WAVERLY, Ohio — Prosecution showed images of the weapons used to kill eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County in 2016 as Jake Wagner testified against his brother for a third consecutive day.
He has opted out of being recorded during his time on the witness stand.
The morning started with a hearing about whether or not Jake Wagner could be recorded, and the judge determined fair testimony couldn't be given to both prosecution and defense if the court suddenly allowed Jake to be recorded in the middle of his time on the stand. As a result, you won't see or hear Jake's testimony.
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.
Prosecution continued asking Jake on Wednesday about his marriage to Elizabeth Armer, his now ex-wife.
After allegations were made that Armer had touched Jake's daughter, Sophia, inappropriately, the family was resistant to continuing to let her live in their home, Jake said. He didn't remember George pressuring him to make her move out, but he said his brother "encouraged" the idea.
In the end, Jake and Armer agreed she would move to Nashville with a friend and the pair would have a "fake divorce" while she attended school. Jake's trucking route took him through Nashville, so he'd have the opportunity to visit her regularly, he said.
However, Jake said his plan was actually to truly divorce Armer because he couldn't get over the "potential possibilities" associated with the accusation leveled against her. He said he later learned her plan was also to divorce him once she'd left.
After she moved out, he heard from her just a few times: two to three emails and one phone call. The phone call, he later learned though suspected at the time, was at the request of agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
After returning to Ohio for good, Jake and George were hired by R&L as truck drivers and drove together on long-haul trips. Jake said they were certain the truck was bugged and their conversations were being listened to by law enforcement — and they were right.
Jake said while traveling, they spoke about a list Jake made on his phone containing several guns categorized under names of members of the Wagner family. The brothers called the list a "wish list," stating they were guns the family wanted to own, but did not already; that wasn't true, Jake told the jury, and the conversations were intended for investigators to hear.
At one point, BCI agents texted George a photo of a hand holding a 1911 Colt pistol; the brothers were together in the semi truck when he received it. Jake said he called R&L and told them he had a family emergency and needed to cut the trip short and head home. He said he doesn't remember if George did the same.
The image didn't make Jake nervous, but it did anger him that investigators were contacting either he or George on their personal cells rather than going through their attorneys, he said.
It was his hand holding the gun in the photo, he admitted, though he knew the officers couldn't have recovered the real gun, since it was in a bucket full of concrete at the bottom of a lake on the Flying W Farm.
Special prosecutor Angela Canepa asked Jake if, during those trips in the semi truck, George ever made threats of violence against BCI agents.
"I heard what I'd call vented frustration," he said.
The family rarely talked about the homicides themselves, Jake said, though his father did make one comment to him at some point.
"I remember him saying something about the dog Brownie that was owned by Kenneth was in the camper, but it didn't move," said Jake.
The comment came after they'd attended Gary's funeral, where someone in attendance remarked about Brownie and how Kenneth was shot if the dog was there. Family members testified earlier in the trial that Kenneth's dog was not friendly to people it didn't know well.
At another point, he said he spoke with his father about his feelings following the murders, and whether Jake regretted anything.
"He was frustrated with me because of what he had, per se, been made to do because of me and asked if I regretted doing the homicides," said Jake.
He told his father he didn't. Canepa asked if that was true — Jake said it was not; he said that to Billy to make him feel better. Jake said he thought if he told Billy he thought they could have handled things differently, or that the murders were all for nothing, it could have "led him to suicide."
In 2019, Jake learned his grandmother, Rita Newcomb, had decided to cooperate with the prosecution; she took a plea deal in December that year. Newcomb agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of official business and the state agreed to drop the forgery and perjury charges she'd faced.
Jake said he learned the news from his lawyer and was aware Newcomb said she felt she had to come forward because continuing to lie was not the Christian thing to do.
"To me, it felt like it was the answer I was looking for at the time," said Jake. "I suppose you'd call it an answer from God."
Lying to his lawyers about his part in the murders had been weighing on him, he said, and he felt Newcomb's confession was a sign he should make one of his own; he told his lawyers the truth, he said.
Despite his confession, he still planned to go to trial and had no intentions of cooperating with prosecutors. His confession to his lawyers was to get it off his chest and to explain to them why he could never take the stand in his own defense — he wouldn't lie in court, he said.
On April 22, 2021, on the fifth anniversary of the murders, Jake confessed, pleading guilty to every count leveled against him — including all eight aggravated murder charges. He took a plea deal from the prosecution, trading his testimony in trials of any of his family members for having the death specifications against them dropped.
In order for the deal to stick, and the death penalty specifications to remain off the table, Jake's testimony for the prosecution must be "true and complete and accurate."
Prosecution then pivoted, asking if Jake ever learned where his father had taken the pick-up truck used the night of the murders. Jake said he did, when Billy's brother, "Uncle Bobby," made a comment to him. He'd told Jake it was nice of Billy to gift his daughter a new truck; Jake said he immediately assumed the truck his cousin received was the one Billy drove off with after the murders.
Questioning shifted to the goose house Jake said George had helped him build, and the concrete buckets that weighed it down in the pond that Billy had helped fill with evidence from the crimes. When Jake confessed, he told prosecutors where the murder weapons had been and what he'd done with them.
