Eight Family Members Killed Execution Style in Four Different Locations in Ohio Hamlet

Meth involved, no doubt.

Isn't Appalachia usually Oxy, not meth?

They questioned a "person of interest" but no arrests have been made.

Why couldn't it be a mob or drug cartel hit?

It's not like there's a wall around the town's 2,000 inhabitants.

Hillbilly feud?

Killing a woman sleeping next to her 5 day old child? That's horrible.

R4 because the mafia and Latin America drug cartel members don't live in little hillbilly towns. They also don't vacation there. If it's a drug thing it's likely related to local meth or oxy dealing families.

The Rhodes Bros sure are lucky they got away from Ohio.

Hayfield-McCoy style feud?

that's so disrespectful, Aaron. this is not about you. R8

R7 but what if someone in the family knew something and this was a major warning to everyone else.

Just because you live in a tiny town doesn't mean you don't have contact with the outside world or you don't get your hands dirty in some nasty business..

Meth really isn't that big a problem anymore. Since the new restrictions on OTC drugs came in place, almost all the meth manufacturing has moved to Mexico. Mexico currently supplies almost all the meth in the United States.

Of course, that doesn't mean it couldn't be drugs of another nature of even meth.

^^I meant manufacture of meth isn't the problem. Use is still a big problem.

Apparently Eight IS Enough.

The murdered family's name is Rhoden, it was impossible not to think of the Rhodes Bros. R10

I heard someone talking about it on the car radio. I googled it when I came home because I'd heard the name as rodent.

In that part of the country, even the Amish have meth labs. It's like a storyline in 'Fargo.'

Apparently there were three children who were not harmed. I feel bad for all of them, but especially the sixteen year old boy. He was just a kid too.

Some victims

They ALL look like kids.

Was the average age 18?

A mass murder in USA? Water is wet.

Yeah, R21 - and a mass-murder in USA with GUNS, no less . . .

It's so amusing reading the crazy threads on europe where you 'muricans spend your time quoting the fucking Daily Mail and claiming it's a terrible no-go zone with ISIS patroling the streets, and then the same idiots come here rationalizing masacre after masacre in your own nation just as "bussiness as usual".

Speaking of the Daily Fail, their latest article suggests they were murdered over some dispute about a demolition derby car.

Sure, why not....

R23, That's because these are the facts. stated from a local. "There is a lot of meth and heroine use around here. Pike county is actually the poorest county in Ohio. Great people but you can find some desperate addicts also. Usually when this happens here it is over money for drugs somehow. No idea what happened here. I just assume this is actually on the news due to the number and children that were killed."

Pics of the property prove illegal cock fighting and dog fighting. This means gambling and possible ties to organized criminal elements. Family members were all shot in the head while they were sleeping. They include a woman who was apparently having sex with her ex-husband, although legally married to another man. The woman and her ex were both killed but the 5 day old sleeping next to her, the 6 month old, and the 3 year old are still alive. So anyone that could possible identify the shooters were killed. All of these facts indicate a paid professional hit man rather than a crime of rage, passion, or unplanned drug or alcohol induced mental craziness.

How DARE you, R14?!?!?!!!?

OP, "Different" is unnecessary. They were killed in four locations.

But couldn't four locations still mean 4 different rooms in the same house?

The 'different' kind of spreads things out.

They use soda as currency in them parts.

They're now saying there was a marajuana operation going on. Growing and selling. Big operation. So it was a drug hit.

here's the link

The lowdown on soda

It has to be "business" related. If it were a domestic dispute escalating to murder they'd have said so by now. They'd have a photo, and a BOLO, and say they were "wanted for questioning..." but that's not happening. Obviously with all those people someone knew where everyone could be found to go to each location and kill them. They have to know at least, whether there was more than one killer, too.

Americans are ridiculous...act scared to death of ISIS when the fact is they will be murdered by their crazy brother, mother or father...or maybe their next door neighbor. The dummies have no idea that their love of guns is what's killing them.

PRobably related to a Mexican Cartel.

[quote]The killer or killers were specifically going after the Rhoden family, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader emphasized, though he didn't say why. "I cautioned them they are a target and I cautioned them, 'Be armed,' " he said.

So the local fuzz knew this was going to happen and even warned the family. Small town shit like this is usually everyone's business but no one ever talks

I'm going to say bikers, they usually control the pot trade in small towns.

Sounds like it was the sheriff and his goons that did this job. He warned 'em !!

[quote][bold]Ohio Family Killings: Marijuana Grow Operations Found at 3 of the 4 Crime Scenes[/bold]

R28, "locations" describes four physical premises. That's the only information needed.

[quote]Pics of the property prove illegal cock fighting and dog fighting.

I don't give a shit if they want to grow weed on their properties, but I have no empathy for people who abuse animals or children. Although, has the dog fighting been confirmed? I haven't seen anything mentioned in the CNN articles on this story.

Bathroom, living room, front lawn, back yard, garage...

I think a copy editor would know that they are individual locations on the same premises.

