Houser appeal hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Lima

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

LIMA – An appeal hearing is scheduled for next week for an area man in prison for murder.

Ryan Houser, 40, of Rockford is currently serving a mandatory 15 years to life sentence. He was sentenced last June by Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield. The murder charge was tied to the September, 2023 shooting death of Houser’s girlfriend, Barbara Ganger of Van Wert (see story here).

Court documents show he’s appealing his conviction and sentence. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard Tuesday before the Third District Court of Appeals in Lima. The Third Appellate District covers 17 counties – Allen, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Marion, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Seneca, Shelby, Union, Van Wert and Wyandot counties.

On March 6, 2025, after many delays in the case, Houser changed his plea from not guilty to no contest to a single count of murder, an unclassified felony. In exchange, three other charges – aggravated murder, an unclassified felony, possessing a weapon under disability, and tampering with evidence, both third degree felonies, were dismissed.

Two months after pleading no contest and being found guilty by Judge Burchfield, Houser was in court for sentencing but as the hearing started, he claimed he was innocent and requested that his no contest plea be withdrawn. On May 29, Judge Burchfield issued a written ruling denying the request. A new sentencing date of June 24 was scheduled and at that hearing, he received the mandatory sentence, which has no early release provision. He was given credit for 491 days already served at the Van Wert County Correctional Facility and barring a successful appeal, his expected release date is February, 2039.

Six days after the sentence was imposed, Houser filed an appeal in the case. His court appointed attorney is Rafeal Villegas. It’s unclear if Houser, who is serving his sentence at the Madison Correctional Institution in London, Ohio, will be at the appeal hearing.