OH - Pike County: 8 people from one family dead as police hunt for killer(s) #11

[Iona]

Since there not much new going on....I found my neighbor/friend dead. I can see their place from mine. Morning i see their lights are on and door is open, but i wait an hour till my child leaves for school. I wander over to friends place, stand in front of house and think--'this is not good'. I enter cautiously, from about 20 feet away i see him, , he is down on floor, dry blood on head , i watch from distance for a bit ?...he's dead i decide. Then i do a slow walk thru of his place, see if any thing is out of place.
Then i phone , dispatcher asks how i know he's dead "he looks dead" -dispatcher-we would like you to go check for sure---"i'd prefer not to" dispatcher-go check him. I check him . "he's rigored, cold and bloods dry and his bowels have evacuated" dispatcher -wait for emergency services to arrive. Then the police interviewed me, they took notes, couple hours later police want to interview me again, this time they are going to record it. (I've been reading Websleuths for years, so my first thought is, damn, what did i say last time).
Then the rumors start--he kept $$stuffed in his couch, etc, etc,---so now i am a possible killer. Official cause of death, he fell and hit his head.
I'd never thought about what i'd do if i ever found someone dead, but in my mind, you would go check them, but i did not do that
You are damned if you do, and damned if you don"t.
I was very calm, but i think that was a shock thing. He was dead-i saw no reason(at that time)to act quickly

Wow... true, you.never know what you would do, but my first instinct would be get out, quick!!! ( I think [emoji33] )

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[VicVixvi]

dope is a herb, so unless it's touched, it don't smell

Never been in a grow op house when everything is in full bud bloom, I take it...

 

[Iona]

That's why the teach in CPR class, one of the first things you do is look at someone and shout, "call 911", because if you don't (and I've had it happen..), everyone will stand around frozen and watch.

True...

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[tehcloser]

Wow... true, you.never know what you would do, but my first instinct would be get out, quick!!! ( I think [emoji33] )

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I grew up with a mamaw who's best friend was a "Justice of the Peace". I saw things from such a young age.......oh lawz! Lol. So if it was someone I didn't know...I would be looking for clues by the time Le arrived. But a friend or family member, I would be useless.

 

[Higgins]

To me the thing that stands out about this crime is the number of houses visited that night. If this was all over drugs then I feel only CR1's or KR's house would have been targeted and the only way DR and the kids would have been involved is if they were there at the time. I cannot see any drug dealers/cartels bringing that much heat down on themselves over a few hundred pot plants or going door to door hunting people down. Yes, whole families are killed over drugs but that is usually because the family was in the house at the time with the primary target. Ditto for a robbery. The cartels/dealers are fully aware of how hard it is to do business with tons of LE wandering around and killing 8 people would bring every cop in the state (not to mention DEA and FBI) running, so I don't think the drugs had anything to do with it. Burglars don't go door to door either, if they suspect money then they go to where they think it is in a smash and grab sort of way so that kind of rules out robbery as a motive.
The only way I can put this together is to start with the assumption that the primary targets were CR1, KR, FR and DR since they are the heads of household in the targeted houses. GR, HG, CR2, and HR were just there. In other words I do not think the killer would have hunted for them if they were somewhere else at the time, like at a friend or relatives house. It also explains why other relatives living close by were passed over on the way to kill KR.
So I wondered what these 4 had in common. Not drugs since I think LM was correct in saying he didn't think his daughter was involved in the grow operations. She might have known about it but it is unlikely she would have been actively involved in the selling. As someone else on here said the only thing that all 4 had in common was cars e.g. selling, fixing, buying.
So I started looking at that and found a statement made a few months ago about the AG of Ohio saying he was cracking down on used car lots for not giving titles and stolen cars being "refurbished" with VINs from salvaged cars. That meant the risk involved in such activities increased greatly. I looked at the car lot DR kept linking to and found the owners name, looked on her website and noticed her manager's name was the same as owner of the BB lodge they all worked at and the same one who gave interviews to the press.
I don't think stolen cars would be motive to kill 8 people though so I wondered what would be worth killing that many people for. Hunting them down at different houses even. The only thing I came up with is a career. A career that could potentially be worth many millions of dollars (e.g one mega hit song).
The public is fickle where their entertainers are concerned. Drugs don't ruin a career. The public has sort of come to expect that of entertainers thanks to Elvis, Michael Jackson and others. They might frown on them being connected to selling them but they could also deny knowing about the selling and it would be hard to prove they did know. The only thing that will tank a career is something that affects the public directly, like Milli Vanilli who lip synced their songs and tanked overnight because their fans felt deceived.
Being involved with stolen cars could potentially be (or be perceived to be by someone who had a direct interest in that career) unforgivable also since it affects all of us in the fact that if it is not our car that was stolen, a spike in stolen cars causes a rise in car insurance all over the nation. The insurance companies are not going to lose money and we see such rises after every hurricane or other natural disaster. That costs everyone who owns a car. Serving time in prison for selling stolen property could tank it too since extended time spent out of the spotlight usually means people forget about you. Protecting such a career that could be worth millions would be a good motive if you had a substantial interest in that career.
I also read somewhere that throwing money on a dead body is a sign that person got too greedy. Given that and the AG's vendetta on stolen cars I am wondering if CR1 and KR decided since the risk was greater the pay should be too. That they may have communicated that with a threat to go to LE if they didn't get that pay raise. Extortion would be a motive and would also explain why everyone who knew about it had to go. Killing that many people would also serve to warn anyone else who knew about it to keep quiet. (LM's statement in an interview of "Are they going to kill me? Maybe or maybe not. I don't know." could be interpreted as a sign of fear for his life or his surviving families lives because of what they knew.)
It would also explain why those all those cars were towed. It would even explain why LM's son JM's truck was towed since relatives and ex relatives usually buy vehicles from family feeling they would get a better deal. Could also be the reason he didn't have tag since you need a title to get one. Maybe the reason LM was so angry about it being towed is he knew and he was fearful about his son buying stolen property?
Any thoughts on this theory anyone? I hope I have not broken any TOS rules with this post. If so please delete it.