The OP using 'different' made clear there were several separate premises involved.

He or she was thinking as a writer writing clearly for a reader.

It's HATFIELD, r9. I went to school with Dave and Elvis Hatfield. They were hayseeds, but not Hayfields.

Hill folks got to make a living too.

I betcha them polices was the ones done it. I betcha. A town of 2,000 and they were into marijuana production? Sheee-it.

DL wont let me copy/paste...

To expand on R38's post, a CNN article says a grow site with 1200 plants found in the same county was linked to a Mexican cartel back in 2012.

R36, IIRC the sheriff was talking about the REST of the family - one article said the relatives had gathered together to meet with the sheriff and there were about 100 of them....(100!)

I guess the rest of the family has to look for other cousins to marry now.

R40, Pictures of the property show a row of cages for roosters, and one for dogs. There are also a series of concentric circles nearby so obviously an animal had his lied to a post and the only exercise available was walking as far as that allowed. Also cock and animal fighting is very common in that dirt poor area. It's illegal but the penalty isn't enough of a deterrent. It's not condemned as much as it would be in other towns.

R35, Definitely not a Mexican cartel. They like bloody crime scenes to instill strict obedience by their followers such as heads chopped off and placed on display.

R34, The vast majority of Americans don't engage in criminal activity of this sort nor do they live in poverty stricken areas. In many families there are conflicts with siblings and relatives. Still serious violence only affects a very small per cent. This extended family is what most would call "White Trash."

There was more than one trailer or home on the same property. Another was about 20 minutes away. That's how you have four different places. Also it's not uncommon for women to have children by multiple men and vice versa. Perhaps the grandparents took care of many kids, especially if the parents were in jail, worked out of the area, or were estranged from their spouses.

The Orleans is well-known for hosting huge family reunions. If a great grand parent came from a very large family with 8 or more siblings,, and everyone started having children as teens, well over 100 relatives would not be unusual.

"There was a THC lab discovered in late January per Pike County Sheriff website. Interesting read. Looks like it's a federal case. There is photo of lab site and full description of process creating pure hash oil (shatter) from MJ plants. Lucrative? No names/addresses mentioned. Wondering if this ongoing case is related to murders.

It's at the Sheriff website--scroll down.

Just my opinion. Had to be four synchronized attacks. Maybe four or five perps."

Comment quoted from online site.

Somebody probably "disrespected" someone else. This IS the US, you know.

How do you sneak into someone's bedroom and murder them? If a bird farts outside it wakes me up.

[quote] So the local fuzz knew this was going to happen and even warned the family.

Asshole, it's a huge family. He warned those family members who weren't killed that their family has been targeted AFTER THE MURDERS took place.

The ignorance of DL never fails to be amusing when there's a discussion of how people live outside of affluent metropolitan areas in the NE.

I still don't understand why it could not have been a cartel killing.

I'm imagining Kasich is far less concerned about justice for this family now that it seems they were druggie inbreds.

It's unlikely the cartel could have known how to get into their homes without alerting them, R56. These murders were done by people who knew them well.

I doubt it's the mob--they hate the kind of attention this sort of thing brings (as has happened here). I similarly doubt the major cartels would risk doing it in the American heartland for a similar reason.

It's much more likely some penny ante drugdealer who went crazy with a vendetta against someone.

I've lived in Athens, Meigs and Hocking Counties in Ohio. What city people don't realize is that there are few opportunities to make much of a living in the country, especially in that hilly, rocky soil. Dog fighting, cockfighting and poaching are an accepted part of the local economy, as are drugs.

A guy I knew was a drug trafficker. I don't remember what he did that pissed someone off, but they went into his home when he was asleep, beat his girlfriend to death in front of him and then dragged him over the county line to kill him, tantamount to thumbing their noses at local law enforcement. My son hated him for fighting dogs and abusing the dogs to make them mean, so he thought the guy got what he deserved.

Fargo Season 3.

I've would never have dreamed this could happen in Ohio coming from the North East. I guess I was always thinking of Rosalind Russell singing "Ohio" from the play "Wonderful Town." I was living in a fool's paradise.

Legalize fucking drugs so these small town and ghetto corner protecting, mafia-so-so, quit killing each other over stupid shit.

The conservatives can not understand why pot needs to be legal.

Pot's the new moonshine.

Just because you're poor doesn't mean you have to be an animal torturing shithead. They chose to do that for money. They weren't forced into it.

It's why I don't care about that shithead who was getting all that attention because they say local law enforcement framed him and put him in jail. He deserves to be in jail. Fuck him, and fuck all lowlives who enjoy seeing the pain of the animals they tortured and killed. Buh bye, shitheads.

Oh god, it was only a matter of time before one of the animals are better than people morons showed up.

R58, All of the family members were asleep when they were shot with the unharmed 6 day old baby lying next to his mother. Agreed that they knew who lived where and had obviously been inside each place more than once.

