Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In the early morning of April 22, 2016, relatives of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio, began to discover family members brutally killed in their own homes. In all, eight members of the Rhoden family were murdered, including one minor, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden, Jr.
The victims had been shot to death. Three young children, including a newborn infant, were left alive. Investigators determined early on that the killings were planned and carried out by at least two perpetrators who knew the family well, but it took over two years to make arrests.
This crime investigation is the most extensive in the history of the state of Ohio. Evidence of cock-fighting and marijuana growth operations were found at some of the crime scenes, but the motive may have been something as simple as a child-custody dispute.
Join us at the quiet end for The Piketon Massacre. Due to the methodical nature of these killings and the lack of forensic evidence at the scenes, these murders have been described as a premeditated and sophisticated operation. Four people have been arrested and the death penalty is on the table.
In the early morning of April 22, 2016, relatives of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio, began to discover family members brutally killed in their own homes. In all, eight members of the Rhoden family were murdered, including one minor, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden, Jr.
The victims had been shot to death. Three young children, including a newborn infant, were left alive. Investigators determined early on that the killings were planned and carried out by at least two perpetrators who knew the family well, but it took over two years to make arrests.
This crime investigation is the most extensive in the history of the state of Ohio. Evidence of cock-fighting and marijuana growth operations were found at some of the crime scenes, but the motive may have been something as simple as a child-custody dispute.
Join us at the quiet end for The Piketon Massacre. Due to the methodical nature of these killings and the lack of forensic evidence at the scenes, these murders have been described as a premeditated and sophisticated operation. Four people have been arrested and the death penalty is on the table.
