An Oklahoma man has been convicted in the 2021 shooting deaths of a Belmont County couple whose home was set on fire. Andrew Isaac Griffin, 34, of Whitesboro, Oklahoma, was found guilty on all counts on Wednesday, November 4, in Belmont County Common Pleas Court in St. Clairsville, according to an announcement from Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan, with an independent report from River News Network on November 5.
Prosecutors alleged that Griffin fatally shot Thomas and Angela Strussion in their Belmont home on September 21, 2021, before setting the house on fire, according to the Attorney General’s release. Griffin and Thomas Strussion had been business partners in the restaurant industry before Griffin was forced out of the partnership, the release said. Griffin was convicted of aggravated murder and aggravated arson, guilty on every count he faced at trial.
“Today’s verdicts hold a cold-blooded killer accountable,” Attorney General Andy Wilson said in the Attorney General’s release. “I’m grateful to the investigators, prosecutors and jurors who helped secure justice for the victims and their loved ones.” Wilson also thanked Chris Kinsler of his office’s Special Prosecutions Section for his work on the case, according to the release. The jury deliberated about four hours before returning its verdicts on Wednesday afternoon, River News Network reported.
The case was investigated by the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office with help from the FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and it was prosecuted by the Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office with assistance from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section, according to the Attorney General’s release. Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Chris Berhalter presided over the trial, River News Network reported.
Testimony in the trial included Brett Cole, a longtime friend of Griffin, who testified that he participated in planning the killing of Thomas Strussion and that Griffin later told him he had shot both Thomas and Angela Strussion before setting their home on fire, River News Network reported. Cole received immunity in the Strussion case in exchange for truthful testimony, according to River News Network.
The verdict closes a case that has stretched more than five years from the September 2021 deaths to this week’s trial in St. Clairsville. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joe Vavra told WTOV9 that prosecutors are satisfied with the outcome, and Vavra told WTOV9 the potential range on the murder charges runs from life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years up to life without the possibility of parole.
What happens next is sentencing. Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, in Belmont County Common Pleas Court, according to both the Attorney General’s release and River News Network, when Judge Berhalter will impose the sentence.