"Jesus man this is everywhere... This is my best friend's good friend, and his family. He knew every single person killed and who did it. This stupid little nigger owed them a bunch of money and had connections to Coke dealers from Columbus so he got a bunch of people from there to kill them all. Kid hasn't been in school and made a Facebook post saying "they're all going to be gone by tomorrow".

Above comment is from a different online site. The author now lives in a completely different area of the US. Proof: (link below) not posting who my friend is for safety.

you know some classy folks

Verified it was cock fighting but not positive about the dog fighting; correcting my above post. Here's more info.

This is what happens when low level trash criminals meet organized crime murderers.

Tale as old as crime.

Well it makes sense. If I'm some low level pot dealer, and I owe you a bunch of money, maybe I hire some crackheads to go over there and get rid of you & that ends my debt. Or maybe I get rid of you and no more debt.

Have the officials said how big the marijuana operation is? Is it for widespread distribution, growing for friends or for home use? It had to have been quite large to risk murdering eight people. I wonder what the town gossip is .

[quote]Legalize fucking drugs so these small town and ghetto corner protecting, mafia-so-so, quit killing each other over stupid shit.

Agreed, in Chicago, someone walked into a bank and shot someone. Taking money from banks needs to be legalized so poor tellers won't get shot.

R73, Not a small operation. Check out my link at R70. There's reasons why media speculation was originally Mexican Cartel which operates in multiple places. There was a recent sighting of evidence of people camping nearby. Guess Gov Kasich has everything under control or he wouldn't be running for POTUS. LOL

Here's the FB of a surviving family member; note the earlier post from one of the deceased.

Well if these people were involved in dog fighting at least they deserved it. Fucking white trash.

Wow from your tales of terror from the heartland it sounds like we should just kill all those country mother fuckers.

Family tree at link. The Sinaloa Cartel was known to operate in the general area. Still this crime is personal and about "business." The perpetrators knew how to get in the homes and who lived in which place.

"When a slaying like this is business-related, it's quite routine to let children, certainly those too young to provide reliable witness data, live. You see, in these circles, unless you're dealing with cartels which tend to rule with terror and unadulterated brutality, there's some "honor among thieves".

The people who kill over business tend to not be evil, but rather conditioned to do "what needs to be done". Killing children that young is not a necessity, so they frequently will not."

The above comment online proves that it's not a cartel hit even though there were 3 major grow areas, one for each home where people were murdered. That amounts to thousands of pot plants.

R3, for decades police had a SUSPECT, who invented PERSON OF INTEREST?

I find it hard to believe the cops didn't know there was a major grow operation at the site. You have to run the lights, you have to run fans, etc. The electric company knows when some penny ante family is Bozoville is using far more electricity than should be used. That's how they get caught. The power company notifies police. Police either send in undercover agents, or just go in and bust the place....or they ask the growers how much it's worth to them to stay out of jail.

Did any of them die of AIDS?

Another comment online suggests a different motive.

" Frankie Rhoden (Dana's son) FB is linked below because of the information gleaned from it. Fact: Frankie Rhoden is all about cockfighting. Under "sports" on Frankie Rhoden's FB he has a picture of a fighting gamecock which links to a cockfighting website. His "likes" include a fighting cock for sale, page after page of gamecock supplies and supplements, cockfighting magazines, and so many pages dedicated to buying and selling gamecocks I quit counting. I also randomly checked out only 5 of his FB friends and 3 of them were proud gamecock fighters. One page he friended is Cockfighters against PETA. Additionally, his cousin he was close to has pictures of fighting gamecocks which he is openly selling on FB. It doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that cockfighting may be involved.

Fact: The relative who discovered the bodies went to Union Street to feed the "chickens" and dogs. Speculation: I started snooping because I suspected this may be a possibility when I saw the aerial pictures of the place with the long windowless building. I also noticed all those little tee pee shelters that look like ones used to shelter gamecocks. Very remote location, shacks for hens and breeding, and that long building. The roosters are kept tethered to it with one leg. Notice the several little tee pees behind the windowless building, to the left of the mobile home? And in front of the barn there are three, one on it's side. They are a different type which is a bit more rounded on the top.

Motive could be gambling debts, jealousy, not dealing with the most savory type people."

[quote]eif these people were involved in dog fighting at least they deserved it.

Agreed, it's much better to vacuum up fetus in the 8th month

Small towns have become the preferred hideouts of choice for pharmaceuticals manufacturers.

When did cockfighting become a billion dollar business in small town Ohio?

Or did someone try to outsell Ohio's most famous Nerium Vice President ?

Our country has a thriving underground economy. people do what they can to survive.

Can't we consider this trash taking care of themselves and cancel the investigation? Respectable people aren't involved in cock fighting. Would you want these sort as your neighbours?

If people resort to illegal and barbaric shit "to survive," they can get 3 meals a day in jail. That's surviving

Yeah, but in jail you and I pay for their meals, their utilities, their exercise and recreation, their healthcare, a library, educational and skills training, etc. They are warm, well fed and cozy.

a marajuana operation going on

No matter where you live , or where you run away to, "these sorts" are your neighbors.

I can without a doubt say that none of my neighbours are into cock fighting.

