OHIO -- RHODEN FAMILY EXECUTIONS

[Midwest Spy]

It doesn't appear that anyone in this family held a significant job, other than an older cousin who was the only body found at his location.

So, can we surmise that this family operated a large marijuana business and that's how they clothed and fed themselves?

I'm guessing the three older men were the main targets, and then the kids became collateral damage? No witnesses kind of thing.

I'd say a business partner(s) is/are the ones who did this.

They'd be familiar enough with animals that the dogs wouldn't rip them to shreds.

Because these people are true backwoods hicks, it'll end up being someone local. Another family that was in business with them. A couple of brothers perhaps.

We'll see.

[HairOfTheDog]

This was wrong, she wasn't pregnant. I know better than to start posting about this kind of thing in the first moments because many times the facts are wrong but I did it anyway. I was wrong.

Thanks for the correction, Duchess.

I don't understand why you're sorry though. I hope nobody here lets anyone make them hesitant to post stories with sources, speculation, opinion...

Some media details are wrong and get corrected as major stories develop, that's to be expected. New details emerge and change the whole scenario, happens a lot. Sometimes we read things wrong and post an error, no big deal.

Posting a fact/source that later gets corrected or putting forth speculation that turns out to be wrong in the end is never a problem in here (for those of us who wouldn't rather lie or die than be wrong or stand corrected).

Anyway, sharing updates and speculating based on what's known and what's possible at the time is a big part of any crime or discussion forum. Don't stop. Please. Don't stop.

[Duchess]

I was sorry because I don't like to give misinformation and lead readers to believe something that is incorrect.

I don't have a problem owning my wrongness.

"don't stop. Please. Don't stop" sounds so...so sexual. I like it!

[Blindgreed1]

I was sorry because I don't like to give misinformation and lead readers to believe something that is incorrect.

I don't have a problem owning my wrongness.

"don't stop. Please. Don't stop" sounds so...so sexual. I like it!

I applaud your effort in stating the facts as they become known.

[HairOfTheDog]

It doesn't appear that anyone in this family held a significant job, other than an older cousin who was the only body found at his location.

So, can we surmise that this family operated a large marijuana business and that's how they clothed and fed themselves?

I'm guessing the three older men were the main targets, and then the kids became collateral damage? No witnesses kind of thing.

I'd say a business partner(s) is/are the ones who did this.

They'd be familiar enough with animals that the dogs wouldn't rip them to shreds.

Because these people are true backwoods hicks, it'll end up being someone local. Another family that was in business with them. A couple of brothers perhaps.

We'll see.

I don't know how they made the bulk of their money, aside from apparently selling pot and possibly hosting cock fights. One of the articles I read said the pot found at the scenes was worth about $500k.

The article upthread does note that a few of the men had worked at the Big Bear Lake lodge. Dana Rhoden had worked at a nursing home and Hanna Rhoden worked as a certified nursing assistant.

At least two of the properties were owned by Christopher Rhoden Sr.

I originally missed Duchess' link where family members speculated the killings were related to a dispute over a $3,000 demolition derby car. Seems unlikely that anyone would take the risk of killing 8 people at 4 sites over something like that. But, people have killed for less, so it's possible.

[IroningBroad]

So, do the police suspect this was all one killer?Or possibly more than one person could've committed these murders?

[HairOfTheDog]

Hi Broad.

LE has said that they suspect more than one person may have carried out the executions, but nothing more definitive than that.

They probably have ballistics back by now and know whether different guns were used at the murder scenes, but they're not releasing details at this point.

[HairOfTheDog]

Top row: Dana Rhoden (mom), Frankie Rhoden, Chris Rhoden Jr., Frankie's fiancee Hannah Gilley.
Bottom row: Chris Rhoden Sr. (dad) his brother Kenneth Rhoden, Hanna Rhoden, and cousin Gary Rhoden.

Today, the last of the funerals for the eight victims were held, apparently without incident. RIP.

As the Pike County community continues to mourn the loss of eight of its own, relatives are defending the Rhoden family as the investigation continues around the shootings and the marijuana grow sites found at the crime scenes.

“That was a very loving family, a very good family,” said Eugene Smith, who was related to the Rhodens by a previous marriage.

Gotta think LE was all over those funerals, watching...

http://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/relative-...ood-family

[HairOfTheDog]

The scenes where the eight Rhoden family members were killed April 22 could be released as early as this week.

Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk (now that's an unfortunate name) told reporters that when that happens, the homes will be boarded up to prevent looting. Junk said he believes more than one person is responsible for the shootings.

Search warrants at the four crimes scenes are also expected to be returned this week. But Junk said those will be sealed to prevent evidence from being released to the public that could harm the investigation.

Friday was the two-week mark of the shootings, and no new information was released that day or over the weekend.

More than 40 counties have provided resources to assist Pike County deputies with their investigation into the deaths of eight family members. More than 300 deputies and 15 sheriffs from outside Pike County have made the trip to help out, a big boost to Pike County’s force of just 13 deputies.

