OH - Pike County: 8 people from one family dead as police hunt for killer(s) #32

[Betty P]

I agree.

But why would anyone murder 8 people at 4 locations for any reason?

Whoever did it, had a reason in their own mind.

None of it has ever made sense to any of us because we don’t think like murderers.

Every case I have ever researched regarding mass familial homicide, that wasn’t a murder suicide, the murdered was a close family member, friend, or business associate.

The McStay family was originally thought to have been murdered by cartels at the border. It took investigators a year to figure out it was the business partner who did it.

Recently, I shared an article about another familial homicide where one member miraculously survived. That murderer was the neighbor who was mad about the family purchasing land next to him. He was caught because someone lived to tell.

At the end of the day, could someone have killed this family over inheritance, land, and life insurance? Sure.

Add up the land, with the life insurance and all the personal property. It’s not a small chunk of change when it’s all combined.

I don’t think that’s what happened. But anything’s possible IMO.

I understand where you're coming from, but I'm looking at it analytically, based on overall stats, criminal profiling and data sets of similar cases.

8 muders, 4 locations in a few hrs time
Professional job, multiple killers with experience

Sure, it's possible some local crank with a grudge pulled it off, but highly unlikely, JMO

No one is telling any one what to discuss, as long as it stays within forum rules. It's a frustrating case. I'm just trying to figure out where the theories are headed after so much discussion of insurance policies.

 

[amauet1]

I agree.

But why would anyone murder 8 people at 4 locations for any reason?

Whoever did it, had a reason in their own mind.

None of it has ever made sense to any of us because we don’t think like murderers.

Every case I have ever researched regarding mass familial homicide, that wasn’t a murder suicide, the murderer was a close family member, friend, or business associate.

The McStay family was originally thought to have been murdered by cartels at the border. It took investigators a year to figure out it was the business partner who did it.

Recently, I shared an article about another familial homicide where one member miraculously survived. That murderer was the neighbor who was mad about the family purchasing land next to him. He was caught because someone lived to tell.

At the end of the day, could someone have killed this family over inheritance, land, and life insurance? Sure.

Add up the land, with the life insurance and all the personal property. It’s not a small chunk of change when it’s all combined.

I don’t think that’s what happened. But anything’s possible IMO.

In KR's estate papers, there is an apprasial of the properties co-owned by CRsr, KR, TR and BR. Total of all parcel is 120,500.00 and spit that 4 ways, 30,125.00 each. Value was determined by Lowell Chambers Real Estate, broker.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

I understand where you're coming from, but I'm looking at it analytically, based on overall stats, criminal profiling and data sets of similar cases.

8 muders, 4 locations in a few hrs time
Professional job, multiple killers with experience

Sure, it's possible some local crank with a grudge pulled it off, but highly unlikely, JMO

No one is telling any one what to discuss, as long as it stays within forum rules. It's a frustrating case. I'm just trying to figure out where the theories are headed after so much discussion of insurance policies.

I totally get it.

Let’s take weed and cartels out of the theories for just one second.

Pretend there were no grow operations and/or no illegal activity what so ever on behalf of the victims.

Could it still be a professional hit? Absolutely.

Now, who has the motive and money to hire a professional hit on 8 people?

On top of that, who had access to Dana’s house to know the layout on top of knowing she had a new residence in the month before the murders?

How could professional hit men get around the dogs? Chance, CRsr’s dog was said to be vicious. LM stated that himself and said he wouldn’t even try to go around that dog unless Dana or Chris was right there.

But yet the dogs were left alive.

Why was a truck owned by JM considered to be used in the commission of murder, a year after the murders? A truck he didn’t own at the time of the murders.

Why did the W’s start preparing to move 6-7 weeks after the murders in June 2016 by selling off their animals? And right after they just built a new barn on Peterson road?

Why has JW’s story changed? First, he said he missed the murder by hours, getting S the night before the murders.

6 months later the story was changed and AW said JW got S the week prior on 4/12/16.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

In KR's estate papers, there is an apprasial of the properties co-owned by CRsr, KR, TR and BR. Total of all parcel is 120,500.00 and spit that 4 ways, 30,125.00 each. Value was determined by Lowell Chambers Real Estate, broker.