That's because they're lovers, not fighters, r93.

Looks like they were involved with large scale cock fighting and not dog fighting. Still illegal and disgusting.

Don't know whether or not the following online comment is relevant:

"Who was beating Hanna? Her baby daddy Cory? Hanna posted a domestic violence meme on her FB and under it stated she was being beaten by someone. Did Hanna’s family tell Cory to stay away from Hanna and her 4-day-old baby? Why does Cory not have photos of his oldest child with Hanna on his FB page, yet has dozens of selfies?"

Trash problems.

Lot of info in the posts and quotes on this page. Accusations law enforcement is corrupt and incompetent. Many drug related murders unsolved.

This is why I love DataLounge. We can find humor in everything, and transform it into a real-life cartoon.

Still another alternative theory on what happened linked. Bottom line women claims to be a relative. A different relative strung out on meth killed everyone. That's why one man was 1st severely beaten and the babies who couldn't identify him saved. Also supposedly there were 2 dogs on the property, not used for fighting but for protection. According to this theory the dogs didn't bark as the man wasn't a stranger to them. The killer according would also know how to quietly get in to all of the homes. He is now on the loose according to this story. Other relatives are looking for him.

Delete my last post as the woman apologized and said she was mistaken.

The value of the pot grown at the 3 locations was estimated to be a minimum of half a million. Then there is the following info:

"Also as details become a little more clear here, or at least a different line of speculation is reported, the word is that dad and 2 sons were in charge of growing. The 16 year old had a big mouth and may have talked or pissed someone off. Sounds like he fought with everyone in the county. So he may have been hiding. Thinking they would only be looking for him. Maybe he spilled the beans or someone nailed him down over the growing operation? I don't know.

First hand report from a EMS on the scene said the dad and another were beaten badly before they were shot. Hannah WAS nursing her baby when she was shot. The rest were put on their knees and shot in the back of the head. Also it sounded like a large caliber due to the damage to their faces on exit. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. But people here in pike county are still pretty worked up. A lot of people exercising the CC license."

The last paragraph of the linked page is IMHO the most relevant. Also this statement, "I live by Union Hill. It's not unusual to have a gun pointed at you. Everybody carries guns. But if you point it at someone you'd better use it."

So much hillbilly drama (and grammar) at R101's post.

No way the power company didn't notify the police of the big electric bill out in the boonies. Cops busted a grow operation in a 1400 sq ft suburban house next to my mother, thanks to the power company. You need to use a lot of electricity for 500k worth of plants.

I think "Person of Interest" became standard when Richard Jewell sued the whole press over the Olympic bombing coverage in Atlanta in 1996.

Any updates on the hillfolks?

Good question. Is the sheriff being investigated yet for taking kickbacks from the family for ignoring their pot farm?

R13 Wrong. I live in N.C. Large meth lab busts take place here all the time. And they are always scumbag, barely literate white people.

R105, The latest is blaming the drug cartels looks like a red herring. They wouldn't have let the 3 babies live and there would be a much more gruesome crime scene with beheadings. There was confusion as initial media reports claimed victims died due to a single shot to the head execution style. This would indicate a pro-hit. In reality all but one family member was shot multiple times.

The 1st woman on the scene was a relative who daily either fed the cocks and dogs or/and watered the pot plants. She told another relative who owned the land 1st before calling 911. Presumably they would both be implicated because of the pot. Bobby Jo also reported the doors on the trailers were locked and she had to use a hidden key. So the killers would have had to be well known by the family, Another clue is that the dogs didn't create a disturbance as at least one living inside the trailer did when the cops came to investigate. No dogs or cocks were harmed during the mass murders. Perhaps there was only one dog on the premises that night?

The pot growing operation could generate half a million dollars. Family members built the new barn which was originally thought to house fighting cocks. Perhaps instead it's used to grow pot. Also fairly recently more land to expand the operation was purchased for extremely little money. The LLC of the business is in Great Britain.

What's recently been revealed is that there was a serious split in the family due to a divorce some time ago. The 2 brothers who aligned with their mother did not inherit any of the land from their father. They live in KY as do some of the sisters. Land is transferred to the males in the family but the sisters who aligned with their father still get a share. Divorce and splits from baby daddies is common starting at a relatively young age. Could be the reason for the land inheritance policy.

So jealousy and greed could be a strong motivating factor especially if pot is legalized in more states. Changes who is allowed to grow and distribute and cuts out the drug cartels, or forces them to deal with harder drugs and trafficking.

The crime was obviously well planned out in advance with shell casings from 2 different guns located. This was evidently a crime of rage typical of a young White male rather than an impulse kill. Still could have been a robbery gone bad by family members who then decided to kill all potential witnesses. Pot growers don't typically keep all of their money in banks. That's my current theory which may change later on.

Because of the

This would make for a great TV mini-series.

