone on for dispatchers, picked up sounds of 10 gunshots, yelling and people pleading for their lives. A child, likely 5-year-old Rikki Cogley Jr., cries throughout the entire recording.
Police still are investigating to try and determine a motive for the killings. Police Chief John Kuivila has said no one else will be charged in the incident.
Bobovnyik said the explosives found inside Brazzon's garage were made of cardboard and were about one inch in diameter and three inches long. He said they were filled with aluminum flash powder which is "highly explosive."
He said they also found separate several rolls of fuses used to ignite the homemade explosives.
Bobovnyik said the devices were blown up safely at a range in Youngstown.
"They're explosive devices and they're very dangerous," Bobovnyik said. "They are very unsafe to handle."