Full Notification

Wayne County Sheriff Thomas G. Maurer provided the following update regarding the double homicide investigation of Mervin and Viola Stutzman.



At approximately 10:20 PM on Thursday January 13, 2011, Rodney Stutzman was taken into custody by the West Virginia State Police. Stutzman was stopped by the West Virginia State Police as a result of a nationwide alert that was sent out by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office shortly after arriving at the Stutzman residence earlier Thursday.



Rodney Stutzman was driving the 2006 Toyota Tundra pick up and was arrested without incident. He is currently being held in the Southern Regional Jail located in Beaver, West Virginia awaiting court action to return him to Wayne County Ohio.



Charges against Rodney Stutzman will be filed in the Wayne County Municipal Court charging him with Aggravated Murder.



Wayne County Deputies and members of the FBI Evidence Response Team remain at the residence and are continuing to process the crime scene at this time. A complete autopsy will be conducted in cooperation with the Wayne County Coroners Office.



Mervin and Viola Stutzman were last seen Sunday morning (January 9th) when they attended church. Their older son, Larry Stutzman, contacted the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office earlier Thursday to ask for deputies to check on the welfare of his parents as he was unable to make contact with them. Deputies arrived at the residence and had to make entry into the residence by a basement window that had previously been broken and covered with plastic. Upon checking the residence they located the bodies of Mervin and Viola Stutzman in the basement of the residence. Preliminary investigation appears they were shot with a shotgun.