Andrew Griffin’s double murder trial begins in Belmont County
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Prosecutors in Andrew Isaac Griffin’s double-murder trial claim Griffin was driven to kill his business partner Thomas Strussion and his wife Angela Strussion for money and revenge. Meanwhile, Griffin’s attorney claimed the prosecution’s case is anchored by unreliable witnesses, including one he deemed one of the “lowest, most unreliable scumbags on the earth.”
Griffin’s trial began Monday morning before Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Chris Berhalter. Griffin is accused of killing the Strussions and setting fire to their Trails End Drive home near Belmont in September 2021.
Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan announced Monday the death penalty is no longer being considered for Griffin.
“The State of Ohio and the defense agreed to remove the death penalty specifications to avoid any further delay of the trial. This was done after consultation with our victims’ families,” Flanagan said in a statement.
He added the decision was made in response to a motion to continue the trial filed by the defense on August 21.
Prosecutors began the trial by offering a motive for the alleged murder -- Griffin was locked out of a joint bank account he shared with the Strussions, one in which he had invested six figures into the Salsa Joe’s Elm Grove location.
Assistant Prosecutor Joe Vavra, in his opening statement, said Griffin came to Belmont County from Oklahoma, after he met the Strussions and struck up a business relationship.
"They signed a written agreement on March 17, 2021, indicating that they are 50/50 partners of Salsa Joe’s Elm Grove,” Vavra said. “Prior to that, in January of 2021, Mr. Griffin's bank records said that he wrote a check to Tom and Angela's business, AJS Holdings, in the amount of $10,000
"That’s his initial investment from March of 2021 until July of 2021,” he continued. “Mr. Griffin invests another roughly $96,000 in AJS Holdings."
The Elm Grove Salsa Joe’s was open from May 2021 until the Strussions’ deaths on Sep. 21, 2021.
Vavra said that, on Aug. 23, Thomas and Griffin had a meeting where Griffin informed Thomas he was done with the business because it wasn’t profitable enough. Vavra said the only money Griffin ever saw from the business was seven $1,000 paychecks he received from being the manager of the Elm Grove location.
He added the following day, the Strussions locked Griffin out of the AJS Holdings bank account. Vavra said Griffin called Belmont Savings Bank to say he couldn’t access the account. He said on the call, a bank representative told Griffin he was taken off the account.
"At this point, he’s contributed about $106,000 to this business, and has received nothing on his return. That’s what we’re talking about here tonight: money and revenge," Vavra said.
Griffin’s lawyer Samuel H. Shamansky, in his opening statement, quickly attacked the credibility of two of the prosecution’s witnesses -- Griffin’s former friend Brett Cole and his ex-wife Stacy Griffin.
Cole, Shamansky said, was sentenced to life in prison in 2024 for sexually abusing a child who was in his care in 2019. Shamansky said Cole’s testimony will be unreliable because he made a deal with prosecutors to testify.
"We’re going to prove the evidence upon which the government relies points to a conspiracy for sure, but it is a conspiracy that does not involve Andrew Griffin,” Shamansky said. “It involves the lowest, most unreliable scumbags of the earth. That is a man who rapes a child, receives, as he should, life in prison. Who then makes a deal with the government to save his own pitiful hide.
“That’s just one of the characters that the government wants you to rely and act upon,” he continued. “They want you to believe somehow that this man is trustworthy."
Shamansky said Cole will take the stand only to benefit himself.
"You’ll hear right out of Brett Cole’s mouth, 'What’s in it for me? What are you going to do for me?’" Shamansky said. "When this testimony is over you’re going to have to ask yourself: Are you going to bet the farm on the likes of Brett Cole?"
Shamansky then attacked Stacy Griffin’s credibility.
"The government wants you to believe in the likes of Stacey Griffin, a woman who has also been immunized, and if you believe the government’s version of facts in this case, she’s as guilty as murdering two people as her husband,” he said. “Same as Mr. Cole, and what did they get? A pass. Why did they get a pass? Because the government believes that they’ve got to prove this case and that they’ve got to prove that Andrew Griffin did it. They’re going to rely upon two of the most unreliable characters you will ever hear."
After the jury traveled to the Strussion’s home for a walkthrough tour, they returned to hear testimony from several witnesses. Among them was Angela Strussion’s father, Eddie Cutrer. He testified he spoke to Griffin just once before his daughter and son-in-law were killed. After they died, he said he reached out to Griffin asking if he might know a reason they could have been killed.
Cutrer told the jury Griffin told him that organized crime could have been involved.
"Over the course of several conversations, it was always about a potential mob hit,” Cutrer said. “An employee had family in West Virginia that had an individual that had special skills, and that gentleman had cut people’s hands off for this family in West Virginia that did them wrong.”
He added Griffin said he feared for his own life, which led to him leaving Belmont County. In 2023, Griffin was reported missing after not showing up for work. According to KOTV News 6 in Tulsa Oklahoma, Griffin was arrested at a Houston Texas airport while exiting a plane from Honduras. He was charged with kidnapping and domestic violence.
Also testifying were Randy Stonebraker and John Phillips of Stonebrakers Garage, which sat across the street from the Strussions’ home. They saw the fire the day the Strussions were killed, called 911 and went to the house to try to help.
Stonebraker and Phillips tried to get into the home and even honked their car's horn hoping to wake up the Strussions if they were asleep.
Phillips, the Smith Township Volunteer Fire Department’s assistant chief, testified he found Angela Strussion's body while entering the back of the home. He said he pulled her onto the back porch.
Vavra asked Phillips if he noticed any wounds or any indication of foul play.
"There was a little blood, I noticed. I just assumed, I guess, that she had maybe fell or something. I didn’t examine too much because I knew she was already deceased," Phillips said.
Other witnesses Monday included Belmont County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sgt. Jordan Blumling, Cumberland Trail Fire Captain Jeremy Rife, former Belmont County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Nixon, and Belmont County Sheriff’s Capt. Douglas Cruse.
Day two of Griffin's trial will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Belmont County Common Pleas Court.