BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio – Today, Friday, March 14, Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack and his officers returned double murder suspect Andrew Isaac Griffin, 32, back to Ohio. from Hawaii. Griffin had contested extradition.
Zusack and his officers escorted Griffin, who was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles, into the Belmont County Jail just after 11 a.m. Friday morning.
Zusack held a brief press conference following Griffin’s entry into the jail, saying Griffin was extradited from Hilo, Hawaii back to Belmont County today on an indictment charging him with the murders of Angela and Thomas Strussion. Griffin faces two counts of aggravated murder following his arrest in Hawaii on February 18, in connection with the 2021 homicides.
Authorities say that on September 21, 2021, after a fire was extinguished at the Strussion residence, investigators determined that both Angela and Thomas Strussion had been murdered inside their home and that the blaze had been deliberately set. Thomas “Tom” Strussion, owner of two Salsa Joe’s restaurants.
Griffin will be arraigned Monday, March 17 at 3 p.m. in the Belmont County Common Pleas Court.