Story: http://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/scenes-in...eased-soon

[Duchess]

Awesome to read they have so much help!

I usually get impatient with the lack of information but I understand why they aren't releasing some of it.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bobby Jo Manley is the family member who discovered some of the bodies and can be heard on the publicly-released 911 call Duchess posted upthread.

She was recently interviewed and described the scenes.

Snip:
It’s the image of her 6-month-old nephew covered in blood “from head to toe” stroking his slain father’s upper chest that Bobby Jo Manley can’t get out of her mind.

Ruger Rhoden was wearing a diaper and on his hands and knees when she found him between the bodies of his father, Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, and his mother, Hannah Gilley, the morning of April 22. The three were in the same blood-soaked bed. The baby was not crying.

But Manley, 36, started weeping as she recalled leaning over Frankie Rhoden’s body to pick Ruger up and carry him out of the trailer on Union Hill Road. She said she wrapped Ruger in a blanket; put her hooded sweatshirt on his 3-year-old brother, Brentley; and ran out of the trailer with the two children.

More: http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/s.../84257858/

[Duchess]

It's a blessing these babies won't remember this.

I am morbidly looking forward to seeing the crime scene photos.

[aussiefriend]

me too. I wanna see what happened. What a horrible tale. I hope they catch the buggers.

[HairOfTheDog]

The court orders and search warrants in the case are under seal and not publicly available at this time.

In order to preserve evidence and family mementos, LE has transported all four of the murdered families' mobile homes to a secure former chemical plant in Waverly.



I really hope it doesn't take years to identify suspects and build a case.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news...ter/nrMmK/

[Duchess]

It's disheartening not to see any movement in this case.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's disheartening not to see any movement in this case.

It's been 7 months; no arrests and it doesn't appear there are any suspects identified.

The latest update from LE last month indicated that they don't think the 8 murders were connected to Mexican drug cartels, and that they believe the family was targeted by someone very familiar with the family and the area (not an out-of-town hit).

Ref:
http://www.wsaz.com/content/news/Report-...48231.html

[HairOfTheDog]

You must have had a premonition the other day when you mentioned the silence in this case, Duchess.

From today's new:



Two people related to a family massacred in Pike County in 2016 were arrested on drug charges, according to information released by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office today.

^ Josh Rhoden, 38, was arrested on a felony charge of drug trafficking and John McJunkin (what a name), 63, on a felony charge of possession of drugs on Thursday.

Evidence in this case was discovered during the investigation into last year's killings of eight members of the Rhoden family.

Investigators seized more than $8,000 in cash, an estimated $7,700 in prescription pills, nine guns and a small amount of marijuana frome the suspects' homes on Grassy Fork Road in Peebles.

No arrests have been made in the Ohio shooting investigation of eight execution-style killings of members of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio. Large-scale marijuana grow operations were discovered at three of the four murder scenes.

Authorities continue to request that anyone with information on the ongoing homicide investigation call 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or the Pike County Sheriff's Office at 740-947-2111. http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/b...ua2CaxqYK/
-----------------------------------

The OAG says that the arrests are unrelated to the murders. I wonder if some tie-in will eventually be found.

[HairOfTheDog]

Police Claim Major Break in Case

Police have seized a trailer belonging to the ex-boyfriend of one of the eight victims of an 'execution-style' massacre in Ohio last year.


^ Jake Wagner, 24, the owner of the trailer, was allegedly in a custody dispute with Hannah Rhoden, 19, when she and seven family members, including a teenage boy, were shot dead in four homes near Piketon on April 22, 2016. Police also searched the properties of Wagner's relatives.

Their daughter was not in any of the properties when the massacre happened, though several children were found in the homes alive. Hannah Rhoden was found dead next to the body of her 5-day-old from another man.

The seizing of the trailer comes after police announced a 'major break' last week, searching three properties in the area on Friday and Saturday.

Police have not yet explained the significance of the trailer, and neither the Pike County sheriff and the Ohio attorney general's office will discuss details of the investigation

Hannah's grandfather said that she and Wagner had been fighting over custody of their daughter prior to her death in Piketon, around 70 miles south of Columbus.

The police have never named a suspect in the investigation, which had stalled for a year until the recent traction.

Full story and pics: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...mbers.html

=========================================
Could Wagner have killed or hired someone to kill 8 members of Hannah's family at different locations over a custody dispute? It's possible, but LE hasn't named any suspects or offered any public evidence in that direction at this point.

[Duchess]

I would love to see some productive movement on this case! I've thought about these murders more than once since it came to a standstill.

[RJs-Ex]

The Wagners had been planning the Alaska move for years. Big Mama Wagner (whom I've heard wears the pants in the family) was not going to leave OH w/o her grandkids. Her one other son had a daughter, and the mother of that girl gave full custody to the girl's dad (GW). Hanna R was being pressured to give custody of her & JW's girl to JW. She wouldn't do it. A court battle for custody would likely take years, be costly, would expose a lot of personal details that no one wanted aired, and in the end JW wasn't likely to get full custody anyway. They gave her a chance to do it the easy way...

IMO, of course.