DALTON RAY

An Oklahoma man faces up to three years behind bars after he was convicted Tuesday of obstruction of justice in connection with the September 2021 murders of Thomas and Angela Strussion.

A jury found Dalton Ray guilty of the charge by a jury in Belmont County Common Pleas Court.

According to Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan, the evidence at trial showed that detectives from Ohio traveled to Oklahoma to interview Ray in July 2024 regarding any information that he may have involving the deaths of the Strussions, who were found dead inside their home on Trails End Drive near Belmont after witnesses saw smoke coming from the structure and attempted to rescue anyone who was inside.

After the first interview, Flanagan said in a news release, detectives from Belmont County were able to determine that Ray gave them false information. Detectives again traveled to Oklahoma to interview Ray for a second time. The testimony at trial showed that Ray again provided false statements to the detectives during the second interview, but this time detectives confronted Ray with evidence contradicting his statements.

“He ran from the officers and then led them on a high-speed chase in the state of Oklahoma to get away from them to avoid the interview,” Assistant Prosecutor Joe Vavra said Wednesday.

Flanagan said local detectives, knowing Ray was not being truthful, secured an arrest warrant to bring Ray back to Ohio. Ray was already on probation from a Texas conviction and fled but was eventually apprehended, according to Flanagan.

“As soon as he was able to be extradited back to Ohio, we brought him back and began our prosecution. And while his untruthful statements were made in Oklahoma, they were made to our detectives who were investigating homicides that occurred in this county. That provided us jurisdiction to move forward in Belmont County, and we did,” Flanagan noted.

Vavra said that although Ray was arrested and brought to the Belmont County Jail, besides this incident he has no other connection to the community.

Ray’s sentencing is scheduled for June 24. Flanagan said he was charged with third-degree felony obstructing justice, which is the most serious obstructing charge under Ohio law. The maximum possible sentence is three years in prison.