WAVERLY, Ohio — On Thursday, defense attorneys resumed their cross examination of Angela Wagner, whose son is on trial for the murders of eight people in Pike County in 2016.
Angela has opted out of being recorded during her testimony, so her time on the stand won't be filmed or broadcasted.
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.
As Richard Nash, George's defense attorney, resumed cross examination of Angela, he attempted to paint the mother as having a clear preference for her younger son, over George. Angela denied she had a favorite son and told the jury she loved both equally.
Nash then walked his questioning back to Angela's testimony about Jake's daughter, Sophia, and the Wagner family's worries she was being sexually abused; Angela said she worried the abuse was true because Sophia's vaginal area appeared infected.
At first, Angela said she thought the redness of the child's genitalia was because of diaper cleanliness — but then she said Sophia told her one of the Rhodens put things in her for bubblegum and she became concerned one of Hanna May's family members had been abusing the girl.
Nash noted neither Angela nor any other member of the Wagner family took the child to a doctor to be examined.
"I don't know why I didn't," said Angela.
Nash asked why Angela never alerted law enforcement to her concerns.
"Because we didn't believe in the justice system," she said, repeating what she'd told the prosecution Tuesday. "We didn't believe in children services."
The Wagners could have gathered evidence for a court proceeding — instead of resorting to mass murder, Nash pointed out to Angela. In fact, he continued, Angela had thought the justice system was good enough for George's son, Bulvine, when George was seeking custody of the boy.
Nash questioned Angela on the dynamics within the family. Angela conceded that, in the Wagner household, there was a lot of yelling and loud disagreements and said Billy was sometimes physically abusive; on Wednesday, she testified that Billy, on more than one occasion, choked George.
Billy also threatened to force Angela to accompany him during the murder spree, she said.
Billy doled out instructions on what to do leading up to the homicides, she said, including telling her to send texts from George and Jake's phones to make it look like they were home during the homicides. Nash accused her of only sending the alibi messages for Jake, not George, but she denied that.
"I am pretty sure I did both phones," she said.
The night her sons and husband headed out to murder the Rhodens, Nash pointed out Angela had never noticed the sound of the pick-up truck leaving their property and can't testify to who fired shots and who did not, or the weapons used.
He used that to segue into a history of dishonesty displayed by Angela; she'd admitted Wednesday that she had called law enforcement on Tabitha on one occasion and lied, telling them she had drugs in her vehicle in order to sway the custody battle between her and George.
Then, Nash said, Angela lied and dragged her own mother into the murders.
He referenced her Wednesday testimony, when she said she'd taken her plea deal out of the hopes it would provide her an avenue to someday see her children and grandchildren again, suggesting she would lie during George's trial to be able to accomplish this goal. Nash said this showed she was interested in protecting herself and her own interests and had no regard for her mother or sons.
"Would you agree with me that four years for every life you took was a great deal?" Nash asked.
"That's not how I understand it," replied Angela.
In the gallery, members of the Rhoden family dabbed their eyes with tissues.
Angela said she is more than sorry, but conceded she knew that wasn't enough.
It all came down to Sophia, she said; the girl was just a baby, and Angela's family, so she felt she had to kill to protect her.
Angela said the murders were not about custody — as then-Attorney General Mike DeWine announced when the Wagners were arrested — but about protecting Sophia. The Wagners believed Hanna May wouldn't do anything to prevent Sophia from being abused.
She reiterated that, while Hanna May was the main target for the homicides, the Wagners believed only killing her would lead to retaliation from the Rhoden family.
She said it was true that George helped the family in planning the murders and covering it up afterward, though she said to this day she doesn't know who shot whom the night of April 21, 2016.
Canepa and Nash finished questioning Angela and she stepped down from the witness stand Thursday afternoon. Next, the prosecution called Katy Wagner to the stand; Katy also opted out of being recorded during her testimony.
Katy is Billy's niece and George and Jake's cousin; several other witnesses have testified Billy gifted Katy the pick-up truck used as transportation in the murders.
On the morning of April 22, 2016, before the sun began to rise, Katy said Billy showed up at her home in Athens County and told her he had a surprise for her.
She told the jury she'd told her uncle previously to be on the lookout for a truck for her, because she'd wanted one; when he showed up that morning, he told her he'd gotten the black pick-up from her great uncle, Todd.
She had the title transferred into her name later that day, she said. Eventually, when they tracked it down, agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations seized it, though it was no longer in working condition by that time.
Katy said both Jake and George tried calling her family from jail, but no one answered their calls.
You can read recaps of each day of the trial in our coverage below:
- Angela told the prosecution bloody shoeprints belonged to George
- Angela Wagner called to stand, opted out of recording
- 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:
