A mother testified that she and her husband helped plan the murders of 8 family members as part of a custody dispute.
Angela Wagner admitted that she and her husband, George ‘Billy’ Wagner III, planned the murders of the entire Rhoden family in a massacre in rural Pike County, Ohio.
The matriarch of the Wagner family testified against her son, George Wagner IV, in his murder trial for the massacre. If George is convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Angela testified that the plot began when her son, Edward ‘Jake’ Wagner, wanted to kill Hanna Rhoden, the mother of his child. Her husband Billy stopped him.
‘They’ll know, and then they come for Jake. They’d shoot him, if not all of us,’ Angela said her husband told her. Instead, Billy proposed they murder the rest of the family.
Angela also testified that the dispute began when they suspected Jake and Hanna’s daughter, Sophia, was being sexually abused by a member of the Rhoden family.
She testified that they noticed redness and swelling around her 2-year-old granddaughter’s genitals – but never reported it to the police or child protective services.
Angela said that her family decided to take matters into their own hands. ‘I wasn’t raised to believe in the justice system — and neither was Billy — so George and Jake weren’t, either.’
In 2016, authorities were shocked when they discovered the eight Rhoden family members dead with gunshot wounds in four separate homes across 60 miles of Pike County.
The victims were identified as Christopher Rhoden Sr, 40, Dana Rhoden, 37, their children Clarence Rhoden, 20, Hanna Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr, 16, Clarence’s fiancée Hannah Gilley, 20, brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.
In court, Angela asserted that she had nothing to do with carrying out the actual murders – her role in the plot was to stay home and babysit the family’s children.
When they returned home, she was glad they were safe but horrified at how many were killed. When she asked her husband why so many people had to die, he allegedly told her ‘because they were there.’
‘I just might tell you this is just the most bizarre story I’ve ever seen in being involved in law enforcement,’ then-Ohio Attorney General and current Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said.
Law enforcement said the perpetrators acted ‘quickly, coldly, calmly, and very carefully’ to kill Rhoden family. DeWine said the Wagners studied the Rhodens’ habits, routines, and home layouts for months before they enacted the plan.
After two years of investigations, Angela, Billy, Jake, and George were indicted for the killings.
In September, Angela pleaded guilty to 14 charges for her role in the plot.
Jake also confessed to shooting five of the victims. He also implicated his brother George in his confession.
Billy, the father of the Wagner family, is set to go on trial in 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to his charges.
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