Canepa asked Jake to identify items laid out and photographed by investigators that were recovered from the buckets filled with concrete at the Flying W Farm. In the photo, Jake said, was his 1911 Colt pistol, used to murder five of the victims, a flashlight used by Billy, the barrel assembly of the 1911 Colt with a pipe fitting to allow the fuel filter to be attached, a magazine for a Glock pistol, SKS rifle ammo, .40 caliber ammo and .22 caliber ammo. Jake said he didn't recall putting the ammo in the buckets, surmising his father likely did it.
Jake was shown a series of photographs after that, of items recovered from the buckets. In all, the four buckets contained:
- A magazine for an SK assault rifle
- An oil filter
- The action of the SKS rifle, which was cut into pieces
- A cut up .40 caliber Glock pistol
- Three SKS magazine
- Two Glock magazines
- SKS cartridges
- Part of the SKS rifle barrel
- Two hand gun magazines — Jake couldn't say what kind
Also inside was a green-handled knife Jake said he'd tried to use to pry open the back door of Frankie and Hannah Hazel's home; The metal around the door was damaged in the process and he said the knife tip had broken off in the door.
Canepa then detailed Jake's plea deal for the jury, having Jake read much of it aloud in the court room. He'd wanted prosecutors to record the statement he made to them when he decided to confess, Canepa said, and asked Jake his reasoning. He said it was because he wanted to make sure they couldn't claim he'd said something he hadn't and because he wanted his family to know why he'd decided to cooperate.
She then asked him four questions: Did all four members of the Wagner family — Jake, Angela, George and Billy, know that on April 22, 2016 the intent was to kill several members of the Rhodens?; Did all four help in the preparation?; Did all of them, besides Angela, go to Union Hill that night?; Did all four of them participate in covering up the crimes?
Jake's answer to each was "yes."
Canepa asked why he pleaded guilty to all eight murders when, by his own account, he murdered five of the eight.
"I just took it all, I reckon," he said.
Canepa said she had no more questions for the defendant's brother and John Parker, George's defense attorney, stepped up for cross examination.
Parker began by noting that Jake has said he has bad hearing; he also pointed out Jake was wearing glasses, asking if he had bad eyes as well. Jake said he did, without the glasses. Parker asked if Jake had any other medical issues, pushing him to disclose he'd diagnosed himself with ADD and was currently taking medication for depression and anxiety.
Parker began walking Jake back through things he'd testified to on Monday, asking for details on the executions of the murders and the sequence of events step-by-step. Jake admitted he hadn't known his father had shot Chris Sr. that night too and described trying to calm a "hysterical" Billy by telling him it was too late to back out after shooting Gary and Chris Sr.
As Jake described calming his father, Parker asked if Jake was calm, cool and collected at the time by contrast.
"I'm not going to say I was calm, cool and collected, I would say I steeled myself throughout my shots," he said.
"He didn't fire a shot, did he?" Parker asked, pointing to George.
"No," said Jake.
Parker read from Jake's statements to the prosecution during his confession, highlighting that Jake had told them George tried to talk him out of the homicides altogether.
"George didn't like the idea whatsoever," Parker read.
Jake's statement also said George went along with him and their father to protect Jake, believing it was possible Billy could turn on Jake in the course of events. Jake told the jury it was his understanding that George never intended to kill anyone that night.
Jake recounted more from the murder scenes; he said at Frankie and Hannah Hazel's house, the coon hounds around back barked loudly when he approached the trailer. He also disclosed that, after Frankie was already dead, Billy had shot him too. Parker asked when he'd told the state that information and Jake said it was around July 2022.
He told the jury that dyeing his hair before the homicides had nothing to do with the murders, and said he'd told the prosecution that himself on multiple occasions.
At one point before George, Billy and Jake got to Chris Sr.'s trailer on Union Hill Road, Billy pulled the truck off the road and walked around to the tailgate to speak with George and Jake, who were hiding in the bed. He asked Jake if this was what he really wanted to do, telling him if he wanted to call everything off, that was the time.
Parker asked several questions about how many times Jake had shot the victims and where he'd shot them. He asked about Kenneth, whom Jake said was shot by Billy, and pointed out Kenneth was shot once, directly in the eye. Jake said he wasn't sure, because he hadn't been in Kenneth's camper at all; Parker pointed out Jake was shown crime scene photos, including of the victims, when he spoke with the prosecution.
"I have no memory of the gruesome parts of the crime," Jake said, adding that he wanted to keep it that way, so he didn't focus on the wounds when shown those photos.
Court adjourned for the day and defense attorneys will resume cross examination on Friday; court will not be held on Thursday.
More about Jake Wagner and his plea deal:
Jake pleaded guilty to the murders in April 2021, accepting a deal from the state.
In exchange for Jake's testimony in the trials of any family members who face a jury, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss the possibility of the death penalty for himself, his parents, Angela and Billy, and his brother, George Wagner IV, all of whom face similar charges in connection to the killings.
In addition to pleading guilty to all eight counts of aggravated murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment, Jake admitted guilt to:
- Felony conspiracy
- Aggravated burglary
- Unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance
- Tampering with evidence
- Forgery
- Unauthorized use of property
- Interception of wire and oral communications
- Obstruction of justice
- Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity
- Unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Hanna May Rhoden, who was 13 when their relationship began
You can read recaps of each day of the trial in our coverage below:
- '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:
