John Lloyd Stricklin, 68, of Marion, Ohio, was found shot on a neighbor’s property on Pleasant Hill Road on April 27, 2017. Stricklin, a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps and United States Army who later worked for the state of Ohio, was discovered dead at the scene.

Initial investigators arrested his estranged wife, Barbara Stricklin, on a murder charge, but those charges were dismissed in fall 2017 after shell casings at the scene were found to have come from two different firearms. Barbara Stricklin died by suicide in March 2018.

A later review of the case prompted the Marion County prosecutor to reopen the investigation in January 2021. Detectives identified a cooperating witness who implicated Jeremiah Martin, Barbara’s nephew, and Mary Martin, Barbara’s sister, in post-murder activity to clean the scene and conceal evidence. Mary Martin pleaded guilty to attempted tampering with evidence and received an 18-month sentence; Jeremiah Martin pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice and received a 36-month sentence. The cooperating testimony helped confirm Barbara Stricklin’s role and the subsequent tampering and concealment.

Did anyone in Marion at the time notice anything unusual on Pleasant Hill Road around April 27, 2017?