As the investigation into the killings of eight family members in rural OH entered its fifth day, more details slowly trickled out.
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“It wasn’t just somebody sitting pots in the window”, Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told The Columbus Dispatch.
“They thought this thing through”, DeWine said.
Law-enforcement officers have followed more than 100 tips and conducted 50 to 60 interviews as part of the investigation of a crime that DeWine and Reader described as a “sophisticated operation” and a “pre-planned execution” in which the killer or killers did “everything they could” to cover up evidence and make it hard to solve the case.
Authorities said it was clear that the Rhoden family was targeted, and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said he’s told relatives to be armed.
Seven adults and one teenage boy were found with gunshot wounds to their heads in Piketon, in the south of the state.
Investigators also revealed that several marijuana-growing operations were found at the crime scenes, although it remains unclear if that was in any way linked to the killings.
Ohio’s attorney general calls the killings cold blooded and calculated.
“We do not know if we are talking about one individual or two or three or more”, DeWine said.
“I know a lot of people are just scared”, said Maggie Owens, a cook at the town’s Riverside Restaurant. A search for the killer or killers continued Sunday, and investigators said they had interviewed more than 30 people.
All of the victims were members of the Rhoden family. The third crime scene is about a mile away while the last is farther at 8 miles where one body was found.
In one call, a frantic female voice is heard describing the horrific scene inside one of four homes where the killings took place. One of the children, a four-day-old baby, was lying in the bed next to its mother when she was shot and killed.
DeWine said the state’s crime lab was looking at 18 pieces of evidence from a DNA and ballistic standpoint, and five search warrants have been executed.
“In Ohio’s history, I don’t think we’ve ever had any tragedy quite like this”, he said.
All of the victims’ autopsies have been completed, officials said Monday.
The victims have been identified as 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; their cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden; and 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, whose 6-month old son with “Frankie” was unharmed.
A local restaurateur, Jeff Ruby, offered a $25,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. “This is a matter of public safety, especially for the Rhoden family”.
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“For her not to be here for that, it is going to be very hard on us and our class”, Choate said.
