Houser trial set to take place in April

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Barring a plea bargain and/or a guilty plea, a Rockford man charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend in September of 2023 will stand trial in April of 2025.

During a pre-trial conference held Friday morning, Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield scheduled the trial of Ryan E. Houser, 39, for April 7-11, and April 14-15.

Prior to that, a Daubert hearing regarding gunshot residue will be held on January 21, and a final pre-trial conference is scheduled for March 19.

Houser was originally scheduled to stand trial the week of April 15 of this year, but the case has been delayed multiple times by two changes of legal counsel, a suppression hearing and a lengthy list of motions. He’s now represented by Kenneth Rexford, an attorney from Lima. His previous lawyers were Scott Gordon of Van Wert and Zachary Maisch of Lima.

Houser is the sole suspect in early September, 2023 death of Barbara Ganger, 43, of Van Wert. He’s charged with aggravated murder, an unclassified felony; murder, an unclassified felony; possessing a weapon under disability, a third degree felony, and with tampering with evidence, also a third degree felony.

Ganger’s body was discovered on September 4 of last year, after the Van Wert Police Department was dispatched to do a welfare check at her residence at Van Wert West Apartments on W. Main St. Officers discovered she had been shot twice, once in the stomach area and once in the head.

Houser was arrested and jailed in Mercer County on September 8 on unrelated charges of having a weapon under disability and a probation/parole violation. He was indicted by a Van Wert County grand jury November 2, and pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing held several days later. Houser has been in custody for well over a year in lieu of $1 million bond. A previous request to modify his bond was rejected by Judge Burchfield.

During a recent hearing, Rexford said Houser has an alibi during the suspected time of Ganger’s death.

Houser’s murder trial is likely to be one of two held in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court next year. In a separate and unrelated case, the trial of Larry Andrus Jr. of Van Wert is expected to be scheduled for sometime in 2025. Andrus is accused of killing his stepfather in late September, 2023.