FATAL FAMILY FEUD!
Ohio clan busted for eight murders in child custody war
IN A modern-day version of the bloody Hatfield vs. McCoy feud, an Ohio family of four has been charged with murdering eight members of another clan — in a bitter child custody fight!
George “Billy” Wagner III, 47; his wife, Angela, 48; and their two sons, George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26, are each charged with eight counts of aggravated murder for slaughtering members of the Piketon-based Rhoden family in 2016.
The Wagners had an “obsession with custody and with control of children,” says Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who calls the blood feud “the most bizarre” case he’s ever handled.
Lawmen say the whole thing started when Jake split with his baby mama, Hanna Rhoden. The two initially shared custody of their daughter, Sophia Wagner, now four. But things soon turned ugly.
Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader says: “Members of one family conspired, planned, carried out and then covered up their violent act to wipe out members of another family.
“They did this quickly, coldly, calmly and very carefully. But not carefully enough. They left traces.”
The shooting victims included Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his ex-wife, Dana, 37; and their three children, Hanna, 19, Christopher Jr., 16, and Clarence, 20. Three other victims were Christopher Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; a cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden’s girlfriend, Hannah Gilley, 20.
Authorities say the Wagners mapped out an extensive plot to kill the victims in four separate locations.
The Wagners reportedly studied their targets’ properties, routines, sleeping areas and even pets. They’ve also been accused of tampering with a home security system, phones and cameras.
After the murders, the Wagners briefly relocated to Alaska in an attempt to disappear, police say. But their lawyer insists the clan moved across the continent to escape police harassment — and so little Sophia wouldn’t grow up hearing whispers her family was filled with killers. But the four Wagners were arrested in November, one in Kentucky and the others in Ohio, and insist they are innocent of all charges.