Was that a recent appraisal? I apologize, I can’t see the documents on my phone for some reason and am not able to get on my computer at this moment.

 

[molly1255]

In KR's estate papers, there is an apprasial of the properties co-owned by CRsr, KR, TR and BR. Total of all parcel is 120,500.00 and spit that 4 ways, 30,125.00 each. Value was determined by Lowell Chambers Real Estate, broker.

I'm not saying that money was the motive, because I have no idea of what kind of motive anyone could have to take out an entire family.

I know there's been some discussion about the Rhoden's being very poor. They did live simply and like everyone, they probably struggled at times. But CR Sr. was able to put down $30,000 on DR's mobile home. That is not chump change to most people. With everything included, The Rhoden's may have had more in assets than a lot of city people who live in middle class suburbs. JMO.

 

[molly1255]

I totally get it.

Let’s take weed and cartels out of the theories for just one second.

Pretend there were no grow operations and/or no illegal activity what so ever on behalf of the victims.

Could it still be a professional hit? Absolutely.

Now, who has the motive and money to hire a professional hit on 8 people?

On top of that, who had access to Dana’s house to know the layout on top of knowing she had a new residence in the month before the murders?

How could professional hit men get around the dogs? Chance, CRsr’s dog was said to be vicious. LM stated that himself and said he wouldn’t even try to go around that dog unless Dana or Chris was right there.

But yet the dogs were left alive.

Why was a truck owned by JM considered to be used in the commission of murder, a year after the murders? A truck he didn’t own at the time of the murders.

Why did the W’s start preparing to move 6-7 weeks after the murders in June 2016 by selling off their animals? And right after they just built a new barn on Peterson road?

Why has JW’s story changed? First, he said he missed the murder by hours, getting S the night before the murders.

6 months later the story was changed and AW said JW got S the week prior on 4/12/16.

I agree. If I might add to this list - who has been the "laser" focus of LE in this case? LE hasn't said anything close to this about anyone else in this case.

 

[LovelyB]

I totally get it.

Let’s take weed and cartels out of the theories for just one second.

Pretend there were no grow operations and/or no illegal activity what so ever on behalf of the victims.

Could it still be a professional hit? Absolutely.

Now, who has the motive and money to hire a professional hit on 8 people?

On top of that, who had access to Dana’s house to know the layout on top of knowing she had a new residence in the month before the murders?

How could professional hit men get around the dogs? Chance, CRsr’s dog was said to be vicious. LM stated that himself and said he wouldn’t even try to go around that dog unless Dana or Chris was right there.

But yet the dogs were left alive.

Why was a truck owned by JM considered to be used in the commission of murder, a year after the murders? A truck he didn’t own at the time of the murders.

Why did the W’s start preparing to move 6-7 weeks after the murders in June 2016 by selling off their animals? And right after they just built a new barn on Peterson road?

Why has JW’s story changed? First, he said he missed the murder by hours, getting S the night before the murders.

6 months later the story was changed and AW said JW got S the week prior on 4/12/16.

I don’t post very often, but I have been keeping up with this case since the day it happened. Given everything I’ve read in the last two years, I do think that the W’s behavior is odd. Maybe they are just an odd family in general, but it seems like they are running from their own shadows. I think that it could have been a hired hit, but maybe those that were ‘hired’ also knew the family.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

I'm not saying that money was the motive, because I have no idea of what kind of motive anyone could have to take out an entire family.

I know there's been some discussion about the Rhoden's being very poor. They did live simply and like everyone, they probably struggled at times. But CR Sr. was able to put down $30,000 on DR's mobile home. That is not chump change to most people. With everything included, The Rhoden's may have had more in assets than a lot of city people who live in middle class suburbs. JMO.

I don’t believe they were poor in any sense.

I know a family that lives north of Appalachia. I’ve known them for 20+ years. Although they’re not in the Appalachia region, the culture is still prominent. Family get togethers are huge and include every extended family member-3rd and 4th cousins included.

Now, to drive by this families home, you’d think they were barely surviving. To step inside, you’d be even more inclined to believe they were poverty stricken. They have 2 barns on their property, junk all over, complete with a swimming pool filled with well water that resembles the color of a stagnant algae filled pond. At one time, a cousin even lived in a 1970s motorhome on the same property. My ex and I called him uncle Eddy because that’s how the motor home looked (and it was my ex’s cousin)

BUT-if you opened their barns, there’s 2 corvettes sitting inside and 4 Harley’s. There’s lot of antiques. Everyone drives nice vehicles and their favorite clothing store to shop is The Buckle. The father made $80k a year working in Lima. The mother made about $50k a year. But there was a hole in the bathroom floor.

They didn’t grow weed. But they sure smoked it. The two local bars were the highlight of the entire towns weekends. Young girls in the area got pregnant as teenagers and the young boys grow to be men working dead end jobs. It was and is a town that these people were born in and will someday die in. It’s a lifestyle that’s hard to understand unless you’ve lived it or had close ties to it.

I’ve always thought the Rhoden’s were unfairly judged and labeled as “poor” because of how some of the properties looked. When I look at the properties, I see a lot of money. Heavy machinery (I can’t remember if it was a backhoe but something like that), I quit counting how many cars cause I kept losing track, a new barn(those are expensive) on CRsr’s property.

The kids all went to prom, there were senior pics of FR, CRjr was driving a Tiburon (sp?).

All of these things are a clear indication that they weren’t poor.

I saw and still see a family who was determined to have more than what they came from. They appeared to work hard, even if it was odd jobs.

When I saw the pictures of Dana and Hanna going to the Lacs concert, my heart sank and I wondered if we had been at the same concert (I don’t believe we were).

Anyways, people can’t be judged by how their house looks. Some people prefer to spend their money on things and experiences instead of really nice homes.

There’s always more than what meets the eye, even if people really are poor.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

I don’t post very often, but I have been keeping up with this case since the day it happened. Given everything I’ve read in the last two years, I do think that the W’s behavior is odd. Maybe they are just an odd family in general, but it seems like they are running from their own shadows. I think that it could have been a hired hit, but maybe those that were ‘hired’ also knew the family.

I agree. I’m not convinced they pulled the triggers. But something isn’t right.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

I love to collect all the info we can, since there's nothing coming from LE/BCI/AG. If I find something curious or just not right about things, my natural conclusion is to gather as much information I can get my hands on and deduct my own theories on this. While discussing things with fellow poster's, sometimes we stumble on new info. I love everyone's opinions that are contributing to this forum. Fresh idea's bring a different persecptive to my old one's, thus opening my mind up to a new way to view things. Tnanx guys!

I agree. And this case has always went in many directions because there’s so many victims with all their own things going on personally.

The info that is stumbled on always seems to be out of sorts in some ways.

And I just have to add, I’ve never seen so many people go after one mans estate who lived in a camper and has kids who are the legal heirs.

 

[amauet1]

Was that a recent appraisal? I apologize, I can’t see the documents on my phone for some reason and am not able to get on my computer at this moment.

It was filed October 23, 2017 and Kendra Rhoden's sig is on the document.

 

[amauet1]

I don’t believe they were poor in any sense.

I know a family that lives north of Appalachia. I’ve known them for 20+ years. Although they’re not in the Appalachia region, the culture is still prominent. Family get togethers are huge and include every extended family member-3rd and 4th cousins included.

Now, to drive by this families home, you’d think they were barely surviving. To step inside, you’d be even more inclined to believe they were poverty stricken. They have 2 barns on their property, junk all over, complete with a swimming pool filled with well water that resembles the color of a stagnant algae filled pond. At one time, a cousin even lived in a 1970s motorhome on the same property. My ex and I called him uncle Eddy because that’s how the motor home looked.

BUT-if you opened their barns, there’s 2 corvettes sitting inside and 4 Harley’s. There’s lot of antiques. Everyone drives nice vehicles and their favorite clothing store to shop is The Buckle. The father made $80k a year working in Lima. The mother made about $50k a year. But there was a hole in the bathroom floor.

They didn’t grow weed. But they sure smoked it. The two local bars were the highlight of the entire towns weekends. Young girls in the area got pregnant as teenagers and the young boys grow to be men working dead end jobs. It was and is a town that these people were born in and will someday die in. It’s a lifestyle that’s hard to understand unless you’ve lived it or had close ties to it.