DING DING DING!! Winner!!

 

[Mmaaix]

Never been in a grow op house when everything is in full bud bloom, I take it...

I know I have not but I know there has to be some kind of smell, many natural herbs have scents. I just don't see this as being sophisticated by any matter. Most sophisticated growers sure would not do such at their primary place of residence reguardless if it's in the middle of nowhere or not, and with the amount of friends and family coming and going it just makes no sense

 

[tehcloser]

I don't know about a career. But protecting a reputation , money, keeping one's butt out of jail. That I could see.

 

[Higgins]

And I will add to this conversation, interesting NO mention of ANYTHING on BBL web site or Car Lot web site. Family owned Business, FAMILY employees, no mention of LOSS??

 

[Capkan]

Twenty miles south of Piketon, Big Bear Lake Family Resort owner Robin Waddell has known the Rhoden family for decades, ever since Christopher Sr. started working at the resort — building decks or roofs, excavating, whatever needed done.


Waddell would hire the elder Chris Rhoden whenever he needed construction. He was good, Waddell said. He was reliable. He was a friend.


“It’s devastating that something like this could happen,” Waddell said. “And we don’t know what happened.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/04/24/manhunt-mystery-follow-ohio-bloodbath/83469888/

Robin Waddell, who owns the Big Bear Lake Family Resort just south of Piketon, said Christopher Rhoden often did work for him as a carpenter and helped out with his excavation business. He said Rhoden was a nice guy whose kids sometimes visited him while he was working.


"It's a large family," Waddell said. "There's a lot of them and they've been in this community for generations. So this is affecting a lot of people."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/rural-ohio-community-rattled-killings-family-members-38629512

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...n-style-murder-family-members-manhunt-piketon

Robin Waddell, the owner of the Big Bear Lake Family Resort in Lucasville, Ohio, said Chris Rhoden Sr. and his son Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, worked for him several years in a seasonal capacity building docks, repairing fences and performing other carpentry-related jobs.


Waddell said Chris Rhoden was "a fantastic and talented contractor" and his son was "a really good kid."


Waddell said he was familiar with many members of the Rhoden family and saw no outward signs of problems or issues that could explain this tragedy.



http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/23/us/ohio-shooting-pike-county/

Thanks!

