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By ANGIE WANG and ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, Associated Press
WAVERLY, Ohio (AP) – Authorities on Tuesday arrested a family of four during the horrific killing of eight people from another family living in a rural area of Ohio in 2016, a crime prosecutors, would be the result of a custody dispute.
This announcement marked the culmination of extensive investigative work that had begun after seven adults and one teenager had been shot in the head in four separate homes in April 2016. The killings terrified local residents and generated rumors that it was a drug.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said that a grand jury had charged the four alleged for aggravated murder and that they could be sentenced to death if they were found guilty. DeWine gave little detail as to why the victims were killed, but he said that the care of a young child played an important role. He added that the accused had carefully planned the murders for months.
"There was definitely an obsession with the guard, an obsession with controlling children," DeWine said.
Those indicted were Edward "Jake" Wagner, 26, his father George "Billy" Wagner III, 47; The wives of Billy Wagner, Angela Wagner and George Wagner, 27, are now 27 years old. They lived near the scene of the massacre about 97 kilometers south of Columbus and had long been considered the main suspects, DeWine said.
"They acted quickly, coldly, calmly and with great care, but not enough," said Charles Reader, Pike County Sheriff. "They left traces, they left a trace."
The victims were Hanna Rhoden, 19, a former girlfriend of Jake Wagner, who shared custody of their daughter, parents, brothers and sisters and other family members. Rhoden was in bed with her newborn when she was killed. The baby was not injured.
A coroner said that all but one victim had been affected more than once, including two people five times and once nine times. Some also had bruises, which is consistent with the first appellant's 911 description of two victims who appeared to have been beaten.
"I could just tell you that this is just the weirdest story I've ever seen in my involvement in law enforcement," said DeWine, who was elected governor more early this month.
A lawyer from the Wagner family has maintained their innocence.
"We are looking forward to the day when the real culprits will be discovered and brought to justice for this terrible tragedy," said lawyer John Clark in a statement on Tuesday. "The Wagners are also very hopeful that all the facts will be verified in the coming months."
DeWine and Reader said on Tuesday that the Wagners have been studying the victims' accommodations, their habits, routines, sleeping places and pets. The accusations blame the Wagners for tampering with phones, cameras, a silent gun, bushings and elements of a home security system.
DeWine said that there was "absolutely no evidence" that anyone was involved.
The investigators are struggling to determine who targeted the Rhoden family and why they conducted more than 130 interviews and processed more than 100 pieces of evidence and 550 tips, with the help of more than 20 agencies in charge of the application. of the law. The last significant evidence was gathered on October 30, said DeWine.
The first mention of the suspects was made in June 2017, when the authorities announced that they were seeking information about the Wagners, including details of their personal and professional interactions, as well as conversations that people might have had with them. them.
No one was named a suspect at the time. Investigators also said they searched a property sold by the Wagners in southern Ohio.
Jake Wagner and Angela Wagner both told the Cincinnati investigator that they were not involved in the killings of April 2016. Angela Wagner said that what was wrong had passed was devastating and that Hanna Rhoden had been like a girl for her. She stated that her husband, Billy, and Christopher Rhoden Sr., one of the victims, had looked more like brothers than friends.
The Wagner family lived in Peebles, Ohio at the time of the murders, but later moved to Alaska, where they returned in the spring.
Pike County Attorney Rob Junk warned that the case could last several years and that it was possible that the lawsuit would be moved because of the publicity.
"It has been so long to come, thank you my God!" Verlina Jarrell, of Circleville, Ohio, co-administers a Facebook page about the "Pike County Massacres" with some 650 members, told The Associated Press.
The victims were Christopher Rhoden, 40 years old; his ex-wife, Dana Rhoden, 37 years old; their three children, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20, Christopher Jr., 16, and Hanna, 19; Frankie Rhoden's fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44 years old; and a cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38 years old. Hanna Rhoden's several-day-old daughter, another baby and a young child were unharmed.
Authorities said marijuana grow operations were found on three of the four crime scenes. Although it is not uncommon in this corner of the Appalachians, it has fueled rumors that the murders are related to drugs.
DeWine said "there is an underlying drug trend" in this case, but there is no indication that the murders were drug related. He would not elaborate.
Kentucky police said the FBI sued "Billy" Wagner in Lexington, where he was arrested without incident around 12:30. Tuesday. Lexington Police was not sure whether he had lived in the area.
The mothers of Angela Wagner and "Billy" Wagner were also arrested in Ohio and charged with misleading investigators.
Jake Wagner was also charged with illegal sexual behavior with a minor for having sexual contact with Rhoden at the age of 15 and at the age of 20, the DeWine office announced.
Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus. Associate press editors John Seewer in Toledo and Dylan T. Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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