ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The man accused of killing two Belmont County residents in 2021 is back in local custody to face charges.

Andrew Isaac Griffin was extradited to Ohio from Hilo, Hawaii, on Friday morning and arrived at the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office at 11:10 a.m. Griffin was arrested in February for the double homicide of Angela and Thomas Strussion.

Griffin, 32, is Thomas Strussion’s former business partner in the Elm Grove location of the Salsa Joe’s restaurant, which opened in May 2021 — just five months prior to the Strussions’ deaths. Strussion also owned and operated a Salsa Joe’s location along National Road east of Morristown, not far from his Belmont-area home.

Both Angela and Thomas Strussions were found dead inside their home on Trails End Drive along with their pets after a structure fire was reported there early on Sept. 21, 2021. A few days later, former Belmont County sheriff Dave Lucas announced that their deaths were the result of a double homicide.

Griffin is being held at the Belmont County Jail without bond on multiple charges of aggravated murder, aggravated arson and aggravated burglary.

Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack held a brief press conference following Griffin’s return to the county on Friday, where he confirmed that Griffin’s extradition was orchestrated by the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office. He added that Griffin will be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. Monday in Belmont County Common Pleas Court.

Griffin was transported without incident, according to Zusack, but the sheriff declined to answer any questions pertaining to the case.

Lucas previously said that during the investigation, Belmont County detectives conducted extensive interviews with witnesses nationwide and pursued leads in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma. He urged anyone who may have any information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers of the Upper Ohio Valley at 877-847-7487.

In July 2023, Griffin was declared a missing person by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma. Law enforcement in Harris County, Texas, informed the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office in October 2023 that Griffin had been located, was safe, and had been taken into custody on outstanding warrants out of LeFlore and Oklahoma County.

​​According to KOTV News 6 in Tusla, Oklahoma, Griffin was arrested in a Houston, Texas, airport while deboarding a plane from Honduras in 2023. At that time, he was charged with kidnapping and domestic violence.

It is still unclear how long Griffin had been in Hawaii, but Hawaii Police Department Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division previously said that he believes Griffin had been staying with a family member there, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.