Page 7 of 8 FirstFirst ... 5678 LastLast
Results 61 to 70 of 79

Thread: George Washington Wagner IV Sentenced to LWOP in 2016 OH Slaying of Rhoden Family

  1. #61
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Trial date set for George Wagner IV in Rhoden murders after brother's plea

    A trial has been scheduled next spring for a man who along with his brother and parents was charged in the slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family.

    A judge announced the April 4 trial date for George Wagner IV during his brief court appearance Monday in Pike County.

    The 29-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the 2016 slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family.

    His younger brother, 28-year-old Edward “Jake” Wagner, pleaded guilty two months ago and agreed to cooperate in the cases against his family under a deal to help all four avoid the death penalty.

    Prosecutors alleged the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a custody dispute between Jake and one of the victims.

    Their daughter and two other young children at the scenes of the shootings weren’t hurt.

    Trial dates haven’t been set for the brothers’ parents, George “Billy” Wagner III and Angela Wagner, who also pleaded not guilty.

    https://www.10tv.com/article/news/lo...7-96ba26ebcd52
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  2. #62
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    7,316
    Ohio woman admits role in death of 8 members of a family

    By The Associated Press

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman pleaded guilty Friday to helping plan the killings of eight members of a family, becoming the second member of her own family to admit to a role in a shocking crime prosecutors say stemmed from a dispute over custody of her granddaughter.

    Angela Wagner, 50, pleaded guilty in southern Ohio’s Pike County to conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, along with burglary, evidence tampering and other charges.

    In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped aggravated murder charges against her and recommended that she serve a 30-year prison sentence. Her agreement to testify against other remaining defendants was also part of the deal, they said.

    She didn’t make any statements during the hearing.

    Her husband and their two adult sons also were charged in the 2016 slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family. Wagner’s plea comes nearly five months after her son Edward “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and agreed to testify against the other three in a deal that would help all four avoid potential death sentences.

    George “Billy” Wagner III and George Wagner IV have pleaded not guilty.

    The fatal shootings at three trailers and a camper near Piketon in April 2016 terrified residents in a stretch of rural Ohio and launched one of the state’s most extensive criminal investigations, which led to the Wagners’ arrest more than two years later.

    The Wagners spent months planning the killings and targeted some of the victims, but “some sadly were killed because they happened to be there,” said special prosecutor Angela Canepa.

    Most of the victims were repeatedly shot in the head, and some showed signs of bruising. Three young children at the scenes were unharmed.

    The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

    Prosecutors say the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a dispute over custody of the daughter Jake Wagner had with Hanna Rhoden.

    The Wagners used guns with homemade silencers, allowing them to kill their victims as they slept, according to the prosecutors.

    Angela Wagner was fully aware of the plans and bought several items used to carry out the killings, including “phone jammers” that would have prevented the victims from calling for help, Canepa said.

    She also forged custody documents and monitored some of the victims’ social media accounts before the killings, Canepa said. Wagner approached prosecutors about a deal and gave them new information after her son pleaded guilty, Canepa said.

    Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in April on the fifth anniversary of the slayings and said in court that he was “deeply and very sorry.” He hasn’t been sentenced, but his lawyer said he understood that he would spend his life in prison.

    Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, Tony Rhoden Sr., has said the family was grateful for the first plea as “some semblance of justice.”

    He also has sued the Wagners. That case is pending.

    https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/0...outputType=amp
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  3. #63
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Though 2 Wagner relatives have taken plea deals in Pike County homicides, the oldest son has not

    After more than 2 hours of delay Monday, the previously-scheduled hearing for George Wagner IV in Pike County Common Pleas lasted only a few minutes because there was no specially-certified court stenographer required to be present to handle certain matters.

    This is at least the second hearing where the stenographer issue was a problem because, in death penalty cases, the court reporter must be specially certified if the court is going to tackle any motions of substance.
    Wagner's next hearing was scheduled for Oct. 25.

    The appearance of Wagner, 29, came just 3 days after his mother pleaded guilty to her own charges in the case for the April 22, 2016, killing of 8 members of the Rhoden family in rural Pike County. Angela Wagner, 50, on Friday pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including complicity to commit aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

    In exchange for her agreement to testify against her own family and for statements she made to authorities that laid out the planning and execution of the long-planned plot to kill the Rhodens, prosecutors dropped the aggravated murder charges she had faced.

    Where do the other Wagner cases stand in Pike County?