I’ve always thought the Rhoden’s were unfairly judged and labeled as “poor” because of how some of the properties looked. When I look at the properties, I see a lot of money. Heavy machinery (I can’t remember if it was a backhoe but something like that), I quit counting how many cars cause I kept losing track, a new barn(those are expensive) on CRsr’s property.

The kids all went to prom, there were senior pics of FR, CRjr was driving a Tiburon (sp?).

All of these things are a clear indication that they weren’t poor.

I saw and still see a family who was determined to have more than what they came from. They appeared to work hard, even if it was odd jobs.

When I saw the pictures of Dana and Hanna going to the Lacs concert, my heart sank and I wondered if we had been at the same concert (I don’t believe we were).

Anyways, people can’t be judged by how their house looks. Some people prefer to spend their money on things and experiences instead of really nice homes.

There’s always more than what meets the eye, even if people really are poor.

This is what I mean by different points of view. I must confess that seeing the places they lived (not including Dana's place), made me think poor, struggling people. That and the Manleys appearing to be dirt poor. I guess it's true, appearances can be deceiving.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

It was filed October 23, 2017 and Kendra Rhoden's sig is on the document.

TR has handled all of the estates besides DR and KR, correct?

So is he going to essentially end up with CRsr’s shares of land plus the land CRsr had just purchased for DR?

 

[amauet1]

I agree. And this case has always went in many directions because there’s so many victims with all their own things going on personally.

The info that is stumbled on always seems to be out of sorts in some ways.

And I just have to add, I’ve never seen so many people go after one mans estate who lived in a camper and has kids who are the legal heirs.

I know. We have 4 brother's. And know hardly anything about them.
CRsr: had working, giving, loved his family and extended families.. Helped with money and other things, caring father and was involved in his children 's lives everyday? Since they all lived so close.
Yet, involved in the growing and distribution of illegal mj and maybe other criminal activities.
FR: again caring giving person who inherited his father's green thumb.
Yet lived alone. To be by himself or to keep an eye on the grow, or both?
TR: all I know about him is he is a/or manager at BBL and lives there.
BR: know of an old arrest for drugs in Ky. from years back. Lives on Left Fork Rd.

 

[amauet1]

TR has handled all of the estates besides DR and KR, correct?

So is he going to essentially end up with CRsr’s shares of land plus the land CRsr had just purchased for DR?

As far as I know, the land that was in the 4 brother's names goes to the remaining live brothers TR and BR. It's been assumed that KR's and CRsr's 1/4 interest in the lands will go to their surviving children/grandchildren/benificiaries, but I get a fishy feeling about this land. It is correctly in BR name, when and why it was changed before murders have been solved and probate is finished is a question I can't answer. If the land was in all 4 brothers names and the taxes needed to be paid, why did they need to put it in Brady's name. And TR is administrator of CRsr's, FR's, HMR's and CRjr's estates.If probate is waiting until the murders are solved and know that none of the benificiaries aren't involved, why the change?

 

[MittenScarpetta]

This is what I mean by different points of view. I must confess that seeing the places they lived (not including Dana's place), made me think poor, struggling people. That and the Manleys appearing to be dirt poor. I guess it's true, appearances can be deceiving.

I do believe the Manley’s struggle. And I tend to believe that CRsr helped them when he could, ie LM picking up cars for Chris and making $50 each time to do so, BJM feeding the animals ( or doing the gardening lol) and I’m sure Chris would pay her for that. I could be wrong though.

But yes, appearances are very deceiving. That’s probably true for all of us.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

As far as I know, the land that was in the 4 brother's names goes to the remaining live brothers TR and BR. It's been assumed that KR's and CRsr's 1/4 interest in the lands will go to their surviving children/grandchildren/benificiaries, but I get a fishy feeling about this land. It is correctly in BR name, when and why it was changed before murders have been solved and probate is finished is a question I can't answer. If the land was in all 4 brothers names and the taxes needed to be paid, why did they need to put it in Brady's name. And TR is administrator of CRsr's, FR's, HMR's and CRjr's estates.If probate is waiting until the murders are solved and know that none of the benificiaries aren't involved, why the change?

