For nearly four years, one big question has hung over the 2022 killing of Chad Sissel:
Who killed him?
Portsmouth Police now say they have an answer.
Police announced the arrest of Favio L.J. Campa in connection with Sissel’s October 29, 2022 homicide, following what the department described as a lengthy investigation by Detective Shepherd.
Campa had been living in Georgia when a Scioto County grand jury returned secret indictments against him.
He has since been arrested, brought back to Scioto County, and is being held in the Scioto County Jail.
Campa faces charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence.
He is expected to be arraigned in Scioto County Common Pleas Court.
Body Found Behind Linden Avenue Home
SCDN first reported on the case back in October 2022, when Portsmouth police and the Scioto County Coroner’s Office responded to the 1200 block of Linden Avenue after a man’s body was discovered in an alley.
Police immediately treated the death as suspicious.
The victim was later identified as 36-year-old Chad A. Sissel of Portsmouth.
His body was sent to the Montgomery County Medical Examiner for a forensic examination. At the time, police did not publicly identify a suspect, and no arrest followed.
The case went quiet publicly.
Behind the scenes, however, detectives continued working it.
Police now say Detective Shepherd eventually identified Campa as a suspect and the Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office presented the case to a grand jury.
The resulting indictments were kept secret while Campa was living out of state.
Campa Has a Criminal History in Scioto County
Campa is not a stranger to the local court system.
Court records supplied to SCDN show previous local cases involving allegations including domestic violence, obstructing official business, retaliation, theft, criminal tools, and drug-related offenses.
In 2016, Campa was convicted of third-degree felony intimidation of a witness and initially received three years of community control, including intensive probation and drug treatment requirements.
His supervision did not go smoothly.
Court records show repeated probation issues over the following years, including an arrest order after he failed to complete the STAR Community Justice Center program and a later allegation that he had absconded from the facility.
By November 2018, the court revoked his community control and imposed an 18-month prison sentence on the intimidation conviction.
Ohio prison records later notified the court that Campa was released from Trumbull Correctional Institution in June 2020.
Nearly Four Years Later
The new arrest marks the first major public break in a homicide case that dates back to the fall of 2022.
Police have not yet publicly released what evidence led investigators to Campa, how they believe Sissel was killed, or what the alleged tampering-with-evidence charge involves.
Those details may begin to emerge as the case moves into Common Pleas Court.
Portsmouth Police thanked everyone who assisted with the investigation and said anyone with additional information should contact Detective Shepherd at 740-354-1600.
Campa’s charges are accusations. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.