Pike County
killings. The current trial is the first time a person has faced a jury for the deaths of the Rhoden family six years ago.
In addition to pleading guilty to all eight counts of aggravated murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment, Jake Wagner admitted guilt to felony conspiracy, aggravated burglary, unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance, tampering with evidence, forgery, unauthorized use of property, interception of wire and oral communications, obstruction of justice, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Hanna May Rhoden, who was 13 when their relationship began.
Jake Wagner and Hanna May Rhoden share a child, Sophia, who was unharmed in the mass murder. Hanna was one of the eight people killed, and prosecutors say their tumultuous relationship and custody issues were the Wagner family’s motivation for killing the Rhodens.
The defense says George Wagner is innocent and simply a suspect because he is part of the Wagner family.
Jake Wagner first took the stand Monday morning — the first time he and his brother have laid eyes on one another since the family’s arrest in 2018.
Early in his testimony, he smiled when he told the jury he loved his brother and would love nothing more than for George to be able to go home.
The prosecution began by questioning him on the different homes owned by the Wagner family; he admitted they’d intentionally burned down their house on Bethel Hill Road for insurance money. After that, the Peterson Road farm the family bought was put into his and George’s names because their insurance history was clean.
He also admitted the family burned a semi truck in 2016 and that he intentionally wrecked George’s truck in order to collect insurance money.
Jake and his brother would also commit other crimes, like poaching deer. Alongside their father, Billy, they also stole fuel, lumber, appliances, tools, fencing and building materials and livestock from businesses in the area. Jake said they chose businesses with insurance so they wouldn’t hurt working-class people nearby.
Like other witnesses before him, Jake told the jury the Wagner family finances were very entangled, with family members holding several bank accounts both alone and with one another. He and George often shared accounts, he said, though he was always able to access other family members’ accounts for purchases if he needed.
The prosecution asked him about how decisions were made among the Wagners and he described the family meetings the jury heard about previously from Jake’s ex-wife Beth Ann and George’s ex-wife Tabitha Claytor. During those meetings, the family discussed chores, farm work and anything else affecting the family; at the end of the meetings, family members voiced their opinions and sometimes took votes to determine what everyone would do.
Jake Wagner described meeting Hanna Rhoden when she was 13 and he was 17 in the 4-H building at the Pike County fair; he said the pair began dating, with her parents’ permission. At the age of 16, Hanna gave birth to Sophia, who was born on Nov. 18, 2013.
“I loved Hanna, and it was not love at first sight.,” Jake Wagner said. “She grew on me . ... She wanted babies.”
“I felt she needed to finish school, get a little older,” he told the courtroom on Friday.
The relationship ended in February of 2015 — a little over one year before the murders — and Jake said that’s when custody concerns began. Jake didn’t believe his daughter would be safe living with the Rhodens.
By the end of 2015, Hanna had begun stalling on signing paperwork that would define their shared custody over Sophia; he said sometimes George was with him as he went to pick up or drop off his daughter.
Meanwhile his mother, Angela, was monitoring conversations Hanna had with George’s e-wife, Tabitha, and Tabitha’s mother on Facebook Messenger, Jake said. That’s how he became aware that Hanna said the Wagners would have to kill her before she would sign custody papers.
Earlier in the trial, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations agent testified that a screenshot of that private conversation was made on an iPad belonging to the Wagners less than a half hour after Hanna sent it.
The message was a catalyst for the Wagner family; Jake said he discussed it with his parents after his mother showed him what Hanna said.
“To be frank, I had decided I felt I had no other choice than to kill Hanna,” he said..
WCPO is a content partner of Cox First Media. Read more on this case at daytondailynews.com, journal-news.com and springfieldnewssun.com.