Many mysteries of Piketon massacre must be solved

The killing of eight family members in Pike County in southern Ohio last Friday stand out as one of the most despicable, grisly and shocking crimes of the century. It also stands out as the largest mass killing on American soil so far in 2016. And it is distinctive as a crime for which vexing questions far outnumber answers six days into its investigation.

What motives lie behind the abominable massacre of the Rhoden family in Piketon that included gunfire to a sleeping mother whose 6-day-old child lay innocently beside her?

Why were some family members targeted for butchery and others in the large family from the close-knit community spared?

Did relatively large marijuana-growing farms at three of the four death scenes indicate potential involvement of a violent Mexican drug cartel?

Clearly, no resources should be spared toward finding the answers to those and other questions and toward bringing the demented killer or killers to justice.

Toward that end, federal, state and local law-enforcement and investigative authorities have shown amazingly strong cooperation and cohesiveness from Day 1. Those agencies include the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and about two dozen others.

Thus far, however, we know far too little.

The victims were discovered in their homes – many in their beds where they were shot while sleeping Friday morning. The dead included three women, four men and one 16-year-old boy from the Rhoden family. Mercifully, the newborn, a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old child were spared the carnage.

The coroner’s report, released Tuesday, provided a glimpse into the unmitigated savagery of the crimes. It concluded that most of the victims had been shot three to nine times in the head execution-style.

SPECULATION ABOUNDS

As the investigation nears its second week with no motives, no arrests and no clear suspects, speculation abounds.

Some speculate that the crime may be tied to the marijuana farms on the victims’ properties and the known presence of Mexican nationals in the rural Appalachian county a few years ago. Others speculate over evidence of potential cockfighting on some of the properties.

Many other potential scenarios are being explored. As of Tuesday, authorities had received about 300 tips, continued to serve search warrants and had sent at least 79 pieces of evidence to a state crime lab for testing, said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who has been dutifully serving on the front lines of the investigation nonstop since shortly after the discovery of the bodies.

As the investigation has grown, so has the boundaries of the manhunt. That’s why it is critically important that anyone – even residents of the Mahoning Valley – who have any potential knowledge of the atrocity share that information.

A hot line for tips has been set up at the Ohio BCI at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446). A Cincinnati restaurateur also has set up a reward fund of $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the deranged attackers.

Those who wish to offer support to surviving family members can do so by defraying funeral expenses. A Rhoden Memorial Fund is set up at Fifth Third Bank offices in the state.

One response, however, that should be avoided at all costs is politicizing the shootings. The tragedy should not become the newest prop for presidential candidates and others to drag on stage to reinforce calls for strict gun control. That temptation should be resisted at least until more of the many nettlesome questions surrounding the bloodbath are answered.

As difficult as it may be, patience must be the watchword as the investigation unfolds. Clearly no clear time frame for cracking the case is available given its bizarre and extraordinary nature.

“This is unprecedented,” DeWine said this week, adding, “I don’t know that in the history of the BCI that we’ve tackled anything of this magnitude.”

Clearly the challenges of this case are daunting. Nonetheless, we remain confident that under DeWine’s leadership, no resources will be spared to bring the Rhoden family’s sick assailants to justice and to send a strong message that civilized society in Ohio will never tolerate such bloodlust and barbarism.