    Her younger son, Edward "Jake" Wagner had pleaded guilty on April 22 — the 5 year anniversary of the homicides that left 8 members of the Rhoden family dead in their homes — to all the charges against him. In his statement to prosecutors, he confessed to personally shooting 5 of the 8 victims.

    The agreed-upon sentence, which Judge Randy Deering will hand down later, is that Jake Wagner will serve eight consecutive life terms without parole, plus more than 100 years for the sentences on all the other charges.

    The criminal case against father and husband George "Billy" Wagner III continues, and he is due back in court Thursday. At a hearing in April, his court-appointed attorney said his client was frustrated with the slow speed of the criminal case.

    When Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in April, prosecutors agreed to remove the possibility of the death penalty for his whole family.

    (source: The Columbus Dispatch)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #64
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Pike County killings: Judge says death penalty in Rhoden family murders won’t be dropped yet

    A Pike County judge denied a motion to dismiss a death penalty specification Thursday in the case of George "Billy" Wagner III.

    Billy Wagner is charged with murder and other charges related to the killings of 8 members of the Rhoden family in rural Pike County.

    Billy Wagner's younger son and his wife have already pleaded guilty. Angela Wagner pleaded guilty earlier this month. Edward "Jake" Wagner pleaded guilty in April.

    In exchange for Jake Wagner’s testimony, prosecutors agreed to spare him and the rest of his family from the possibility of the death penalty.

    Billy Wagner’s lawyers argued Thursday that the death specification should be dismissed now. The lawyers said it is a waste of resources and “prejudicial” to start a trial as a death penalty case only to change it after the trial as started.

    The prosecution argued that Jake Wagner must testify first and that the plea agreement says the State of Ohio gets to determine if the youngest of the accused Wagners held up his end of the plea deal.

    Pike County Common Pleas Judge Randy Deering sided with the prosecution, so the death penalty specification will remain in place for now.

    Billy Wagner’s next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m. During the brief hearing Thursday, he told Judge Deering that he was happy with his lawyers.

    Jake Wagner's older brother, George Wagner IV, was in court earlier this week, but the hearing was delayed because a certified court stenographer was not present. He'll appear in court again on Oct. 25.

    Jake Wagner and Hanna May Rhoden had a child together, and investigators have said disputes over custody of the child prompted the violence.

    Jake Wagner has admitted to shooting 5 of the 8 Rhoden victims.

    (source: Cincinnati Enquirer)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #65
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    7,316
    Judge keeps death penalty chance for man accused in 8 deaths

    JOHN SEEWER

    An Ohio man charged with killing eight people from a single family lost his attempt Wednesday to have the most serious charges and the possibility of a death penalty thrown out.

    Lawyers for George Wagner IV told a judge that the aggravated murder charges should be dismissed after Wagner's brother, who pleaded guilty this year in the shootings, told authorities that his brother didn't kill anyone.

    Pike County Judge Randy Deering denied the request.

    George Wagner, his parents and his brother, Jake Wagner, were charged in the 2016 fatal shootings of the Rhoden family near Piketon in southern Ohio. Authorities say the shootings of seven adults and a teenage boy stemmed from a dispute over custody of a child Jake Wagner had with one of the victims.

    George Wagner's attorney said Wednesday he should not face the possibility of the death penalty after Jake Wagner admitted to killing five of the victims as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that spared him from being sentenced to death.

    Jake Wagner also gave a detailed statement to authorities about the killings and agreed to testify against the other members of his family.

    John Parker, an attorney for George Wagner, said that Jake Wagner told prosecutors that his brother did not shoot any of the victims.

    “He did not pull the trigger once,” Parker said.

    Prosecutors opposed the move to dismiss the aggravated murder charges against George Wagner. Special prosecutor Angela Canepa said they don't know with certainty that George Wagner didn't shoot anybody.

    George and Jake Wagner's mother, Angela Wagner, pleaded guilty in September to helping plan the slayings, and prosecutors said she gave them new information. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop aggravated murder charges against her.

    Her plea deals also included an agreement to testify against George Wagner IV and his father, who has pleaded not guilty — if those cases go to trial.

    https://news.yahoo.com/amphtml/judge...174643613.html
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  6. #66
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Judge allows testimony against man accused in 8 Ohio deaths

    By Andrew Welsh-Huggins
    The Associated Press

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who has admitted to killing five members from a single family will be allowed to testify at the death penalty trial of his brother, who is charged in the same crime, according to a judge’s ruling Tuesday.