It could have been as simple as robbery. In my area, most robberies are from illegal Mexicans immigrants. Why? Because they're paid in cash. If a house has 5 adult Mexican immigrants living in it, robbers know that there is going to be 5 cash paydays in that house. If they all work for landscapers who pay on Friday, then Friday night is the best time to enter the house with guns, which is exactly what happens.

These folks having a grow operation and a cock fighting business definitely aren't keeping their money in a bank. They each get a cut in cash. If I want money -- either because I feel I'm owed the money and have been slighted, or I'm just an opportunist who wants fast cash --- I'll go into the houses of everyone I know who is involved in the business and start pistol whipping people and shooting to get them to hand over the cash.

I don't think there's any cartel or brilliant master criminals involved. It probably all happened very quickly. One guy who knows the family knocks on the door, the family member opens the door and one or two other guys push in behind him. Kill the people in the house and ransack it. In and out. Maybe they pistol whipped the guys in the first house to find out where they kept their money, then decided it was faster to just shoot, rob and run.

Remember In Cold Blood? It was a mystery why those family members were killed. All kinds of rumours and theories floated around and it turned out to be a plain old robbery all along. Greedy dumb guys kill just as dead as brilliant tv villains do. Like they say, when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not Dr No.

R109, Considering the local businesses have backed out of their $25,000 donation due to the families' criminal involvement, I'm sure they would appreciate the financial help to raise the now motherless kids. They complex story is lurid but has a moralistic theme. What should a very poor, extended family do not to starve?

The local police know so many in the area depend on illegal activities to economically survive when there are so few stable jobs. Yes one woman in the family worked long shifts in a nursing home. At one time 2 of the men worked selling lumber. The expected uranium plant didn't open which disappointed many I'm sure.

[quote] What should a very poor, extended family do not to starve?

1) Get jobs?

2) This is a given - get the kids declared disabled. ADD, PTSD, Asperger, autism

3) start their own cock fighting, pot growing business

4.) grow vegetables instead of pot. Keep chickens for eggs and meat instead of for cock fighting. Sell the eggs and vegetables. Zucchini, tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, peppers, squash, beans. All can be grown in the former pot hothouse.

You know, Big Agriculture has caused a real problem because people used to know how to grow their own food. They had family farms. But the family farms got put out of business and people don't know how to farm anymore. My grandparents had victory gardens. But when you buy food at Walmart, you figure it's too hard to grow it yourself.

Poor people in rural areas should be taught permaculture. Yeah, they might grow some pot, but at least they'd grow some fresh food, too.

The children of the murdered will automatically get Social Security payments of $700 a month until they are 18.

Well, OK, not automatically. Their other family members will have to fill out the forms. If they're too dumb to do it, they can ask the county if they have a social agency that can do it for them. Or the local church.

Updated Header "White Trash Executed In Four Ohio Trailer Homes."

"The murdered family's name is Rhoden, it was impossible not to think of the Rhodes Bros"

I would have thought Perry Rhodan would occur to more but apparently not. Even being a German serial, with over 2800 new issues in the last fifty years you'd expect some general awareness.

R112, One woman in the group of deceased worked long shifts in the local nursing home. At one time 2 of the men were employed at least part-time in the local building supply business, as they're top carpenters who built the barn. Several men repair old cars and re-sell them at auction. One Derby car won a monetary prize too.

The history of the town started in about 1841 shows a series of businesses including a uranium mine temporarily opening, employing many, and then closing. There's very high unemployment so a group of churches distribute limited food. Also a 2 year wait for subsidized or cheap housing such as a broken down trailer. Common for family members to let relatives stay on their land for free.

If you don't have a car how then can you get to the next county for jobs? Growing food out of doors isn't sensible with the drastic, daily changes of weather. Recall the most expensive looking building on the Rhoden's property was a new barn built on the cheap by the men. Likely it housed pot plants. Keeping even a barn warm requires a lot of electricity which is expensive. Most of the men hunt for wild turkeys for food; it's seasonal food.

No, I'm definitely not justifying anyone's life choices. While it's the norm in many areas IMHO those who aren't financially stable shouldn't be having babies when they're young teens. It traps them into a life of poverty even with all of their relatives support and help. The pregnant usually drop out of high school. Note that the relatives did not wear different clothes to go to all of the funerals.

[quote]How do you sneak into someone's bedroom and murder them? If a bird farts outside it wakes me up.

There's a difference between being asleep (easily awakened) and being passed out.

Or maybe some of the victims were "sleeping with Prince Valium tonight," as Winona Ryder said in Beetlejuice.

They were living in small trailers with some sleeping on the couch. The 3 babies slept next to their parents. The only man who lived alone was 7 miles away.

Obviously the killers knew the victims and who slept in which place, where the emergency key was located, which trailers were not always locked, etc. Or he had a meeting re a possible late night drug buy with at least one of the victims that turned into a robbery, and then a mass murder. It's suspected at least one killer knew the victims as he shot all potential witnesses but left the 3 babies.

[quote] the most expensive looking building on the Rhoden property was a new barn, built on the cheap by the men. Likely to grow pot

If they can grow pot in that barn, they can grow food in it. If they can feed and house chickens for cockfighting, they could feed and house chickens for eggs and meat.

