By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - A Butler County grand jury has indicted twin 14-year-old brothers on two counts each of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.

The indictments, alleging the boys plotted to kill their brothers, ages 10 and 15, were released Wednesday afternoon as the boys' mother, Geraldine Rice, was in a New York City TV studio, preparing for videotaping a session about the case for future broadcast on the Montel Williams Show.

Reached on her fiance's cellular phone and told about the indictments, Rice said: "Oh, God, I can't talk about this right now." She ran from the room in tears and "she said she was going to get sick," said Rice's fiance, Thomas Dill.

Normally, cases against juveniles do not go to grand juries for indictment. This case did because the twins are being prosecuted under Ohio's serious youthful offender law, which took effect last year. Under that law, the case remains in juvenile court, but carries greater potential penalties. If convicted, the twins could receive a "blended sentence" of time in a juvenile facility plus an adult prison term of up to 10 years. The adult prison term would be added only if the youths commit another felony or violent offense.

The case has drawn national media attention. Rice had tape-recorded her sons' conversation about an alleged plot to kill their siblings, then Rice gave the audiotape to the county sheriff's office.

The boys, who have been held in the county juvenile detention center since their May 19 arrest, are set for a June 27 juvenile court hearing. Their competency to stand trial is among the issues to be addressed.

Although authorities have said they have evidence indicating the boys intended to carry out their alleged plot, relatives of the twins, including Rice, have questioned whether the boys truly were planning to attack their brothers with knives.

Linda Whaley of Cleves, an aunt, said, "I don't believe they would have hurt their brothers. They just have a lot of anger built up inside of them. There is a lot of history that people should look into before they start judging those boys."

Bill Whaley, an uncle, said family members tried to get "the proper authorities" to intervene, but "the system has failed them, and look at what it has led to."

The twins had a history of running away from home, especially in recent months. Their mother said they had been diagnosed with attention deficit and behavioral disorders.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com