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Two years after the brutal, execution-style slogan of eight family members in Ohio, the authorities announced Tuesday that four members of a different family had been arrested and accused of carrying out the murders.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the suspects – a husband, wife, and their two adult sons – were arrested in connection with the Rhoden family murders.
"Following an extensive investigation by my office's #OhioBCI and the #PikeCounty Sheriff's Office, we have arrested four people in the murders of eight people in Pike County on April 22, 2016," DeWine tweeted.
The oven suspects have been identified as: George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner and George Wagner sounds IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner.
George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner, and Sir George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner were arrested Tuesday.
(Ohio Attorney General.)
The Wagners had "close business and family relations" with the Rhoden family before the April 2016 murders, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The killings in Piketon, located 70 miles south of Columbus, sparked the largest homicide investigation in Ohio history.
Last year, authorities announced they were looking for the Wagner and information on them, according to FOX19.
Jake Wagner has a young daughter, Sophia, with Hanna Rhoden, but they have not been named as suspects or persons of interest. The family had moved to Kenai, Alaska, but moved back over the summer. In August of this year, FOX19 reported that two properties were searched in connection with the killings, but authorities never disclosed what was seized.
Autopsy reports released earlier this year revealed the sheer brutality of the massacre, and one of the victims tried to fight back.
In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 photo, a porch is all that remains of the home on Union Hill Road after investigators removed the trailer where the bodies of Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden and Hannah Gilley were found on April 22, two of eight family members found in Piketon, Ohio.
(AP Photo / Andrew Welsh-Huggins)
The report in September revealed Christopher Rhoden Sr. – the father of three people was killed, he was noted, his body was decomposed "more than all the others." He appeared to have suffered a defensive The Enquirer reported at the time. His body was found in the back bedroom of a trailer.
Gary Rhoden, Christopher Sr. Rhoden's cousin, was also found dead in the same trailer, according to the newspaper. The report indicated a gun to his head, according to the newspaper.
BRUTAL KILLING OF EIGHT MEMBERS OF OHIO FAMILY WAS SYSTEMATICALLY EXECUTED, AUTOPSY SHOWS
Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 38; and their three children, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Chris Rhoden, Jr., 16, were also killed in the slayings. Clarence's Rhoden's fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20, was also murdered.
In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 photo, a private property sign guards the boarded up garage on property on Dana Rhoden and her children, Chris Rhoden Jr., and Hanna Rhoden, were found on April 22 in Piketon, Ohio.
(AP Photo / Andrew Welsh-Huggins)
Heavily redacted versions of the reports. The type of bullet was used. Toxicology results were also blacked out. Kenneth Rhoden was found dead in a three-month-old camper Christopher Rhoden Sr. was dead shot, according to the Enquirer. He died of a single gunshot to his right eye.
The eight Rhoden family members.
(Fox 19 Cincinnati)
YOUNGEST OHIO FAMILY MEMBER RECEIVED FACEBOOK THREAT BEFORE MURDERS
DeWine has previously said that Christopher Rhoden Sr. had "a large-scale marijuana growing operation," sparking speculation that the killings were drug-related.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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