Court docs reveal initial coroner response to Pike Co. slayings

Initial response by coroner officials and the effect of leaked information on investigative efforts of the April 22 Pike County slayings were among the new details revealed in court documents filed by the Ohio Attorney General's Office.

Pike County Coroner David Kessler, his deputy coroner and an undisclosed coroner from another county were among the first authorities at the scenes, according to court records.

Kessler said in an affidavit that it was evident the victims all had been shot and were victims of homicide. He examined two of the four crime scenes.

"Because I have only one deputy and no coroner's investigators, I work very closely with law enforcement to investigate suspicious deaths in Pike County," Kessler said. "From the outset, homicide was the suspected manner of death for all victims.

"I walked through the scenes to observe the bodies of the decedents in context and then examined the bodies more closely once they had been removed."

As is often the case in events resulting in mass deaths, a refrigerated truck was used to transport the victims together to the Hamilton County Coroner's office, where a pathologist performed the autopsies over two days.

Another affidavit written by the case's lead investigator, Bureau of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Michael Trout, said, "Information about this case has already been released to the public both through law enforcement and through leaks that were not authorized by investigators."

As a result, Trout said, a large number of tips processed by investigators were not based on the tipster's personal knowledge. As of Sept. 23, 770 tips had been submitted to investigators, Trout said.

In the affidavit, Trout says that more than 20 BCI agents and two Pike County Sheriff's Office employees are on the case.

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The details, while scant, offer a bit more information into the nearly six-month-old investigation that has become the state's largest and most complex. Authorities have never discussed a motive and no one has been arrested. It remains unclear if investigators have a suspect in the eight-person homicide.

Killed in what authorities have called a methodically planned, targeted attack on the Rhoden family on April 22 were: Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his ex-wife Dana Rhoden, 37; their children Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20, Hanna Rhoden, 19, and Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and a cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38.  Hannah Gilley, 20, the fiancee of Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, was also killed.

The Enquirer and the Columbus Dispatch have both sued to gain access to victim autopsy reports.

On Sept. 23, the day after The Enquirer ended court-ordered mediation with the Ohio Attorney General's Office regarding the autopsy reports, the AG's Office and Pike County Sheriff's Office jointly released heavily redacted autopsy reports of the eight victims.

Trout stated in his affidavit that he reviewed the autopsy reports in both redacted and unredacted form. He said the redactions relate to facts only known to investigators and perpetrators: locations and descriptions of injuries, forensic evidence, and other details not generally known to the public.

In the newly released affidavits, Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell and several others expressed support of not releasing the full autopsy report.

"In my experience, it is critical in these types of investigations that information knowable only to the killer or person with intimate knowledge of the crime not be disclosed to the public," Gmoser wrote. "One of the reasons why it is important to keep certain information out of the public domain in criminal investigations is to determine whether information provided by witnesses or suspects is false."

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The Enquirer believes the records are public under Ohio law. The state has argued releasing the reports would hinder its investigation.

General counsel for The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com Jack Greiner argues that affidavits submitted by the prosecutors are "irrelevant and meaningless."

"It's not about what a handful of prosecutors want to release, it's what the open records law requires them to do," Greiner said.

The Enquirer has moved to have the case put back on the Ohio Supreme Court docket.

Reward offered

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers at 740-773-TIPS. Anonymous tips are still being taken at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446) or the Pike County Sheriff's Office at 740-947-2111.

A $10,000 Crime Stoppers reward would be paid for any information that leads to the apprehension of suspects and a conviction in the case.

The Enquirer's Chris Graves contributed.