People grow food out of doors all over the world, in hot, cold, dry, wet areas. People in dry Africa grow crops and keep chickens. Before big agriculture, people farmed, drastic weather and all. Colonial people dug up the rocky ground in cold places like Vermont and started farms without any tractors or other modern technology. It's not impossible. One of my high school classmates now lives in Vermont and has a farm. She has dairy cows, chickens and ducks. Milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, meat. She grew up in a working class town, but she and her husband started a farm and their kids are farm kids. And it snows pretty much from the end of October til April.

People make their own choices. This family ended up dead from their choices.

R120, Re your last sentence, probably why this case is getting so much pap attention and would make a good movie. Just read on another site about the number of relations that have broken up, had affairs, gotten back together, gotten together with friends of former partners, had babies with different partners, partied and fought a lot, and the story still has a moralistic message at the end of the whole tale perfect for the Bible Belt.

I have never visited the linked site before this mass murder. However there are several threads where Pinkerton locals and possible distant family relations or knowledgeable friends who've heard the town gossip in the past have discussed different aspects of the Rhoden family activities in far more detail than the media. In fact it was temporarily closed and many posts deleted on the request of the surviving Rhoden family members.

For example grandfather Clarence was a convicted pedo. There was a major split between Brady and brothers Chris and Kenneth likely over the former's drug use. Brady is the father of Brandon and Jake both of whom are suspected of at least some knowledge of the murders. Also they were listed as residing at 799 Left Fork Rode instead of their uncle Kenneth who was murdered at that location. At least one month before the killings different people were living at 3 of the locations.

Doug Stone found $8,000 at the trailers and didn't donate it to funeral expenses. Were Stone, Brandon, and Jake drug mules who wanted a larger cut? Or were they simply jealous drug users.

Hannah Rhoden has had different lovers. The father of Hannah's baby is angry at the breakup. That's where Charlie, Gilley and Cory Holdren's names are added. At least 2 of the Holdren's slept with Hannah.

Possibly some of the victims woke up and called or investigated when they heard the initial shots fired. That's how they became potential witnesses. Apparently some of the bodies were moved from the spot were they were killed. A truck was confiscated by the police as well as other vehicles on the property. There's rumors one of them was used to move the bodies.

So we know it's not a drug cartel or Motorcycle Org that's responsible for the mass murder despite the real killers intentions to make it look that way. Thus the leaks to the media about all falsely killed with one shot to the head, pro hitman style. Rumors that a suicide was even staged to explain away the murders.

Obviously relations would know where the security cameras were located and how to disable them and the way to enter each trailer IF they had previously lived or visited long term at that location.

I have an additional point. If Brandon and Jake were listed as officially living at the property rather than Kenneth, who had a nice home in a completely different area, would the former be legally liable for the grow plants? Were they the ones who did the initial planting and cultivation? Who created and ran the cock fighting operation? Which dogs were owned by whom and where were the outside guard dogs? When did they leave the property?

Very confusing I know. Where's Dominick Dunne or his substitute when you need him.

Recall the recent lockdown and closing for the day of OH schools in certain counties? LE claimed there were online threats. The following FB was linked on a similar thread to the one I cited in the previous post on Topix.com. Not saying this FB user has any connection to the mass murder.

Now are the cultists (or teens pretending to be so) belonging to this FB group on the good side, exposing a FB pedo exchange group? There's a post on this FB asking everyone to expose and spread the word about the pedo exchange group members. That's why I'm posting this note and divulging private emails. I didn't check out any of the videos on either FB but a Topix.com member said they were shocking. WTF?

The following is speculation as the author claims to know some of the people involved:

"Why do people think Donald Stone, Jake Rhoden and Brandon Rhoden did this for?

1. Brandon live next to Frankie and he didn't hear the shots you know that's a lie. 2. Donald has open can of worms cause HE told fay about the cash and they had a fight over Dollie tagging on her and Donald kids and fay went repeating what Donald told her. 3. Jake couldn't stand the fact that Hannah didn't want anyone to know he may be the father not Charlie Gilley."

Supposedly Jake Rhodden when drunk raped Hannah. Ashamed Hannah kept it quiet when she got pregnant that she wasn't caring Charlie Gilley's baby. Jake and Hannah are cousins, as are Brandon and Hannah. Brandon and Jake are brothers; no one speaks to their father Brady. Jake is accused online of being the mastermind behind the whole operation as he's viewed as the man with the most brains. Jake's also been reported to being jealous of Kenneth Rhoden.

Donald Stone lives with Fay. It's believed both have are fried to do heavy drug use. Fay didn't keep quiet about the $8,000 Donald told her he took from Gary Rhoden. He neither helped pay for the funeral nor met his court ordered child support payments. It's known the only way Donald had in the past of helping to support his kids by Dolly is through being a mule with Brandon Rhoden.

Again my comment above is what I gathered from reading possible OH local's posts on Topix.com. The police quickly knew who did it but are waiting to arrest them until they get more evidence, including from locals talking.

' If you follow the Drugs and who they are associated with you can see that this was not a " Mexican Cartel hit" but rather a " Biker hit ". Go look up A gang by the name of "The Iron Horseman" founded in Cincinnati. I find it rather strange how I can connect the dots to both Law Enforcement Agents, Drug pushers, and Biker Gangs from both Ohio and Southern Kentucky to this murder. Connect the dots of all of those folks that were connected in the Demiliton Derby races. They are connected to just about every needle pushing junky in both states.. Wake up people it's right under your nose ! The problem is these gangs are made up of the most corrupt elected officials, DEA, law enforcement,attorneys,ex military, and vets .. It's an Army not just a few !! Just a thought."

While I don't think the above comment on Topix.com is 100% true follow up statements claim the drug dealing followed regular routes to Detroit and TX. Brandon and Jake, sons of Brady Rhoden who was ostracized and hated by all of his relatives in part for being a lousy father, were the drug couriers. Jake's the one with the brains who manipulated Brandon and Doug Stone. All wanted a bigger share of the profits. If you think cousins won't kill their relatives who often housed and cared for them, recall Jake is accused of raping Hannah. Arguments if her 4-day-old baby is Jake's or Chris Gilley's. Either way it explains why the newborn and his 2 baby cousins were left alive.

The motive for the months earlier killing of a mother and her 16-year-old daughter has been tied to selling of harder drugs and pills. Some suspect the Rhoden family wasn't just selling pot. Perhaps that's why the relative who was working long hours at the nursing home got a formal divorce but is still living with her ex. She didn't want to risk her job over drug production and distribution claims. Her husband and his brother own other pieces of land and have different official addresses. So if a pot grow operation is discovered would those legally responsible be the owners of the land or any of the different sets of relatives who lived there at any one time?

Chris and Gary have also been accused of being somehow connected to a shady used car selling business. Was it used to launder drug money? There are other questionable businesses in the Southern OH area. Recall the statement almost everyone grows or has used pot at one time. Harder drugs are the real problem. Moonshine is still sold at the local bars too. Residents dress very casually for weddings and funerals. That's not how they spend their limited income.

I love topix. If you look up any small community in the US the hillbilly fighting and airing of dirty laundry brings hours of joy. I enjoy East St Louis.

Good lord has Poo Shoes taken over this thread too? Those long, rambling threads with bizarre, over-complicated theories......

[quote] Agreed, it's much better to vacuum up fetus in the 8th month

You fucking ignorant piece of shit, NOBODY HAS EVER DONE THAT in literally the entirety of human history.

Let me guess, you're also concerned about all those "partial-birth abortions", too?

Why don't you just kill yourself already? You are literally worthless.

Fetuses are not vacuumed up in the 8th month dear. It's usually done around 12 weeks when the "baby" (as people hysterically scream) is actually a tiny lump of tissue.

I keep thinking this thread is about "Eight is Enough."

"This is the story of two women - Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell."

The music in my head as I read this thread...

Gross people

The police chief resigned so doesn't that imply that the police were involved with all the drugs in this town?

Seems odd to me that they actually took four mobile homes away.

Live like "Deliverance," die like "Deliverance."

Four crime scenes that are totally portable to state crime laboratories.

Not to mention crime scenes that could potentially be contaminated or compromised by any member of the 100-plus Rhoden clan.

What's so odd about THAT, R134?

[quote] The police chief resigned so doesn't that imply that the police were involved with all the drugs in this town?

Did he resign?

I thought it was strange that law enforcement would have no idea that a pot growing operation was going on. Power companies routinely report over-consumers of electricity to police.

If you want to run a grow operation and you don't have money to pay off the police, go solar.

R137, After 7 years in law enforcement the area police supervisor is leaving "to spend more time with his teenagers who need him." Of course everyone in small towns know who's selling pot et al. Similarly their kids went to school with families that made/make moonshine and now sell it in local bars as a way to feed their family.

With very few job alternatives and drug cartels anxious to move in to any area currently unserviced, police would rather controllable locals benefit from a small pot growing operation where it's rare there are multiple murders. It would be a very different situation from organized drug gangs constantly killing each other for territory to distribute a wide range of "stress relieving products."

R134, Locals suspect due to rumors about the blood splatters and other evidence the victims were not killed exactly where they were found. Likely they were dragged to a different place with onsite vehicles which were also confiscated by the police. That means the crime scene was staged. Doug Stone initially told 911 the bodies he found were killed with one shot to the head, pro hit man style. That's why so many in the media initially suspected drug cartel or at least Motorcycle Gang involvement. Stone changed his story and stated he wasn't alone when he contacted 911, according to a reporter from NBC.com.

It also implies the victims didn't sleep through the multiple gunfire shots but at least a few went to investigate nearby trailers. Perhaps Chris Jr opened a window in a futile attempt to escape. The murderers could also have left by the same window leaving the front door locked. Very suspicious why Doug Stone who was sleeping in a nearby trailer claimed he never heard any shots and didn't investigate until hours after he was supposed to meet with one of the victims to work on the old cars on the property.

So it sounds like members of the family are the killers. makes sense.

I'm seeing a miniseries.

Surely they would have done that before now R136

R140 AMC or Netflix?

Justified meets Breaking Bad for sure.

R140, Hopefully the sale of the mini-series will benefit the surviving babies. Story gets even more twisted and complex when you consider the questions of where the used cars on their property came from and to whom they were sold. There's a used car lot in town which has been accused in the past of impropriety. Then there's talk of a vacation resort where family members worked at one time and connections to that car lot too.

Also was Hannah's 4-day-old baby the result of incest and rape by her uncle or by her now estranged boyfriend. At least one of the men in her life was accused of beating her. Then there's the grandfather who was a convicted pedo, of boys, girls, or both I'm now not sure. Divorces divided up the family as well as financial assets. So many red herrings in this long tale to consider.

iMHO there's a restricted access thread on Topix.com that's providing the best insights, including FB info of close and distant relatives that gets subsequently quickly deleted. Locals and those who had some connection and knowledge of the family have posted on that thread.

Link to thread r144

I'm thankful I wasn't born a hillbilly.

R145, Try this thread on Topix. There are other informative threads on Topix.com but this one is the best although very long. Different from Websleuths there's a minimum of Frau sympathy posts that aren't revealing any new info or wild speculations. They do link other media sites when new info is revealed.

Believe this thread is restricted so let me know if you have trouble accessing it. New to Topix readers started making nasty comments about the apparent vices of the deceased including drug involvement, extramarital affairs, fighting, etc. Some of the suspected killers wrote very homophobic and/or racist and/or sexist comments on their Facebooks. Be careful.

Also fair warning that many of the comments would make our very helpful but conscientious Grammar Trolls "go off the deep end." If you can't handle reading posts from those with a limited ability to write proper English don't go to Topix.com. Some of the most revealing posts are authored by those with few skills however.

Summarize what you uncover.

I

LE is looking at a family of 4 that left the state after the killings. Obviously, the remaining family members know who did it.

I wonder how much annually the Rhoden's were pulling in from their drug operation. I wonder how they laundered the cash.

It looks like they stashed their cash instead of laundering it. They were living in trailers, not mansions.

Pot growing should be legal. One day, it will be.

Ohio is a pit.

I hadn't heard of this story before but find it interesting that all these people had their babies while still in their early and mid teens. Sounds like a bunch of hillbillies for sure.

Bump for original thread.

Did they ever find an answer to these murders?

You should know, if dogs don't like their owners, they might not protect them. Animals have their own personalities.

If it was a pot situation, it was probably a Mexican Cartel, right?

Omg, I remember this story.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A family of four was arrested Tuesday in the gruesome slayings of eight people from another family in rural southern Ohio two years ago. It's the first break in a case that left a community reeling and surviving family members wondering if answers would ever come.

Those arrested were four members of the Wagner family, who lived near the scenes of the killing about 60 miles south of Columbus. One suspect, Edward "Jake" Wagner, 26, was once the boyfriend of one of the eight victims, 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden. Also arrested were his parents, George "Billy" Wagner III, 47, and Angela Wagner, 48, and his brother, George Wagner, 27. The Wagners had since moved to Alaska.

"We promised that the day when come when arrests would be made in the Pike County massacres," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said at a news conference. "Today is that day."

No motive has been announced, but officials said custody of a young child played a role.

There have been arrests today of members of the Wagner family in Lexington and in Alaska in conjunction with these murders.

Jake Wagner seems to have fathered a child with Hannah Rhoden, and the murders seem to tie in with a custody fight over the child.

That's a glamorous family.

Do I understand this? Jake, 24 at the time of the murders, killed his 19 year old lover, Hanna. He wanted custody of the 4 day old. Hanna also had a 3 year old.

So Hanna had a kid at 16. Jakes parents are ok if he's a statutory rapist and a murderer cause he'll be a good parent?? This is some deliverance banjo playing shit.

It's common knowledge in the area that this was about weed distribution. Not all drug hits are from Mexican cartels.

Can’t wait for the Netflix documentary on this. Evil Genius sequel, perhaps?

Hold on, both of jakes grandmothers helped him out in murdering their grandchilds mother?????? i want the 48 hours episode stat

Kind of reminds me of Ozark on Netflix.

That was my first thought, R165.

Had they had ANY common sense, and business acumen, they would have closed up shop, consolidated their businesses, and moved to California or Colorado, and made a fortune LEGALLY.

God, I hate stupid people.

r167, you really think it's that easy to make a "fortune"?

I'd almost forgotten about this story.

One of the suspects has plead guilty to "eight counts of aggravated murder, as well as charges of conspiracy, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and other counts."

So it was a crazy ex? That had been "dating" her since she 15? And the whole family went to murder her and her family? One of the leading causes of death of pregnant women is domestic violence. A simple abortion would have saved 8 lives. And that's how you shoehorn it into the conversation, at R whatever