8 Family Members Killed In Ohio

[+susieice]

2 minutes ago, Vincennes said:

Yes, and cruel business tactics on the under-privileged.  

I edited and posted an article. Yes, serious land swindling. Few of their renters or land purchasers ever ended up owning the property.

[+susieice]

cincinnati.com  has a lot of articles but I can't open any of them. All I get is a screen that says the page isn't working. Grrr.

[Vincennes]

29 minutes ago, susieice said:

cincinnati.com  has a lot of articles but I can't open any of them. All I get is a screen that says the page isn't working. Grrr.

I searched Rhoden Muders and I seem to be able to open them.  Maybe you can go out and reload or maybe I can link one that you wanted to open.  

[+susieice]

4 minutes ago, Vincennes said:

I searched Rhoden Muders and I seem to be able to open them.  Maybe you can go out and reload or maybe I can link one that you wanted to open.  

I haven't been able to open them for a while. There's one that talks about Fredricka and that horse farm. Maybe you can link it and I can open it. I tried going right into their website and that doesn't work either.

Edited December 12, 2020 by susieice

[Vincennes]

1 minute ago, susieice said:

I haven't been able to open them for a while. There's one that talks about Fredricka and that horse farm. Maybe you can link it and I can open it.

Here's one regarding their property:

Pike County massacre: A look at Fredericka Wagner's businesses (cincinnati.com)

It talks about the farm being purchased 25 yrs ago.  Substantial money even back then.

[Vincennes]

 

On 5/16/2017 at 11:49 AM, Cinpooh said:

The grandmother who owns the farm that was searched on Saturday is said to be connected the proctor and gamble. She owns many things including something to do with flying. A breeder farm of horses and dogs. A nursing home. Among many others. So I would say the family is somewhat prosperous especially for that area.

 

I am not local but from a nearby county. 

Finally went back through the thread and found this.  I did follow up on this and found that Fredericka was I believe a P & G heir.  I'm just bringing this up in terms of how much she has behind her for legal defense funds.  

Edited December 13, 2020 by Vincennes

[+susieice]

38 minutes ago, Vincennes said:

 

Finally went back through the thread and found this.  I did follow up on this and found that Fredericka was I believe a P & G heir.  I'm just bringing this up in terms of how much she has behind her for legal defense funds.  

 

19 hours ago, Vincennes said:

Here's one regarding their property:

Pike County massacre: A look at Fredericka Wagner's businesses (cincinnati.com)

It talks about the farm being purchased 25 yrs ago.  Substantial money even back then.

I remember Cinpooh posting in here. Sounds like Fredericka had tons of money on her own before she married Wagner. I couldn't google anything about her past or her parents. If she's a Proctor Gamble heir, that's probably why. I just found how active she was in her community. She played a good role. It also explains why her charges were dropped in June 2019. She was anxious to get back to teaching Sunday School. Really??

https://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/charges-against-fredericka-wagner-dismissed-in-rhoden-family-massacre

Thanks for the link Vincennes. I tried and still can't open it. Maybe cincinnati.com blocks people from out of state. For some reason, I just can't open the site.

[Vincennes]

20 hours ago, susieice said:

 

I remember Cinpooh posting in here. Sounds like Fredericka had tons of money on her own before she married Wagner. I couldn't google anything about her past or her parents. If she's a Proctor Gamble heir, that's probably why. I just found how active she was in her community. She played a good role. It also explains why her charges were dropped in June 2019. She was anxious to get back to teaching Sunday School. Really??

https://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/charges-against-fredericka-wagner-dismissed-in-rhoden-family-massacre

Thanks for the link Vincennes. I tried and still can't open it. Maybe cincinnati.com blocks people from out of state. For some reason, I just can't open the site.

What I was really trying to go back and find was that I'm sure when Cinpooh posted that I went back, researching what he said and posted a link that validated it.  I wondered if that link would now open or if it's been pulled but I was done in with searching when I at least found Cinpooh's  LOL !

Anyway, yes, Fredericka and he husband are two of the nastiest individuals that I could imagine.  They were used to tromping on people down there and I don't think it's a stretch to think it was only one more notch up in evil in what they had gotten away with for years to kill.

Searching also refreshed me in my thinking that somehow drug transportation was somehow part of this murder.  They are so close to a major route, I think that might have been the reason Jake was a "truck driver" and he and his brother owned a semi and Chris Rhoden had another semi.  I think they were not only growing their own, they were acting as a hub for other shipments.  

Edited December 14, 2020 by Vincennes

[Brandy333]

https://www.newsweek.com/girl-charged-murder-four-people-dead-1555488

Found this morning on news, terrible.   You can't even trust children any more.

[+susieice]

It's hard to believe it was 5 years ago on April 22, 2016, that this family was found murdered. 

While another family was arrested and charged with the murders in 2018, they have yet to go to trial.

Jake Wagner's trial is now scheduled to start in August 2021. How slowly the wheels of justice turn for the survivors. How much longer can the Wagners and their attorneys delay these trials?

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/after-covid-19-delays-pike-county-massacre-trial-rescheduled-for-august

https://www.fox19.com/2021/01/11/pike-county-massacre-new-trial-date-set-jake-wagner/

Edited April 22, 2021 by susieice

[+susieice]

Went back to the beginning of the thread and a lot of those old links still work. This was one horrific case.

Edited April 22, 2021 by susieice

[+ouija ouija]

17 minutes ago, susieice said:

 How slowly the wheels of justice turn for the survivors.

I wonder about this all the time(with regard to any case, not just this one). Why does it take so long for cases to come to court?

[+susieice]

11 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

I wonder about this all the time(with regard to any case, not just this one). Why does it take so long for cases to come to court?

This is one of the most brutal murder cases I've ever heard of and I've never seen a case go on this long. These people were killed in April 2016 and the investigation and everything else LE did went on until the Wagners were arrested in November 2018. All 4 remain in prisons throughout Ohio and the attorneys must just keep filing and filing. This has been established as a death penalty case but good grief. I wonder how many of the grandparents have died themselves by now without seeing justice done. I wonder if those children are still in foster care or if they've at least been reunited with their family. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by susieice

[+ouija ouija]

After this length of time, I imagine that family members have learned to live with it, to some degree, and then it's all going to be raked up again and they're put back to when it happened.

[+susieice]

I found this marking the fifth anniversary. Looks like it will drag out even more.

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/crime/2021/04/22/rhoden-family-murders-ohio-pike-county-anniversary/7298384002/

Jake Wagner's trial is the first to be scheduled, set for August of this year, though legal experts say it is likely to be delayed again. Other trial dates have not been set.

Edited April 22, 2021 by susieice

[+susieice]

This is at the end of the above link. Then the document is at the bottom listing all the other things Jake Wagner did to Hanna Rhoden that they intend to introduce in court. I couldn't copy that.

What is the latest information in the case?

There have been several developments in the most recent hearings.

Billy Wagner's attorneys told Pike County Common Pleas Judge Randy Deering earlier this month that their client disagrees with some of the defense strategies and is frustrated by how slow the case has progressed through the courts. His legal team, however, remains in place.

In addition, prosecutors have said they plan to introduce "prior acts" of the defendants at trial. 

Surviving Rhoden relatives: "A man can't bear it."

Those include, according to court filings, accusations that the Wagners spied on, controlled, isolated, mistreated and threatened to kill the then-wives of both Jake and George IV. In addition, prosecutors allege that Billy Wagner trafficked in drugs, and that he "has killed/plotted/threatened to kill others before."

Prosecutors also say that Jake Wagner had threatened to kill Hanna Rhoden before and "put her body where it would never be found" and that he assaulted, chased and strangled her in their relationship.

[+susieice]

This link says the same thing as the other link from FOX19, but has a video at the beginning showing former Sheriff Reader being sentenced to 3 years in prison for his corruption charges. I guess this just happened too. He paid back $17 thousand in restitution.

https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/22/pike-county-massacre-years-later/

Edited April 22, 2021 by susieice

[+ouija ouija]

1 hour ago, susieice said:

This link says the same thing as the other link from FOX19, but has a video at the beginning showing former Sheriff Reader being sentenced to 3 years in prison for his corruption charges. I guess this just happened too. He paid back $17 thousand in restitution.

https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/22/pike-county-massacre-years-later/

I'm glad this won't affect the trial(as was first thought). This from the article: "Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost previously told FOX19 NOW Reader’s indictment would “have no impact on the Wagner capital murder case, as Reader was not the primary witness for any issue of fact or law".

Thank you so much, Susie for posting all these links. 

[+susieice]

4 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

I'm glad this won't affect the trial(as was first thought). This from the article: "Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost previously told FOX19 NOW Reader’s indictment would “have no impact on the Wagner capital murder case, as Reader was not the primary witness for any issue of fact or law".

Thank you so much, Susie for posting all these links. 

You're welcome. At least we know where the Rhoden family stands at the moment. 