Those questions are odd for sure. This is the thing, the land for CRsr’s 4 grandkids will not go to them unless the children’s parents have filed for their interest in probate. At least, within the courts it won’t go to them. I’m sure it’s possible BR & TR have the intentions for that to happen though.

I don’t know why that land is in BR’s name now. It’s possible TR could have outstanding debts somewhere so he wants to keep his name off of the land so no one can put a lien on it. That’s just one guess. It could be the furthest from accurate.

ETA I don’t know how a dead mans name was removed from the properties and placed in BR’s name. That seems next to impossible. Unless they had rights to survivorship on the land in the first place. But a lot of people aren’t familiar with rights to survivorship and how to do it.

 

[molly1255]

I totally get it.

Let’s take weed and cartels out of the theories for just one second.

Pretend there were no grow operations and/or no illegal activity what so ever on behalf of the victims.

Could it still be a professional hit? Absolutely.

Now, who has the motive and money to hire a professional hit on 8 people?

On top of that, who had access to Dana’s house to know the layout on top of knowing she had a new residence in the month before the murders?

How could professional hit men get around the dogs? Chance, CRsr’s dog was said to be vicious. LM stated that himself and said he wouldn’t even try to go around that dog unless Dana or Chris was right there.

But yet the dogs were left alive.

Why was a truck owned by JM considered to be used in the commission of murder, a year after the murders? A truck he didn’t own at the time of the murders.

Why did the W’s start preparing to move 6-7 weeks after the murders in June 2016 by selling off their animals? And right after they just built a new barn on Peterson road?

Why has JW’s story changed? First, he said he missed the murder by hours, getting S the night before the murders.

6 months later the story was changed and AW said JW got S the week prior on 4/12/16.

Just a thought on why JW may have said he picked S up earlier on the night of the murders? Maybe he went over there to talk to HR and he was concerned a neighbor might have seen him or his car there so he said he'd picked up S so he would have had an excuse for being at the house that night.

Didn't he say he was there at about 10:30 and didn't DR leave work, very upset, around 11:00 PM? Pure speculation, but maybe HR called DR at work to tell her about some upsetting interaction with JW.

Maybe AW stated JW got S the week prior because she knew investigators could confirm this.

Just some thoughts!

 

[MittenScarpetta]

Just a thought on why JW may have said he picked S up earlier on the night of the murders? Maybe he went over there to talk to HR and he was concerned a neighbor might have seen him or his car there so he said he'd picked up S so he would have had an excuse for being at the house that night.

Didn't he say he was there at about 10:30 and didn't DR leave work, very upset, around 11:00 PM? Pure speculation, but maybe HR called DR at work to tell her about some upsetting interaction with JW.

Maybe AW stated JW got S the week prior because she knew investigators could confirm this.

Just some thoughts!

That could totally be why he said he was there. By placing himself at the crime scene hours before the murders, his DNA would also be expected to be at Dana’s home (if he touched anything while he was there)

Something for sure made AW change the story on when S was picked up.

If I remember correctly, it was the same article where she refused to discuss what the sw for the W properties said. I could be totally wrong on that though. I’ll have to fo digging but if it’s an enquirer article, I’m out of my free reads for the month.

 

[Betty P]

TR has handled all of the estates besides DR and KR, correct?

So is he going to essentially end up with CRsr’s shares of land plus the land CRsr had just purchased for DR?

No, he's just acting as the administrator,doing the paperwork for the court. In probate court, once settled, any remaining assets will be divvied up according to Ohio law. The only living heirs are the surviving minor grandchildren. He may be reimbursed from the estates for the filing fees he's been paying out of his own pocket. The only interest he would have in any assets is protecting any joint ownership in the family owned real estate, inherited from their father. At this point, it's a thankless task for him, but he's probably doing it out of loyalty to the family.

All real estate and cash assets of the murdered family members have been publicly listed in the probate documents. The properties have been searched and the only assets revealed were the trailers, barn, sheds and junk cars, trucks, equipment.

They weren't wealthy people and there were no expensive cars or piles of cash hidden in garages or barns. JMO, I find it offensive that some continue to characterize these murder victims as crooked, underhanded people who somehow deserved their fate or brought this tragedy upon themselves. So far, there's no proof of that and LE continues to view them as victims of a terrible murder.