A new trial date was set this week for the Oklahoma native accused of killing Thomas and Angela Strussion in their Belmont, Ohio, home in September 2021.
On Friday, Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Chris Berhalter set the trial date for accused killer Andrew Griffin for Oct. 19 at 8:30 a.m. Judge Berhalter also scheduled the next pre-trial hearing for Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m. The original trial date was March 2nd.
The 33-year-old Griffin has been incarcerated in the Belmont County Jail since his extradition was completed on March 14, 2025. A total of 14 indictments were issued by a Belmont County Grand Jury in early February, and then Griffin was arrested inside a Home Depot on February 16, 2025, by detectives Chief Ryan Allar and Sgt. Jordan Blumling.
Griffin is accused of committing the murders and setting fire to the home early that Tuesday morning in September 2021, but only after he vanished from the area about three weeks prior to the double homicide. The Strussion’s pets were also killed during the incident.
Griffin was business partners with the Strussions in the couple’s Salsa Joe’s Smokehouse business that had two locations and an active catering business, and he initially moved to the area in the Fall of 2020. The first Salsa Joe’s opened in June 2020 despite the pandemic, and the second location opened in Elm Grove in May 2021.