 

[mrssmith23]

LOL, weed smells when it's in full bloom, VERY. MUCH. SO. (If it's any good anyway ) - unless you have carbon filters which really does not eliminate it all anyway - I can smell it when I'm getting out of my car at a friends house who grows like 12 plants... In his basement.

Also, it's really not as hard to grow weed as everyone acts like. JMO. You can easily read some high times and get started. I know people that seem pretty.. Uneducated.. That can grow high quality buds.

It's not that odd for country families to grow weed. It REALLY isn't. People were doing it all over out here before it became legal. And even with it being legal in MI, let's remember it's really actually not legal at all, and everyone and their mothers grow it. People you would never expect to do it, do it.

Maybe it was a sophisticated operation due to the fact they haven't gotten caught with that many plants growing. It's really not hard to install timers. I've been pretty impressed with the grow operations I've witnessed. There are recommendations on how to do it all over in thing like High Times, etc. it's really not rocket science. Not even a little bit. Especially when we know previous family has already been in trouble for the same things.

JMO.


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[nada]

Never been in a grow op house when everything is in full bud bloom, I take it...

Well yes i have, grown my own, and have rented indoor grows, it's almost legal where i live

 

[JoHyphen]

It was his father's land that was deeded to all 8 of his kids at his death. There are several parcels that make up the 50+ acres at 799 Left Fork. The sisters (I can't imagine why ) wanted nothing to do with their 1/8 share of the land from their father and basically gave their shares to the 4 sons of Clarence and so the Christopher et al was formed. Two of the sisters gave their shares ONLY to CR1 for some reason. Thus leaving CR1 the majority owner.

I have pointed out the family division before because CR and KR stayed with their dad and took care of dad when their parents got divorced. The other two brothers went with their mom and still take care of their mom. In my opinion that's one reason for jealousy and one possible theory of what could have happened. Take out CR and KR and they probably thought the property was theirs and they got what they felt like they deserved. However if that was the case, I don't think they realized the grandchildren would get CR1 shares of the property. Also I could see some jealousy between the siblings of each of the families. The two brothers children (not CR and KR children) could feel like they deserve more of the property or family "businesses". Just possibilities. I definitely don't think the siblings were united and the 4 sisters have sort of separated themselves from the brothers. I kind of find it interesting that the sisters aren't really ever mentioned. Some moved away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Could this possibly be where some of the sexual abuse came in? were the females in the family the victims? This could explain HRs sad and dark comments and could also explain the sister's wanting nothing to do with the property/memories?

 

[RAISINISBACK]

I said that. I did a logic problem layout and the only "known" I could find connecting all 4 scenes were cars. And interesting that cars are getting towed. I still wish we knew for sure how many were towed.

I read somewhere the number was 18 and growing. I feel that whoever is responsible knew about the pot and relied heavily on LE focusing on the grow operation and jumping to the conclusion it was all over drugs. I really do believe they thought all those cars sitting around would be disregarded as just so much trash never expecting LE to focus on them. I think the towing of cars made someone very anxious. This is all assuming any of those cars were stolen but there is some reason they were towed and deemed evidence. Whether they were stolen or just used as parts for stolen cars, I have a deep feeling that this was less about pot and more about the cars and the owners name on the used car lot they were sold on. Also if you type in the AG of Ohio and stolen cars you come up with several articles where they busted used car owners and sent them to jail in addition to suing them to recover money for the people who bought the cars and couldn't get a title or tag. Some were sued for pretty large sums.

 

[VicVixvi]

I know I have not but I know there has to be some kind of smell, many natural herbs have scents. I just don't see this as being sophisticated by any matter. Most sophisticated growers sure would not do such at their primary place of residence reguardless if it's in the middle of nowhere or not, and with the amount of friends and family coming and going it just makes no sense

The budding cannabis plant stinks to high heavens. The growers put a lot of money into their ventilation systems to remove the odor. If you had just a few budding plants in a back room of a house and no ventilation, you would be able to smell it throughout the house with no problem. I've walked into scenes with EMS before where there was a grow.

 

[mrssmith23]

The budding cannabis plant stinks to high heavens. The growers put a lot of money into their ventilation systems to remove the odor. If you had just a few budding plants in a back room of a house and no ventilation, you would be able to smell it throughout the house with no problem. I've walked into scenes with EMS before where there was a grow.

Even with a large grow op, the ventilation systems typically don't cover the entire smell, just takes it down a bit. Especially depending on the quality.

I know someone that tried to ventilate up and out through the chimney thinking it would be going high enough into the air it wouldn't matter. Wrong. Smelled like you were driving into a marijuana factory when going to his house depending on which way the wind was blowing that day.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Well yes i have, grown my own, and have rented indoor grows, it's almost legal where i live

Almost? LOL. You gave me a laugh.

 

[VicVixvi]

Not saying that this case involves stolen car parts, but if you think that people wouldn't kill to protect a large racket ...

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2008/04/08/oldchop.html

 

[Stippling]

Even with a large grow op, the ventilation systems typically don't cover the entire smell, just takes it down a bit. Especially depending on the quality.

I know someone that tried to ventilate up and out through the chimney thinking it would be going high enough into the air it wouldn't matter. Wrong. Smelled like you were driving into a marijuana factory when going to his house depending on which way the wind was blowing that day.

LE routinely gets warrants based on the telltale smell of cannabis outside of dwellings where it is being grown. Typically - the odor increases as the plant matures. I guess you could fake everyone out with patchouli oil ... but it does have a pronounced odor.

 

[mrssmith23]

LE routinely gets warrants based on the telltale smell of cannabis outside of dwellings where it is being grown. Typically - the odor increases as the plant matures. I guess you could fake everyone out with patchouli oil ... but it does have a pronounced odor.

Exactly my point. It smells, it's potent. The growing smell is almost worse than the smoking smell because the smoking smell will dwindle away. You can try to cover it, but it really doesn't work, especially in larger operations. I tell a few of my friends I smell it every time I come over or step into their house and they look at me like I'm crazy because they are so immune to the smell of it growing they don't even notice it anymore, which is dangerous IMO. And the smell is enough "probable cause". I'm still convinced that's one of the many reasons a friend of mine went down - another reason being him being very stupid and flashy with money, with no paper trail of an income. Whoops!

 

[Toralei]

I don't know about a career. But protecting a reputation , money, keeping one's butt out of jail. That I could see.

I think there's some connection between the manager of BB and a singer. Maybe that's what the OP was alluding to? Idk, as I said yesterday, anything is possible at this point because we don't freaking KNOW anything.

We know because MSM tells us:
1. 8 members of the same family were killed
2. 7 of the 8 suffered multiple GSW
3. CRSr and GR were found together, with possible staging of the bodies, no sign of forced entry
4. CRSr's door was locked per 911 call by BM, but no word on which door or if all doors were locked. CRSR's dogs were and still are missing.
5. BM had a reason for being at CRSr's residence.
6. FR, HG and their 6mo old along with FR's 3yr old were found together, children unharmed.
7. No word on whether forced entry happened.
8. DR, HR and CRJr were found by her brother at the same address along with HR's 4 day old baby, baby unharmed. Their dogs were let out ny person or persons unknown. Rumor states CRJr may not have been found inside. It has never been officially confirmed that HR and CRJr were found here.
9. DR was laying somewhere close enough to the door for her brother to see her and back out.
10. KR was found alone, in bed with money strewn about his legs by DS some 5 hours after discovery of the other Rhodens. His dog was present.
11. 3 of the 4 crime scenes allegedly had marijuana grow ops. We don't know which 3, but with the discovery of a tray of MJ plants by DS, we can say with confidence that KR was 1 site.
12. There is involvement with selling used cars by CRSr, KR, DR and FR.
13. There was a divorce between Clarence Rhoden (CRSr's father) and his wife that split that generation between the two.
14. KR has ties to people convicted of drug violations in KY
15. There was an altercation between Union Hill people and some teenagers approximately 2 weeks before the attacks.
16. The teenagers involved in the altercation have supposedly cleared their names and are no longer suspects
17. Cars have been towed from 2 of the scenes.
18. CRJr was involved in an altercation with an adult female who was convicted of assault and had an RO against her in the few days leading up to the attacks.

If I missed anything let me know.

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Edited to correct typo