WAVERLY, Ohio — Family and investigators alike took the witness stand Friday as the prosecution wound down its fifth week of arguments in the trial of a man accused of killing eight people in 2016.
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.
The first witness called Friday was Randa Hughes, partner of Chris Newcomb, who testified on Thursday about the dynamics of the Wagner family, his half-sister Angela and growing up with Jake and George.
Hughes was also asked about the inner workings of the Wagner family and their relationships with one another; Chris, she said, didn't get along well with Angela. Despite that, when the Wagner family was arrested, Hughes said Angela, George and Jake asked she and Chris to fight for custody of the toddlers, Bulvine and Sophia.
The pair did, at first, but Hughes said they stopped after meeting Tabitha, George's ex-wife. Hughes said they saw that Bulvine was happy with her, so they dropped their custody request. She said Sophia was doing well where she was placed too, so they decided not to fight for custody of her either.
After Jake pleaded guilty and confessed to the murders, Hughes said Chris became infuriated; Chris himself said if he could, he would have beaten Jake "within an inch of his life." Hughes said Chris began to distance himself from George, who was like a brother to him before that.
Hughes and Chris were also angry with the family because Angela dragged her mother, Rita Newcomb, into it. She said Angela forged Rita's signature on documents, which was the reason she was arrested and charged. Rita accepted a plea deal in December 2019, pleading guilty to obstruction of official business — the state dropped the perjury and forgery charges she faced after learning she had not signed or notarized the forged custody documents found in the Wagner's belongings. She has not yet been sentenced.
Next, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations agent Bryan White returned to the stand to talk about a two-day search of the Wagner's former home on Peterson Road that happened June 14 and 15, 2017. During the search, agents used ground-penetrating radar and various digging machines, like Bobcats, to dig up possible evidence on the farm.
Found in the search were several spent shell casings — most of them did not match the calibers of any of the murder weapons, but many matched caliber and types of weapons listed on a gun list investigators found on Jake's phone. Investigators did locate some .22 caliber long rifle shells. The same caliber weapon was used to kill five of the eight Rhodens shot to death.
Julia Eveslage, a BCI investigator specializing in digital records, took the stand after that, testifying to data she found on the victims' and suspects' social media pages. She walked the jury through connections she found between Facebook pages owned by the victims, and their relations to the suspects; she determined that Hanna May had blocked George on Facebook, while Angela had blocked Hanna May, Frankie and Hannah Hazel.
Eveslage also found photos and messages on Facebook between the Wagners, discussing new tattoos George, Jake and Billy were getting in June of 2016. Jake and George posted photos of their completed tattoos; George's was a skull and an 8-ball.
The final witness called on Friday was Rita Newcomb, Angela Wagner and Chris Newcomb's mother. She opted out of being recorded by the media.
She told the jury she'd never been in trouble her entire life, until Angela got her wrapped up in the Rhoden case by forging her signature on the custody documents.
Rita said she knew Hanna May and her grandson, Jake, were in legal discussions over Sophia's custody, but didn't think her family had anything to do with the murders of the Rhoden family.
"The kids told me they didn't do it whenever I asked them, and they're my kids," she said. "I believed them."
Angela asked her to lie to investigators and tell agents that she did notarize and sign the custody documents that stated Jake would get full custody of Sophia in the event of Hanna May's death.
"I was just trying to protect her until I found out what was going on and God told me different," she said.
Rita said she'd always told her kids she would do anything for them, and felt compelled to keep that promise. Ultimately, her faith won out, she said.
"I can't lose my soul over that," she told the jury tearfully.
She went to BCI agents and confessed. In the end, she said she spent eight days in jail for her lies and, to pay her attorney's fees, she had to sell her farm and lost all the money she'd saved to build her dream home. She has since moved in with Chris and Hughes.
She told jurors Angela had a hard life, living with a father who abused them both. Angela joined the Air Force to get away from the abuse in the home, but was assaulted during her service, Rita said. After that, Angela came back home and, not long after, married Billy Wagner.
Rita said she thought Billy was trouble, and told Angela not to marry him, to no avail.
Defense attorneys pointed out to Rita that the custody document forgery wasn't the only time Angela took advantage of her mother; Rita reluctantly conceded that she suspects her daughter and grandsons may have stolen her beloved long-time horse and sold it.
You can catch up on the day's testimony below:
Watch opening statements below:
You can read recaps of each day of the trial in our coverage below:
- 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