    George Wagner IV, his parents and his brother, Jake Wagner, were charged in the 2016 fatal shootings of the Rhoden family near Piketon in southern Ohio. Authorities say the shootings of seven adults and a teenage boy stemmed from a dispute over custody of a child that Jake Wagner had with one of the victims.

    Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last year in the shootings, admitting to killing five of the victims as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that spared him from being sentenced to death. Wagner’s mother, Angela Wagner, also pleaded guilty to helping plan the slayings.

    John Parker, a lawyer representing George Wagner, argued Tuesday that the deal Jake Wagner struck with prosecutors limits his ability to conduct a thorough cross examination. Parker has said that Jake Wagner told prosecutors that his brother didn’t shoot anyone.

    Jake Wagner isn’t in a position to testify truthfully because he faces the death penalty if he doesn’t strictly obey the terms of his plea deal, Parker said. “Our right to confrontation is more or less meaningless because he’s got a script he has to follow,” he said.

    Special prosecutor Andrew Wilson argued that there’s nothing unusual about Jake Wagner’s plea deal, and added that his testimony will be bolstered by other evidence implicating George Wagner.

    Pike County Judge Randy Deering, without comment, denied Parker’s request to keep Jake Wagner and his mother from testifying. Deering also denied a request from George Wagner’s attorneys to drop charges that involve crimes committed outside Pike County.

    Special prosecutor Angela Canepa argued that the defendants were in and out of Pike and Scioto counties the night of the crimes and the killings were part of a single course of conduct.

    Jake and George’s father, George “Billy” Wagner III, has pleaded not guilty.

    https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/06/...io-deaths/amp/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #67
    Senior Member CnCP Addict
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Posts
    700
    Jury Selection Begins for Brother Charged in Ohio’s Pike County Massacre

    By Law&Crime Network

    Jury selection will begin Monday morning in Pike County, Ohio, for the first trial of a Wagner family member charged with the murders of eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families in April 2016.

    George Wagner, IV, has maintained that he is not guilty of the heinous crimes because he didn’t actually pull the trigger when the eight family members were shot. Some of the victims were shot to death as they slept with children by their sides. Wagner’s younger brother, Jake Wagner, and mother, Angela Wagner, have respectively pleaded guilty to the murders and the conspiracy to carry them out. They have agreed to testify against George and his father, George “Billy” Wagner, III.

    Jake Wagner said when he pleaded guilty on April 22, 2021, the fifth anniversary of the murders, that the motive for the crimes was his family’s desire to have sole custody of the young daughter he shared with Hanna Mae Rhoden.

    The murders of Christopher Rhoden, Sr., his ex-wife, Dana Manley Rhoden, and their children, Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, and Hanna Mae and Christopher Rhoden, Jr. shocked the community and those who’ve followed the case across the country and around the world. Frankie’s fiancée Hannah Gilley, Christopher Sr. ‘s. brother Kenneth Rhoden and cousin Gary Rhoden were also killed. Hanna Mae, 16, had given birth to her second daughter just four days earlier. The baby girl was sleeping next to Hanna Mae when she was murdered. Jake Wagner was not the father of the newborn child.

    Pike County is a small, rural county with a population of less than 28,000, according to the latest census data. In Ohio, prospective jurors are summoned for jury duty using voter registration and driver’s license records. 1,000 prospective jurors have been summoned for jury duty and filled out questionnaires over the last month.

    Jury consultant Alan Turkheimer said selecting a jury in such a small county will be challenging given the case has garnered national and international media attention.

    “I think everybody will be surprised if they come in and say they haven’t heard of the case,” Turkheimer said. “Most jurors who are 18 or over have heard of the Wagner family. They’ve heard of the Rhoden family. They know what happened.”

    Turkheimer said the ultimate question will come down to whether prospective jurors can put aside information they may have learned about the case and listen only to the evidence presented in the courtroom.

    The jurors will also have to be “death qualified” since Wagner faces the possibility of the death penalty.

    The 21-page questionnaire asks prospective jurors a number of questions which are standard in questionnaires including whether the jurors know the prosecutors, defense attorneys, the victims and the defendants. But jurors are also asked to answer questions about their social media use, whether they’ve ever taken psychology classes or received mental health treatment.

    Jurors are also asked to check boxes in response to statements such as “I can tell pretty easily when a person is lying.” Jurors are also asked a number of questions about their thoughts on the death penalty. 1,000 prospective jurors have been summoned to the Pike Co. Courthouse.

    Wagner’s attorney had requested a change of venue given the amount of publicity the case has received. However, those requests are rarely granted in Ohio. Judges typically try to seat a jury in the county where the case was charged before moving a trial elsewhere. Judge Randy Deering, who has presided over the case since it began, has said he will attempt to seat a jury in Pike County before granting a change of venue.

    While George Wagner faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted, it may never be carried out should jurors determine that Wagner receive a death sentence. Part of Jake Wagner’s plea agreement removes the death penalty specifications from the aggravated murder charges for the remaining Wagner family members.

    That agreement has led George’s attorney to ask for the death penalty specifications to be stricken from his indictment. However, special prosecutor Angie Canepa has said Jake must testify to the satisfaction of the state before the death penalty is taken off the table for the other Wagner family members. Jake will spend the rest of his life in prison and admitted to personally shooting five of the eight family members who were murdered. His mother, Angela, will be released after serving 30 years.

    During the arraignment of George Wagner, IV, in late 2018, Canepa stated the defendant was vocal about wanting to carry out a revenge plot should any of the family members be charged with the Rhoden and Gilley murders. The revenge was to be exacted upon then Pike Co. Sheriff Charlie Reader, then Attorney General and current Gov. Mike DeWine and lead investigator, Ryan Scheiderer, a special agent with Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).

    When announcing the arrests of Jake, George, Angela and Billy Wagner in November 2018, DeWine told reporters at a press conference that the family was “obsessed” with control and custody of children. An “other acts” motion filed in the case detailed an allegation that the Wagners coerced George’s ex-wife into giving up her parental rights to the son they shared. The custody issue between George and his ex-wife will likely come to light during the trial as prosecutors outline their theory of the case. At the time of the arrests, George’s ex-wife was asking a court to order George to allow her to visit with their son.

    The Rhoden and Gilley murder investigation is considered Ohio’s largest in terms of man hours and resources expended. The investigation took state agents to Alaska, when the Wagners moved there in 2017, Montana and Canada. The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and prosecutors and members of law enforcement from several counties and states assisted with the investigation.

    Opening statements are scheduled for August 29.

    https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/...unty-massacre/

  8. #68
    Senior Member CnCP Addict
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Posts
    700
    Pike County murders: Jury visits scenes where it all happened

    By Felicia Jordan

    Jurors for the first trial in the Pike County murders case were loaded onto buses Wednesday and taken to where several members of the Rhoden family were found shot to death in 2016.

    George Wagner IV faces 22 charges related to the deaths of eight members of the Rhoden family. All eight were shot execution-style in their beds while they slept. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

    The bodies of 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 37-year-old Gary Rhoden,19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden were found in four different homes in Pike County on April 22, 2016.

    Now, where the family's mobile homes once stood, there are only empty fields spotted with barns, small buildings, cars and the porches that once attached to homes lived in by the Rhodens. The trailers themselves were boarded up and towed from the properties on Union Hill Road and Left Fork Road weeks after the shootings, to protect the evidence within until a trial could be held.

    First, jurors were taken to Union Hill Road, to the spot where Chris Rhoden Sr. and his cousin Gary lived.

    While the trailer they lived in has been removed, a barn still stands on the site, bearing a poster with photos of the victims asking "Do you know who murdered us?"

    The scene was the first discovered the morning of April 22, 2016, by Dana's mother, Bobby Jo Manley. Dana and Chris Rhoden Sr. were married, but had divorced by the time of the homicides.

    From there, jurors walked up a path just a few hundred feet away to the property next door where Frankie Rhoden and Hannah Gilley lived together. The pair were engaged to be married.

    This was the second scene discovered; Manley rushed over after finding her brother-in-law and his cousin dead in the first home. Frankie's 3-year-old child opened the door for her and inside she found Hannah and Frankie dead, their 6-month-old baby still lying unharmed in bed with them.

    After that, jurors were driven to the site where Kenneth Rhoden was found dead, miles away on Left Fork Road. Kenneth was the final victim to be found, after a man called 911 at 1:26 p.m. and told the dispatcher he walked in calling out for Kenneth, his cousin, before finding him shot to death.

    The camper in which Kenneth lived has also been towed away to preserve evidence. The jury did not tour this scene on foot; they remained on the bus and viewed it from the road.

    Finally, jurors were doubled back to Union Hill Road, up the street from the other two scenes. A large red barn still stands on the property owned by Dana, Chris Rhoden Jr. and Hanna Rhoden, near where the home they were found dead inside used to be located.

    Jurors were also taken to a large property in Camp Creek Township to see where some members of the Wagner family lived for years.

    Prosecutors and investigators have alleged since the arrest of the Wagner family that the murders came down to a custody battle over a then-toddler Hanna Rhoden had with Edward "Jake" Wagner.

    Also charged with the murders were George's brother, Edward "Jake" Wagner, his mother, Angela Wagner, and his father, George "Billy" Wagner III.

    Jake pleaded guilty to eight counts of aggravated murder and several additional charges in April 2021. Angela pleaded guilty in September 2021 to charges of conspiracy, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, forgery, unauthorized use of property and unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance.

    Both agreed to testify in any trials of their family members in exchange for the death penalty to be dropped against all four Wagners.

    George and Billy Wagner have both maintained their pleas of not guilty.

    Wednesday's tours were just the first of two days the nine women and three men of the jury will undergo a trip to important scenes in this case. On Thursday, they will visit more sites related to the Wagner family and the trailers, lodged in impound, in which the Rhoden family lived and were found shot to death.

    Opening statements from the defense and prosecution are scheduled to begin on Sept. 6.

    https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...t-all-happened

  9. #69
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    7,316
    George Wagner IV trial for ‘Pike County Massacre’ of 8 members of rival family delayed

    By David Spector

    Eight members of the same family were executed in a remote area of southern Ohio one night six years ago, and four members of another family were charged for the shocking slayings that stunned the country.

    After numerous delays, George Wagner IV, 30, is the first defendant in the case to go to trial, which began last week in Pike County Court with the seating of 12 jurors.

    Opening statements were scheduled for Sept. 6, but an illness of a participant in the case delayed the proceeding by a week, court records show.

    After seven adults and one teenager were found shot to death at three trailers and a camper on April 22, 2016, authorities launched what became the largest criminal investigation in Ohio’s history.

    Rumors initially swirled that a Mexican cartel may have been responsible due to two family members’ alleged role in a marijuana-growing operation.

    But the probe ultimately led to the arrest of George Wagner IV, his brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner, their mother Angela Wagner and their father George “Billy” Wagner III.

    “There certainly was obsession with custody, obsession with control of children,” then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said at a press conference announcing the arrests. “This is just the most bizarre story I’ve ever seen in being involved in law enforcement.”

    Officials said the Wagners spent months planning the killings and were motivated by a custody fight between Jake Wagner and a child he had with victim Hanna Rhoden.

    The feud between the families has been described as a modern-day Hatfield and McCoy rivalry.

    A haunting crime scene

    The jury, primarily composed of women, began its service last week with a haunting trip to the site of the mass murder at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

    The victims were Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their three children: Hanna Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20.

    Frankie Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, was also killed, along with the elder Christopher Rhoden’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.

    Prosecutors say that Jake, the younger George and the elder George Wagner methodically ambushed the Rhodens, storming each of their trailers in the dead of night.

    They used guns with homemade silencers and “phone jammers” to prevent the victims from calling for help, according to prosecutors.

    Most of the victims were repeatedly shot in the head as they slept. The killers spared two infants and a toddler who were later found splattered with their parent’s blood.

    Some of the victims were collateral damage, “killed because they happened to be there,” according to special prosecutor Angela Canepa.

    The area is one of the poorest in Ohio and has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.

    The custody war

    Prosecutors say Jake Wagner began dating Hanna Rhoden when she was 13, and conceived a child with her two years later when he was 20, according to prosecutors.

    The couple split, and a vicious fight over custody of their daughter soon erupted. Rhoden refused to sign papers agreeing to share custody with George Wagner IV.

    “They will have to kill me first,” she wrote in a message on Facebook in December 2015.

    Unbeknownst to her, the Wagners had seen the message after Angela Wagner allegedly hacked into her Facebook account.

    Rhoden had also become pregnant with another man’s child, and Jake Wagner didn’t want their daughter exposed to her new boyfriend or his family, according to prosecutors.

    The Wagners allegedly began plotting Rhoden’s demise and anyone else in her family that they felt stood in the way of custody.

    The Wagners operated as one unit, making family decisions by putting them to a vote, even discussing when George and Jake Wagner should be intimate with their wives, Law & Crime reported.

    They lived an insular life, homeschooling their children and working together as truckers.

    Rhoden wasn’t the first ex allegedly targeted by the Wagners.

    Tabitha Claytor, George Wagner IV’s ex-wife with whom he shares a son, told investigators she signed court papers under pressure from the family giving up custody with a promise that the arrangement was temporary.

    But the Wagners allegedly wouldn’t let her see him.

    The Wagner clan cracks

    George “Billy” Wagner III has pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial after his son.

    In a surprise move, Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last year to multiple counts of murder and other charges on the fifth anniversary of the executions.

    The 29-year-old confessed to killing five of the victims in a plea deal that will spare him the death penalty if he testifies against his brother and father.

    He said in court he was “deeply and very sorry” for what he’d done, and his lawyer added that Wagner understood that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

    “He knows he’s going to die in prison without any judicial release. As horrifying as this is for all, he is as sorry as he could be,” defense attorney Gregory Meyers told a judge during the plea.

    After her son turned on the family, Angela Wagner soon followed, giving prosecutors new information and asking for a deal.

    She pleaded guilty to helping plan the murder — which she was not present for — and agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for a recommended prison term of 30 years.

    The defense’s argument

    George Wagner IV’s defense lawyers have argued that he only went along with the slaughter that night out of fear his father would kill Jake Wagner if he didn’t, according to court papers.

    They also said he was not directly responsible for a single murder.

    “George did not shoot or kill anybody that’s a named victim in this case,” attorney John Parker told the judge during a prior hearing. “He did not pull the trigger once.”

    But prosecutors contend that the four defendants conspired to commit the murders, making all parties guilty under Ohio law, regardless of who pulled the trigger.

    The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, and more than 250 witness could be called.

    https://nypost.com/2022/09/07/george...e-delayed/amp/
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  10. #70
    Senior Member CnCP Addict
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Posts
    700
    Opening statements begin in murder trial in slaying of 8 members of Ohio family

    By Daniella Silva, ABC News

    An Ohio man helped his family plan, execute and cover up the murders of eight members of another family over a bitter custody battle, prosecutors said Monday in the first trial connected to the 2016 killings.

    George Wagner IV, 30, is accused of assisting his family in a murder plot against the Rhoden family. Seven adults and a teenage boy were shot to death in Pike County. Wagner is charged with multiple counts of aggravated murder and other charges related to conspiracy and attempts to cover up evidence.

    Prosecutors say the custody dispute involved Wagner’s brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner, and one of the victims, Hanna Rhoden, 19, over their toddler daughter.

    The victims were Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his ex-wife, Dana Rhoden, 37; their three children: Hanna, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden and 16-year-old Christopher Jr.; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and a cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38.

    The daughter at the center of the custody dispute was with the Wagners at the time of the killings and not at the scene. Two babies and a toddler were found unharmed next to their dead mothers.

    George Wagner IV participated “in one of the most heinous crimes that has ever been committed in the state of Ohio,” Angela Canepa, a special prosecutor in the case, said during opening arguments on Monday.

    “He participated in planning, preparing, purchasing, executing and covering up these crimes,” she said.

    He has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted.

    Both Wagner brothers as well as their parents, Angela Wagner and George “Billy” Wagner III, were also charged with the murders. George “Billy” Wagner III has also pleaded not guilty.

    Last year, Jake and Angela Wagner pleaded guilty to their roles in the killings. Jake Wagner confessed to killing five of the eight victims, in a plea agreement that would spare him a death sentence. Prosecutors said Jake Wagner agreed to testify in trials for his other family members in exchange that they also not seek the death penalty in those cases. Angela Wagner pleaded guilty in exchange for a 30-year-sentence.

    Canepa said during opening statements Monday that Jake Wagner said he was in love with Hanna Rhoden and “very upset when they parted ways” and Rhoden began dating people and exposing their daughter to people he and his family “didn’t approve of.”

    She said Jake Wagner went into detail how his brother and parents together took part in a monthslong scheme in preparation to kill the members of the Rhoden family.

    Canepa described the Wagner family as very “insular” and said they did everything together, including voting to kill the Rhodens and buying and preparing everything necessary to enact their deadly plan.

    The defense has sought to distance George Wagner IV from his family and the plan to kill the Rhodens.

    Defense attorney Richard Nash Jr. said during opening statements that Jake Wagner’s confession says his brother “shot no one” and does not say George Wagner IV was greatly involved in planning the murders.

    “George cannot help that he is a Wagner, that doesn’t make him a murderer,” Nash said.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...mily-rcna47309

Page 7 of 8 FirstFirst ... 5678 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •