OH - Pike County: 8 people from one family dead as police hunt for killer(s) #1

[Betty P]

So, organized crime:
-Loan sharks
-Hit men
-Drug trafficking
-Arms trafficking

(just thinking 'out loud')

Just putting this out there: there has always been talk of organized crime in that region.

Example of a news story from a couple of years ago - the wife of a Scioto county sheriff was the owner of a "pain clinic" that sold large quantities of painkillers.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/prescription_drug_epidemic_bri.html

 

[BrownRice]

They think it was well thought out and planned- wonder if someone was waiting for that baby to be born before this was done.

I've given a lot of thought about the 4 day old baby and how it fits into the timeline. Depending on what type of birth she had (normal or c-section), she probably would have come home from the hospital 2-4 days after birth. She wouldn't be getting much sleep the first couple of days. And usually the schedule of the household is a little off too - there really is no schedule. Did the killer hide in the bushes waiting for lights to be off and then come in 10 mins later?

 

[Ellmau]

http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-wont-back-down-lyrics-tom-petty.html Those lyrics were written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynn.
What song by Rhett Walker are you thinking of?

The Tom Petty song is similar, but I think the song Chris jr was specifically quoting was a Colt Ford (country rap) one called Answer To No One:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/coltford/answertonoone.html
https://www.facebook.com/chris.rhoden.752?fref=ts

 

[photojoumatt]

Sheriff said again most were targeted while they were sleeping. That almost sounds like a black ops situation or something - multiple people killing multiple people at multiple places at the same time?


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I have said from the start that the perps knew how to take down a house. Not many ways to learn that sort of thing and it's not something that is easy by any stretch of the imagination. Pretty much only two careers that learn dynamic entry as part of a skill set. Law enforcement and Military. Someone who went into that house has trained in a killhouse before if they were able to take that many houses without a screw up or take return fire from what we know know were the owners of a grow op who I am guessing are pretty heavily armed and paranoid.

As far the people shaking their head that this was over weed. It most likely is not exactly over weed. It's over money. A commercial grow op makes ALOT of money. Not like they can go deposit it in a bank without questions being asked.

 

[sherbetjello]

Certainly possible. Could also be indoor grows or a combination of both.

Confirmation for grow operations outside at three properties. So, this is related to that. I have to ask myself, however, are the plants still on the property?

I think this was a robbery, not just a hit. JMO.

 

[BelleIsle]

Maybe if they had enough qualm not to want to kill babies, they didn't want to kill an unborn baby either? But felt the 16 and 19 year olds were fair game?

I am guessing that the 16 and 19 year olds would have been more able to identify the killers, and this is why they were also murdered.

 

[AC's Grandma]

Verified there were grow operations found in 3 of the 4 crime scenes.

 

[CvilleHelp]

So now the Sheriff confirms the grow operations proving they were clearly holding back a lot of info from the presser

 

[Everyday Grace]

So, organized crime:
-Loan sharks
-Hit men
-Drug trafficking
-Arms trafficking

(just thinking 'out loud')

Gun trafficking often goes hand-in-hand with illicit drug trafficking. Would be interesting to know if any firearms missing and how many.

Figure the feds are already quietly all up in this one.

 

[KKearns]

This seems to be obvious that the pot growing is a big issue.

 

[PigPong]

From tribute pics I've seen, I would say yes.

Not necessarily. There a couple "Garys" in Greenup and otherushed places close to Greenup.

 

[Veracity]

Summary:

100 tips -- they want folks to be helpful and folks who give information will be protected and there is a $25,000 reward
50-60 interviews and some going on as the news conference occurred
100 personnel who have worked this case
5 -6 search warrants so far but they have not been recorded yet and will be made public through county at some time
all 5 crime scenes are under police guard
MARIJUANA found ("grow operations") at three crime scenes
18 pieces of evidence sent to crime lab for DNA and other testing

** per AG Dewine

Preplanned execution of 8 people
those who did it did their best to hinder LE investigation
Very different from "people mad at one another..."

per Sheriff

largest crime ever committed in Pike County
He had NO criminal contact with any of the Rhoden family in his 20 yrs of LE
asked for patience
said process would be lengthy
is deploying STAR team of 38 to go over all wooded regions AS WELL AS crime scenes to ensure no evidence is missed.

 

[Betty P]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/02/investors-in-legal-pot-are-diverse-lot.html found this interesting about the pot farms in Ohio and how all these celebrities are investing in marijuana farms in Ohio, seems on the ballot in November they are going to try and pass the legalization of it. Maybe this family wanted to get into the business and someone else didn't want them to.

That ballot issue failed. It would have created a marijuana "cartel" owned by major political donors and a few celebrities, to be the only companies allowed to grow and sell marijuana in Ohio. Voters rejected it for that reason. The investors spent millions on an advertising campaign.

There's talk of a new ballot issue to allow medical marijuana.

 

[theforgotten]

Some (pastor and Dana's BFF)think the family was stalked!

 

[makayla]

I'm not that well versed on this subject, but if it is drug-related could there be a connection to organized crime or the Mexican drug cartels? My comment is based on the presser where they said this was a sophisticated operation.

 

[birpu]

I'm reposting this link that I put up earlier about the pot grow by Mexican nationals in Pike County, because I think it's important:

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and...n-drug-cartels-are-running-weed-farms-in-ohio

 

[Veracity]

Does anyone know how much marijuana it takes to be considered a "grow operation"?

 

[creepcrusher]

Not definitely, but they've found evidence of a pot farm operation at two of the sites, so it's obviously a possible motive.

Three sites were confirmed

 

[LaborDayRN]

18 pieces of evidence are at state crime lab. Being looked at by DNA people.

Does anyone else think 18 pieces of evidence is peculiar? There were 8 people killed. 4 crime scenes and only 18 pieces of evidence? :waitasec::thinking:

 

[Betty P]

Summary:

100 tips -- they want folks to be helpful and folks who give information will be protected and there is a $25,000 reward
50-60 interviews and some going on as the news conference occurred
100 personnel who have worked this case
5 -6 search warrants so far but they have not been recorded yet and will be made public through county at some time
all 5 crime scenes are under police guard
MARIJUANA found ("grow operations") at three crime scenes
18 pieces of evidence sent to crime lab for DNA and other testing

** per AG Dewine

Preplanned execution of 8 people
those who did it did their best to hinder LE investigation
Very different from "people mad at one another..."

per Sheriff

largest crime ever committed in Pike County
He had NO criminal contact with any of the Rhoden family in his 20 yrs of LE
asked for patience
said process would be lengthy
is deploying STAR team of 38 to go over all wooded regions AS WELL AS crime scenes to ensure no evidence is missed.

How does a family have three different grow operations, but the local sheriff never knew anything about it, particularly when many family members did have some kind of criminal background?