WAVERLY, Ohio — The mother of a man accused of killing eight people in Pike County in 2016 entered the courthouse Tuesday, but opted out of being recorded by the media, so her testimony won't be broadcast.
George Wagner IV — along with his mother Angela, father George "Billy" Wagner and brother Edward "Jake" Wagner — is accused of shooting and killing the Rhoden family members "execution-style." The family's bodies were found on April 22, 2016. He faces eight charges of aggravated murder, along with other charges associated with tampering with evidence, conspiracy and forgery.
Found dead that day were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah "Hazel" Gilley, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 37-year-old Gary Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden, and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden.
The trial is the first time a person has faced a jury for the deaths of the Rhoden family six years ago.
Matt White, a firearms specialist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, will resume testimony on his analysis of the murder weapons after they were chiseled from four concrete buckets the Wagner family sunk in a pond on the Flying W Farm.
On Monday, White said he'd pieced the cut up rear slide of a .40 caliber Glock pistol found in one of the buckets onto a functional Glock pistol to perform test fires. Those test fires were compared to a fired .40 caliber cartridge case found at the first crime scene, where Chris Sr. and Gary were found shot to death, White said.
After microscopically comparing the test-fired rounds with the rounds found in the victims' bodies and the casing found at the scene, White said he concluded the cut up slide from the Glock pistol in the concrete bucket fired both. It was also the same gun that fired the single shot that killed Kenneth; the casing found on Kenneth's bed matched both the casings from the test fires and the casing found at the first scene, White said.
White explained that, as he continued chiseling the concrete buckets apart, he found more pieces of firearms inside, in addition to ammunition. Inside, he found pieces of an SKS rifle that had been sawed apart.
— Courtney Francisco (@CFranciscoWCPO) November 1, 2022
The barrel was cut from two sides and then snapped off, White said. He was able to compare the rifle with the SKS firing section of the gun and said he determined they'd been cut from one another; several TulAmmo brand 7.62x39mm rounds and two fired casings were also found in the buckets. He didn't find the rest of the SKS, notably the stock, in the buckets.
White was not able to test fire the SKS, because the damage was too extensive, he said.
As he kept chiseling away at the concrete, White said he found several magazines for both an SKS rifle and a Glock pistol.
White also discovered a fuel filter, dented in places, with a small hole at the end.
"The front of the filter has a perforation, meaning there was a hole present," said White.
The hole, with metal curled outward indicating the item that penetrated it came from within, was lined up with the central cavity of the fuel filter, he said. The fuel filter would have been too large to attach directly to any kind of standard gun barrel, White said, and would have needed to be attached with some kind of adapting item.
He said this is a homemade silencer made out of an oil filter. Prosecutors have shown evidence that an oil filter was purchased with George's credit card. However, defense said they can't prove George bought it because the family shared cards. pic.twitter.com/YWsrNa0rwk
— Courtney Francisco (@CFranciscoWCPO) November 1, 2022
On Monday, White said he'd also discovered two items in the buckets that could have been used to do just that. Also inside the buckets were the barrels of two guns that had been welded to thread adaptors, which were then welded to pipe fittings.
Angela Wagner took the stand next, to testify against her son as stipulated in her plea deal. It's the first time Angela has been able to lay eyes on her eldest son in four years, since the four family members were arrested.
Almost immediately, Angela admitted she was guilty of helping the family prepare for the murder spree that left eight people dead — and that her husband and two sons were also involved.
Prosecutors asked her to highlight the childhood Jake and George experienced; she described how Billy had taught the boys to steal when they were young, and how they both taught Jake and George how to destroy property for insurance money. She said the Wagner family burned down two different homes, a semi truck and a garage, collecting the insurance money from each.
Angela also said her half-brother, Chris Newcomb, helped Jake and George crash George's truck to collect insurance money; when Newcomb testified, he denied knowing that Jake was going to crash the truck, telling the jury that he'd been seriously injured in the crash and nearly died.
The Wagners also pooled all their finances together, Angela confirmed. The prosecution has asked several different witnesses, from Jake to BCI agents who analyzed the family's financial records, about the family's entangled purchases and bank accounts. Angela said she was able to use credit cards in George and Jake's names, but she insisted she always asked her sons first.
Angela then had her chance to describe her side of the family's contentious relationship with Tabitha, George's ex-wife. She told the jury Tabitha was the one who made the decision to stop associating with her own family, because of the abuse she'd endured as a child; Tabitha previously testified that she'd been unallowed to leave the Wagner family's home or to speak with her family, until the night she fled.
The day Tabitha fled, Angela said her son's then-wife "had an episode … she was screaming, yelling, hitting the walls."
George tried to calm Tabitha, according to the defendant's mother, but Tabitha was demanding she be given her son — which Angela said she refused to do unless Tabitha calmed down.
"Just give me a gun," Angela told the jury she'd screamed. "I'm fed up with this."
Tabitha said that's when she ran, because she assumed Angela's next move would be to retrieve "whichever gun they chose" and use it to hurt or kill her. Angela claimed she was just trying to scare Tabitha into calming down.
In the end, Tabitha fled and she and George were divorced; George got full custody of their son, Bulvine, and Tabitha was permitted supervised visits with the family present, Angela said.
Next, Angela moved on to describe how she met Hanna May Rhoden at a county fair, when Hanna was just 13 and Jake was 17. The pair dated, Angela said, and eventually Hanna became pregnant.
After Sophia was born, Angela said she and Jake began suspecting the girl was being abused; Angela told the jury she thought it was one of the Rhodens. The family didn't take Sophia to a doctor, but Angela said she told Billy to start watching for warning signs when he was at any of the Rhodens' homes.
"We didn't believe in the justice system," said Angela. "We didn't believe in children services."
After that, Billy noticed Frankie, Hanna's brother, being "overly" affectionate with Sophia, kissing the baby on the mouth.
Angela told the jury she came up with the idea to turn Chris Sr. in for his marijuana grow facility, to give Jake the ability to have more custody over Sophia.
"My husband said 'absolutely not, that's not an option,'" said Angela.
In January of 2016, Angela said Billy began forming a plan, telling the Wagner family the Rhodens had to be murdered. The prosecution asked Angela why they didn't plan to just murder Hanna; Angela said Billy didn't like that plan because the other Rhodens would likely assume Jake had something to do with it and would retaliate.
She said Billy convinced her murdering several members of the family was the only way the plan would work, before he spoke to Jake and George about it.
The four Wagners discussed how to cover up the crimes, including being careful to never speak about it, Angela said. They also discussed items they would need, like gloves and masks, to cover their tracks.
Angela said she spoke to both Jake and George about the murder plot.
"I was asking, 'are you sure?'" she said. "Nobody wanted to do it … but they had to keep Sophia safe."
After the murders, Angela said she was shocked when she saw the reports of eight people dead on the news.
"I honestly did not think my husband would go through with it," she told the jury.
Prosecution concluded questioning Angela for the day and will resume with her time on the witness stand Wednesday morning.
More about Angela Wagner's plea deal:
Angela Wagner, Jake and George's mother and Billy's wife, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to charges of:
- conspiracy
- aggravated burglary
- tampering with evidence
- forgery
- unauthorized use of property
- unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance.
In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop eight charges of aggravated murder and recommended 30 years in prison with no chance of early release. Like Jake's, her plea deal stipulates she will have to testify in the trials of her family members.
She has not yet officially been sentenced.
You can read recaps of each day of the trial in our coverage below:
- Investigators describe recovering, testing murder weapons
- Jake Wagner finishes testimony as seventh week of trial wrapped up
- 'I felt I had no other choice than to kill Hanna,' Jake Wagner told jury
- 'I was afraid they were going to kill me,' Jake's ex-wife testifies
- Texts between Hanna Rhoden and Jake Wagner detail ongoing custody argument
- Witnesses describe intertwined Wagner finances and a device found inside a well
- Clandestine recordings made by Jake, Wagner family finances presented
- Wire taps played for jury as court enters sixth week of testimony
- George Wagner IV's grandmother testifies
- Interview with Angela played for jury, Angela's half brother takes stand
- Texts highlight Wagner family dynamic, purchases for possible silencer
- Dozens of guns collected in search of Flying W Farm, but no murder weapons
- Jury shown evidence collected from Wagner belongings
- Evidence collected on Wagner property presented
- BCI agents testified to evidence
- Ex-wife of George Wagner IV describes 'strange and controlling' Wagner home
- Jury hears from George Wagner IV's ex-wife as fourth week of testimony begins
- Family members tearfully describe the day of the homicides
- Bloody shoe prints, cell phone records are focus
- Experts testify about ballistics, shoeprint evidence
- Third week of trial moves on to Kenneth Rhoden's home
- Evidence presented from third crime scene
- Scene where Dana, Chris. Jr and Hanna May Rhoden were killed is focus
- Testimony focuses on second of four crime scenes
- Coroner describes two of eight victims autopsied
- Forensic testimony continues into Monday
- Forensic evidence takes center stage
- Testimony centers on Kenneth Rhoden, final victim discovered
- Emergency responders testify about chaotic scenes
- Witnesses describe discovering their family members' bodies
- Opening statements detail grisly moments in the six-year-old murder case
- Read a full timeline of the Pike County murder investigation
Watch opening statements below:
