Woman admits role in killing 8 family members

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An Ohio woman pleaded guilty on Friday to helping plan the murder of eight family members, becoming the second member of her own family to admit to a role in a shocking crime, prosecutors said, arose out of a dispute over the custody of her granddaughter.

Angela Wagner, 50, pleaded guilty in Pike County, southern Ohio, to conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, as well as burglary, tampering with evidence and other charges.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped the aggravated murder charges against her and recommended that she serve a 30-year prison sentence. His agreement to testify against the other remaining defendants was also part of the deal, they said.

She made no statement at the hearing.

Her husband and their two adult sons were also charged with the 2016 murder of seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family. Wagner’s plea comes nearly five months after his son Edward “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other counts and agreed to testify against the other three as part of a deal that would help all four to avoid possible death sentences.

George “Billy” Wagner III and George Wagner IV pleaded not guilty.

The fatal shootings against three trailers and a motorhome near Piketon in April 2016 terrified residents of rural Ohio and launched one of the state’s most thorough criminal investigations, which has led when the Wagneres were arrested more than two years later.

The Wagneres spent months planning the killings and targeted some of the victims, but “unfortunately some were killed because they were there,” Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa said.

Most of the victims were repeatedly shot in the head, and some had bruises. Three young children on the stages are unharmed.

The victims were Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his ex-wife, Dana Rhoden, 37; their three children, Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20, Christopher Jr., 16, and Hanna, 19; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and a cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38.

Prosecutors said the Wagner family had been planning the murders for months, prompted by a custody dispute over the daughter Jake Wagner had with Hanna Rhoden.

The Wagneres used firearms with homemade silencers, allowing them to kill their victims while they slept, prosecutors said.

Angela Wagner was well aware of the plans and purchased several items used to carry out the killings, including “phone jammers” that allegedly prevented the victims from calling for help, Canepa said.

She also falsified custody documents and monitored some of the social media accounts of victims before the killings, Canepa said. Wagner approached prosecutors about a deal and gave them new information after his son pleaded guilty, Canepa said.

Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in April on the fifth anniversary of the murders and told the court he was “deeply and very sorry”. He was not convicted, but his lawyer said he understood he would spend his life in prison.

Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother Tony Rhoden Sr. said the family was grateful for the first plea as “a semblance of justice”.

He also sued the Wagneres. This case is pending.