He was fresh out of the University of Toledo’s law school and working as an intern in the same prosecutor’s office he’s the boss of these days, and Kevin Flanagan can clearly recall how horrified the public was with the grim and gruesome details.
Not only did a 17-year-old boy named Nathan Brooks murder his 52-year-old mother, Marilyn, and his 53-year-old father, Terry, inside the family’s rural homestead along Margie Avenue, but there were multiple weapons – and a punch bowl – collected as evidence.
There was also a list of names Brooks had left behind, and investigators found a collage of satanic images hung on Nathan’s bedroom wall. That’s why elected officials in Bellaire quickly canceled the community’s annual Halloween trick-or-treat.
Reality was suddenly scary enough.
“People didn’t want to believe it,” Flanagan said. “Those kinds of crimes didn’t happen around here. Not like that, anyway.”
That’s why 30 years and one month after the slaughters, Flanagan penned a letter to Ohio’s Parole Board that expressed outright opposition to parole for Nathan Brooks, now a 47-year-old man known as Prisoner #A337726 since his arrival on October 27, 1996.
“We were absolutely against parole,” reported Flanagan. “We were against parole, obviously, because of the nature of the offense. We believed that, given the offense that occurred in 1995, there was no way that parole should be granted this time, the next time, or ever.
“The crime itself was so horrific, and there were other people that ultimately could have been a victim in all of this had the circumstances played out like we believe Mr. Brooks intended them to,” the prosecutor explained. “Fortunately, they did not, and we didn’t have any more victims other than his parents.”
Nathan’s List of Names
Brooks has been one of approximately 2,500 inmates in the facility that rests within Union Township in Madison County, and the double murderer has become known through the years on YouTube as “The Devil of Bellaire” and “Dark Prince of Belmont County”.
According to the website for the Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections, Brooks was eligible for parole initially in August 2025, but the hearing was pushed back to mid-November. According to Ohio Revised Code Section 5149.10, the Parole Board was created as a section within the Adult Parole Authority and can consist of up to 12 members.
The hearing took place via Zoom on November 18th, and Flanagan was permitted to observe the proceedings. The prosecutor, however, is not allowed – by law – to share any specifics with the public.
“But while we are not permitted to talk about what transpired during the parole hearing, I can tell you that the parole board was extremely professional,” he said. “The way they handled the matter indicated to me that they understood the severity of the situation as well as the potential impact on the community if Mr. Brooks was granted parole. So, hats off to them for being able to not only look at this relative to the crime, but also understanding the community impact in all of this.
“Frank Pierce was the prosecutor at the time, and Bob Quirk was the chief assistant, and he was also on that case,” Flanagan recalled. “We reviewed everything about the case while we were preparing to write the letter to make sure the Parole Board members could have a full understanding of everything that occurred.
“They absolutely did that, and they were completely professional in the way they went about it.”
Rumors ran rampant immediately after the murders took place as word spread about the nature of the killings, Nathan’s plans for satanic rituals, and about what evidentiary items were collected from the Brooks home. Specifically, and most importantly, local residents wanted to know if it was true that the Bellaire High School student had compiled a “Kill List” of future victims.
And it was true. Investigators did secure a listing of 13 names of males and females that were written on a sheet of college rule notebook paper, and terms like “dismember” and “decapitate” and “eviscerate” followed each one. In fact, the list, Flanagan believes, is another reason why parole was not granted.
“There were people on it who were close to him at the time he committed these murders, and most of those people had no idea he was thinking about such a thing – and that included his family members,” Flangan said. “Yes, the crime was horrific in nature, but the list was very concerning, too.
“I know when it was reported that he was up for parole, that was what people were worried about … if he actually was allowed out,” he said. “If I were on the list, I would have been concerned, too.”
Decades of Denial?
In 2023, LEDE News was first to reveal Brooks would be eligible for parole in 2025, and LEDE also was first to report that the double murderer threatened to kill current Sheriff James Zusack during a transport soon after he was apprehended. LEDE also revealed in late August that his hearing was delayed until November, and on December 10th, the digital magazine broke the internet when reporting that Nathan’s parole was denied and that he would not be eligible again until 2025.
Before the December reporting, the Offender Details Page for Brooks indicated he would be released on January 2, 2026, and Flanagan heard about it.
“It wasn’t something I could comment on when I was asked about it because Ohio law clearly states that the Ohio Parole Board releases the decisions,” he explained. “But I do know people were concerned with the possibility.”
Thanks to Ohio Senate Bill 256 – approved in 2021 – Brooks was assigned legal counsel for his parole hearing.
“Nathan Brooks was represented by an attorney even though most parole hearings do not involve lawyers being there for the defense unless otherwise mandated by Ohio Revised Code,” Flanagan explained. “But under the current code, if someone was a juvenile at the time that they committed an offense and they were treated as an adult, they are entitled to have an attorney present with them at the parole board hearing.
“Now, if there were letters sent that supported his release, our office wouldn’t know that unless the Parole Board needed our assistance on a matter connected to such a letter. Otherwise, we would never be informed if that were the case,” he explained. “What we know is that we sent in our letter of opposition.”
Brooks will be 57 years old when he attends his next parole hearing in June 2035, and, as of now, August 1, 2035, is his “Expected Release Date/Parole Eligibility Date”, according to his Offender webpage.
But.
“Personally, given the nature of the crimes, I doubt a parole board will ever find him suitable for release,” Flanagan said. “So, no, I don’t think Nathan Brooks will ever be paroled, and that has everything to do with what happened that night in September back in 1995.
“He’ll be eligible again in 10 years,” the prosecutor added. “And then I suspect again in 10 years after that.”
