Story and Video: Cell phone data from burner phone maps out Andrew Griffin’s travel
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - During day three of Andrew Griffin’s trial, who is accused of killing his Salsa Joe's business partner Thomas Strussion and wife Angela Strussion at their home, prosecutors spent most the trial establishing his alleged return from the Strussion's home after their slayings.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation criminal intelligence analyst Jennifer Dillon was called to testify on Friday afternoon. She explained the alleged route Griffin took from Belmont to Hugo Oklahoma.
Dillon said cell phone tower data pinpointed Griffin's suspected movements from Marion, Ill, where he purchased a pre-paid phone at a Walmart on Sept. 19, 2021, to Belmont. The cell phone was registered to the name James Jobe.
More cell phones were found besides this burner device, which Dillon said extraction software was used to get a data dump of each phone’s contents. In the files was a Facebook contact saved as James Jobe, which corresponded with a profile Dillon said led to Jobe.
However, Belmont County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sgt. Jordan Blumling previously testified Jobe was never located.
Dillon said the only call made from the pre-paid phone was at 7:03 a.m. on Sept. 21, 2021 in the area of Jackson, Tenn. to Griffin's former long-time friend Brett Cole. She said the call lasted 24 seconds.
According to Dillon, the phone was activated on Sept. 19 at 5:48 p.m. It then pinged in Louisville at 10:52 p.m., then Cincinnati on Sept. 20 at 12:06 a.m., Columbus at 2:02 a.m. and then finally in Belmont at 3:43 a.m.
The phone, which used AT&T as its carrier, was tracked with the company’s “Network Event Location System,” which estimates the location of mobile devices on the network by using cell phone towers.
"These locations, the NELS is not an exact location, but they’re saying somewhere within that radius, and they’ll give us a meter radius somewhere within that radius," Dillon said.
She added she also used a previous route that Griffin took from Belmont County to Oklahoma as a guide. On the morning of Sep. 21, 2021 the pre-paid phone pinged in Columbus at 12:58 a.m., Cincinnati at 2:38 a.m., Louisville at 4:02 a.m. and in between Bowling Green, Ky. and north of Nashville at 4:44 a.m. CDT.
It then pinged at 7:03 a.m. in Jackson Tenn., where the phone was used to Cole.
The phone pinged in Memphis at 8:27 a.m. CDT and pinged at 10:40 a.m. CDT in Benton, Ark., then never pinged again.
"That is the last record in the overall records for that number ending in 4775 that registered with the tower. After that, there’s no location information," Dillon said.
Dillon also retrieved cell phone data from Cole and Griffin's phone.
During the timeline from Sept. 18 – 20, Dillon said Griffin's main phone did not make or answer any calls.
An hour after the pre-paid phone called Cole, Cole called Dalton Ray, a mutual friend of his and Griffin’s and a woman named Amie Chase. Chase's phone also pinged in Hugo Okla. where Cole lives.
Blumling previously testified he believes Griffin arrived to the Strussion's home by motorcycle.
On Thursday, Blumling said Cole purchased a 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle from Cory White of Mineola, Texas through Facebook Marketplace on Sept. 13, 2021.
On Sept. 19, 2021 a motorcycle matching the description of this motorcycle passed through a toll and was photographed on Lewis and Clark Bridge in Prospect, Ky.
White was shown the picture of the motorcycle during his testimony on Wednesday and confirmed it was the motorcycle he sold to Cole due to various identifiable modifications he made before selling it.
Through cell phone tower data and Facebook messages subpoenaed from Cole's Facebook account, Dillon was able to confirm Cole and Ray purchased the motorcycle from White.
"During that time of the purchase of the motorcycle, investigators obtained information that Brett Cole was contacting Andrew Griffin during that time. So I looked at the records, and Andrew Griffin did receive phone calls from Brett Cole during that time," Dillon said.
She added on Sept. 13, 2021 Griffin received four calls from Cole from 3:12 p.m. and 3:39 p.m.
On Friday, Pure Gold Forensic forensic biology expert Marissa Lacon testified Griffin's DNA was discovered on a motorcycle helmet the state collected as evidence.
Afterward, Griffin's former friend Justin Monroe then testified. He said he was aware Salsa Joe's closure was imminent prior to the Strussion's deaths.
Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Joe Vavra asked Monroe if he was aware of a time Griffin went to Costa Rica. He said yes, so Vavra then asked him if he knew why.
"He had told me that some guys had shot at him at a four way [street] somewhere in Texas," Monroe said.
He added Griffin later told him this wasn’t true and gave him the real reason why he went on a trip to Costa Rica.
"He told me that he just was having a mental breakdown and just couldn’t handle all of the things that were going on at home, with the business going under, and his marriage crashing. He was just getting it on all fronts," Monroe said.
Griffin’s lawyer Samuel H. Shamansky then asked Monroe if he recalled a time where Griffin had a "meltdown" while Griffin and Monroe were socializing one day.
Monroe replied it was after Griffin's ex-wife Stacee Griffin started talking to the police.
Stacee Griffin had previously accused Griffin of kidnapping, rape, and domestic violence.
"We were talking about finding out that Stacee really had been talking to the cops," Monroe said.
Griffin was arrested in a Houston airport in 2023. At the time, he was charged with kidnapping and domestic violence.
Shamansky asked Monroe if he knew Stacee. Monroe replied yes, with Shamansky following up by asking him if Stacee Griffin had a reputation of being truthful in the community, to which Monroe said no.
Day six of Griffin's double homicide trial will be Monday at 9 a.m. in Belmont County Common Pleas Court.