WAVERLY, Ohio — Opening statements from prosecution and defense attorneys began Monday morning for a man accused of murdering eight people in Pike County six years ago.
George Wagner IV is charged with eight counts of murder with death penalty specifications and several other charges connected to the deaths of eight members of the Rhoden family in 2016.
George — 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.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: The jury instructions continue - including the standard warnings against discussing the case, reading about it, etc.
The jury is made up of 9 women and 3 men, plus 6 alternates (more than usual because this is expected to last 6-8 weeks). pic.twitter.com/8U7M7DtskM
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
Angela Canepa, special prosecutor for the case, began with opening statements Monday morning, describing the crimes committed on April 22, 2016 and highlighting each member of the Rhoden family killed that day.
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.
Prosecutors laid out each Rhoden's final communications before they were killed — notably that Chris Sr.'s last phone call was made at 10:55 p.m., to Billy Wagner. He was sent to voicemail, and Billy never returned the call, Canepa said.
The Wagners spent three months planning the murders of the Rhoden family, Canepa said.
"Why?" she said to the jury. "You will be disappointed to learn there is no good reason."
In the past, prosecutors have alleged that a bitter custody battle between Hanna May Rhoden and Jake Wagner were the primary reason for the murders. The two met when Hanna was 13 and Jake was 18 and later began dating; Hanna became pregnant with Jake's child when she was 15 years old.
Canepa told the jury that George, along with his father, Billy, and his brother Jake, "went up to Union Hill Road, the three different locations that you all saw, and one location on Left Fork Road, and murdered eight people who did not deserve to die."
The prosecution spent opening statements detailing the behavior of the Wagner family and their interactions with members of the Rhoden family leading up to the homicides.
WATCH: The first half of opening statements in the Pike County trial
On the night of April 21 into the early morning hours of April 22, Jake and George slid into the false bottom of a pick-up truck Billy purchased specifically to use in the murder plot, Canepa said. The three drove to the home of Chris Sr. and Gary, where Billy was expected to meet Chris Sr. to allegedly speak about an upcoming drug deal.
Once there, George was meant to use an SKS rifle to shoot Chris Sr. "like a sniper" from the driveway; a homemade silencer the family made had failed and was destroyed in a test fire, so the family resorted to cloaking the sound of the gunshot by using fuel filters as silencers, Canepa said.
She said Jake confessed to prosecutors that, after George took too long, he took the gun and fired at Chris Sr. as he stood at his front door — with Billy inside. The shot tore through the door, embedding wooden shrapnel in Chris Sr. and the bullet broke the bone in Chris Sr.'s arm, Canepa said. Billy then shot Chris Sr. and Gary from inside the home with a .40 Glock, prosecutors said Jake told them.
At the home in which Hanna May, Chris Jr. and Dana lived, Jake allegedly told prosecutors he shot Dana multiple times before creeping into Hannah May's room, where he found her lying in bed, nursing her newborn baby. Canepa said Jake told them he shot Hanna before rearranging her body so the baby could still continue to nurse.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Bobby Jo goes to Frankie's house - his son Brentley answers the door and tells her "Daddy has a lot of blood." She finds Frankie and Hazel in bed dead.
Canepa says Hazel had been nursing the 6 month old Ruger at the time of her death. He was covered in blood.
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
From there, the three traveled to the other family members' homes, killing each person inside.
Jake is expected to testify in the trial as a stipulation of his plea deal; in exchange for his testimony, death penalty specifications would be dropped against Jake and all his family members.
Several members of the Rhoden family were specifically targeted by the Wagners, but some who were killed were simply collateral damage, Canepa said.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Canepa says Hanna Rhoden was killed because she wouldn't return Jake Wagner's love.
Chris Jr and Dana knew about his threats and violence too.
Kenneth Rhoden killed because he would have known it was the Wagners.
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
According to Canepa, Chris Sr. was an intended target from the beginning because of his role as patriarch of the family, but Gary was murdered only because he happened to be staying with Chris Sr. at the time.
Chris Jr. and Dana were murdered because they were aware of complaints made by Hanna May that Jake was violent with her during their relationship; Dana had confronted Jake about an altercation in which Jake allegedly strangled Hanna, threatening to kill her and "put her body where it would never be found."
Hanna was murdered because she left Jake, had moved on and refused to relinquish custody of her child with Jake, Canepa said. Frankie was murdered because he would have pointed the finger at the Wagners if left alive, but Hannah "Hazel" was murdered just because she was there.
Kenneth was murdered because he'd retaliated on Chris Sr.'s behalf in the past and would have known the Wagners were involved, Canepa said.
"Jake will tell you freely that they knew there would be other people there and they knew that they would kill them even though they were perfectly innocent," said Canepa.
The Wagners' had anticipated the body count could be higher, she said. Chris Jr., who was just 16 when he was murdered, often had friends staying the night in his home — the only reason no friends were over the night of the murders was because he was grounded, Canepa said. Hanna May's new boyfriend, with whom she'd just had a baby, would have been in her home as well, if he hadn't been helping his sister after pipes burst in her home.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Canepa tells the jury Jake told them eventually the plan grew to include killing the whole Rhoden family - and that "Jake will tell you freely" that they knew there might be innocent people they have to kill too.
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
Canepa described the entire Wagner family as controlling, abusive and obsessed with holding complete custody over any of the family's offspring, including Jake's daughter with Hanna May and George's child with his ex-wife, Tabitha — who is expected to take the witness stand against her ex-husband.
Canepa said George and his family abused and controlled Tabitha during the span of their relationship and, when Tabitha tried to flee, Angela threw a 2-by-4 at her — and the family kept their son, Bulvine. From there, the Wagners hired a lawyer — while Tabitha could only represent herself — and won a custody arrangement that meant Tabitha could only see her child "if and when the Wagners said so," said Canepa.
When Hanna May became pregnant with Jake's daughter, Sophia, trouble began, Canepa alleged. Jake texted Hanna early in her pregnancy, telling her their daughter would live with him whether Hanna did or not.
"I'll take Sophie and, if I have to, by force," Canepa said Jake texted to Hanna before the baby was born.
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: BCI agents interview Wagners at Montana border - Canepa says they had "canned responses." Angela told them she had thrown those Walmart shoes out after a day because the boys hated them.
Agents put listening device in Wagner vehicle - no one talked. They knew.
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
Tabitha's mother also allegedly spoke with Hanna May in Facebook Messenger, telling her not to sign custody after what happened between George and Tabitha.
Hanna May responded, "(I'll) never sign papers ever. They will have to kill me first."
Just moments later, Angela Wagner, having hacked into Tabitha's mother's social media account, took a screenshot of the message, Canepa said. Four months later, Hanna and seven of her family members were found shot to death.
Canepa pointed out Hanna May specifically said "they" will have to kill her, not just Jake.
"So she very much understood how the Wagners operated as a group," said Canepa.
WATCH: The second half of opening statements in the Pike County trial
The prosecution concluded its opening statements around 2:30 p.m. Defense attorneys began their opening statements after a short break, beginning just before 3:00 p.m.
George Wagner's attorney, Richard Nash, emphasized to the jury that this trial is specifically about George and his involvement or lack thereof in the crimes committed. He painted George as the good-hearted black sheep of a family prone to conning others and committing crimes.
"The state wants to paint this with a wide paint brush," said Nash.
He told the jury that every time they heard "the Wagners," to think about how that applies to George, not the other family members.
Jake, expected to be a major witness for the prosecution, will tell the court that George neither helped plan nor pulled a trigger throughout any of the crimes committed on the night of April 21, Nash said. He pointed out that credibility for Angela and Jake as prosecution witnesses should be viewed with skepticism, because they took a deal.
Nash also said George lacked a motive to participate in the killings.
"We know custody is not the motive," he said. "Everybody had a motive in this case to commit murder but George."
PIKE COUNTY TRIAL: Nash calls Jake and Angela con artists and liars.
Points out Angela burned her home to collect insurance money - says it happened more than once. Nash calls Billy Wagner "a professional thief."
Says Jake got both traits from his parents.
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) September 12, 2022
Angela's motive centered around inaccurate fear that, without the supervision of the Wagner family, Jake's child Sophia would be abused — like Hanna May was as a child, Nash said. Jake was motivated by jealousy as he watched Hanna May move on with her life, coupled with an obsession over Sophia's custody and well-being, said Nash. Billy's motive was simply rooted in the family's drug enterprise, Nash said.
Nash instructed the jurors to consider any time the Wagners are mentioned as a unit and every time a different family member is mentioned as a red flag, because George is the one standing trial.
Nash presented opening remarks for less than an hour — a stark contrast from the several hours Canepa spent laying out details the jury will see in more depth as the trial unfolds.
George is the first person to stand trial in connection with the massacre.
RELATED | Full timeline of the Pike County murders
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