Houser found guilty, faces 15 to life

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

There was a surprise development in the murder case of Ryan Houser this morning. 

In a hastily called hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Houser, 39, of Rockford, changed his plea from not guilty to no contest to a single count of murder, an unclassified felony in this case. 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 by Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger. 

All of the charges were tied to the September, 2023, shooting death of Houser’s girlfriend, Barbara Ganger of Van Wert. 

After Houser changed his plea and acknowledged he understood the consequences, Judge Martin D. Burchfield found him guilty and scheduled sentencing for 10 a.m. May 7. Houser faces a mandatory 15 years to life sentence, without the possibility judicial release, meaning he’ll remain in prison until at least 2040. 

After the hearing, Yarger and defense attorney Kenneth Rexford said they talked this week about a possible plea, and Yarger said she received a telephone call this morning that Houser was ready to plead.

“We had discussed this plea with the victim’s family and they were ok with it and I think this is a good resolution,” Yarger said. “It prevents them from having to go through a potentially multi-week trial and it gives closure to them.”

Rexford said he had no issue litigating gunshot residue and forensics reports, but noted there was a concerning issue. 

“My client made a lot of statements without counsel that were problematic,” Rexford stated. “When you could face life without parole, settling in a way that you have a chance to get out is a very reasonable way to do it.”

Ganger’s body was discovered on September 4, 2023, 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 jail in lieu of $1 million bond since his arrest.

The case in Mercer County is being handled separately and Rexford indicated Houser has different counsel representing him in that matter. 

Houser was originally scheduled to stand trial the week of April 15 of last year, but the case was delayed multiple times by two changes of legal counsel, a suppression hearing and a lengthy list of motions. Before Rexford, Houser’s previous lawyers were Scott Gordon of Van Wert and Zachary Maisch of Lima. During a hearing earlier this year, Judge Burchfield scheduled a final pre-trial conference for March 19, and the trial for April.