PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — 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.