[glorybebe]

• Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio's Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death 
• He agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother, who are also charged in the Rhoden family slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy 
• Wagner admitted he was personally responsible for five of the deaths 
• The 28 year old said in court that he is 'deeply and very sorry'
• He wasn't immediately sentenced, but his lawyers said he understands he faces a lifetime behind bars
• Prosecutors alleged the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a custody dispute 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9501647/Man-pleads-guilty-fatal-shootings-8-Ohio-family.html

I am surprised he admitted it.  After all this time

[+ouija ouija]

2 hours ago, glorybebe said:

• Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio's Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death 
• He agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother, who are also charged in the Rhoden family slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy 
• Wagner admitted he was personally responsible for five of the deaths 
• The 28 year old said in court that he is 'deeply and very sorry'
• He wasn't immediately sentenced, but his lawyers said he understands he faces a lifetime behind bars
• Prosecutors alleged the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a custody dispute 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9501647/Man-pleads-guilty-fatal-shootings-8-Ohio-family.html

I am surprised he admitted it.  After all this time

It's just jaw-dropping, isn't it? I feel shocked all over again.

[+susieice]

3 hours ago, glorybebe said:

• Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleaded guilty to 23 counts in southern Ohio's Pike County in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from being sentenced to death 
• He agreed to cooperate in the cases against his parents and brother, who are also charged in the Rhoden family slayings of seven adults and a teenage boy 
• Wagner admitted he was personally responsible for five of the deaths 
• The 28 year old said in court that he is 'deeply and very sorry'
• He wasn't immediately sentenced, but his lawyers said he understands he faces a lifetime behind bars
• Prosecutors alleged the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a custody dispute 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9501647/Man-pleads-guilty-fatal-shootings-8-Ohio-family.html

I am surprised he admitted it.  After all this time

Great find glorybebe!!  Thank you so much!!

The article got a few things wrong. It didn't happen at a trailer park and Jake's daughter Sophia wasn't one of the three children found at the scenes. Jake had picked her up late that night before the killings happened. I'm just so glad he finally admitted what he did and he will testify against his other family members. I wasn't expecting this at all and can only imagine how the Rhodens must be feeling. This is at least one trial they won't need to go through.

Edited April 23, 2021 by susieice

[+susieice]

This is from the Columbus Dispatch. Much more information. The Rhodens, the Gilleys and the Manleys were all in the courtroom when Jake confessed. There's more in the link that I can't copy.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/state/2021/04/22/jake-wagner-rhoden-family-homicides-pike-county-ohio-pleads-guilty/7333052002/

But when Deering asked Wagner for his plea to the aggravated murder charge for Hanna Mea Rhoden, the mother of Wagner’s young daughter, Wagner paused. He hesitated. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his face grew red. He held back tears.

“I am guilty, your honor,” he finally said. By the day’s end, he had pleaded guilty to all 23 charges originally filed against him (his parents and older brother still face the same charges) for what investigators said was an elaborate and long-planned execution plot to get rid of anyone who might stand in the way of custody and control of Jake Wagner’s child.

 

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors have dropped the possibility of a death penalty, sparing the 28-year-old his life. The agreed-upon sentence, which will be handed down later, is that he will serve eight consecutive life terms without parole, plus more than 100 years for the sentences on all the other charges.

The other Wagners have all pleaded not guilty. Jake Wagner's plea agreement, however, took the death penalty off the table for the rest of his family as well if they are convicted.

Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa shocked the courtroom yet again when she announced that Wagner has been cooperating with prosecutors for some time and that, with information he provided, investigators were finally able to recover the guns she said were used in the homicides as well as the vehicles that the family used to sneak onto the Rhoden properties, break into the homes and pull off what investigators have said were executions.

Wagner has, Canepa said, also confessed to personally killing five of the eight victims.

Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk said the families of the victims agreed to the plea agreement. 

“This has been a long time coming," Junk said. "They're happy to get some justice, especially on this particular day," he says of the Rhoden, Gilley and Manley families.

 

[+susieice]

This is just a sweet way to put this case to bed. I hope the 3 remaining Wagner family members don't put this family through more grief and trials. They said Chris Sr and Gary were awake when they were attacked. That explains the beating Chris Sr took that night.

Geneva Rhoden  — the family matriarch whose losses on April 22, 2016, included two sons and several grandchildren — has watched the past few hearings on a livestream from downstairs. Thursday, with help from her family, she made it slowly up the courthouse steps with her oxygen tank and sat in the front row and hung her head as she cried.

She told The Dispatch through tears: "I'm hanging in there."

Jake Wagner was at the center of the case from the beginning because he had a child with Hanna Rhoden, and prosecutors have said the killings were all about custody and control of children. Hanna had also just given birth a few days before the killings to a second daughter, and Jake Wagner also thought she might be his.

Edited April 23, 2021 by susieice

[+susieice]

There's some more info in here not in the other link. Including what was in those forged custody documents,

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/jake-wagner-back-in-pike-county-court-for-sudden-hearing

Edited April 23, 2021 by susieice