A diabolical scheme: Prosecutors allege plot by one family to kill 8 members of another
on the same charges — including eight counts of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder — were George Wagner IV’s father, George “Billy” Wagner III, 51; his mother, Angela Wagner, 51; and his brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner, 29 — who is the father of the child at the center of the custody dispute. In addition, Jake Wagner was indicted on a charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Canepa also contends that as a family, the Wagners committed crimes including arson, drug dealing and theft.Angela Wagner also hacked into social media accounts, which is how the homicide plot first surfaced, according to the indictment. Canepa said Angela Wagner found a private Facebook message that Hanna Rhoden wrote to George Wagner’s former mother-in-law saying the Wagners would have to kill her before she would ever relinquish custody of her daughter.
Until Jake Wagner stood in court for his plea hearing on the fifth anniversary of the killings and said he was guilty, he and his family vehemently denied involvement in one of the largest mass homicides in Ohio’s history. For years, he and his mother expressed sorrow, repeatedly saying they wanted nothing more than for authorities to arrest the killers of the Rhodens, whom they considered friends and business associates. Angela Wagner said that her husband and Chris Rhoden Sr.
Allen, the Cincinnati lawyer who also has been a prosecutor and a municipal judge, said he is not convinced that the case will end up being tried in Pike County’s Civil War-era courthouse in Waverly. Parker said in a motion that Jake Wagner “clearly stated that George did not shoot anybody … was not supposed to go with Jake and Billy on this murder spree, and only went at the last second to protect Jake from Billy, who it was thought might kill Jake at the end of the series of aggravated murders.”
George Wagner’s attorneys contend that their client should not be tried on the basis of his family’s past. Deering approved a prosecution motion to allow jurors to view other properties that police repeatedly scoured for evidence, including a farmhouse in Peebles, Ohio, where the Wagners lived and where they allegedly voted to kill the Rhodens.
“The first few times they were here, they were looking for the guns,” said DeWeese, who is fed up with the police, the onlookers and the attention. “They said they thought those guns were buried here.”DeWeese is also upset that authorities never told him that the Wagners moved back to the area from Alaska. He found out from someone else that they were back in Ohio and working at a trucking company.
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