Five years later: The Rhoden family killings
WAVERLY – A two minute and 14 second call to 911 at 7:49 a.m. on April 22 five years ago alerted authorities to what would soon become one the most gruesome and complicated and longlingering homicide cases the state of Ohio has ever seen: The killing of eight members of the Rhoden family in rural Pike County.
Breathless and frantic, Bobby Jo Manley tells a dispatcher, “I think my brother-in-law's dead. … There's blood all over the house.” But that was only the beginning of the horror.
Soon, investigators would know that Manley found two people dead inside the first mobile home she visited that morning on Union Hill Road on that Friday morning in 2016. And a few minutes later, they would realize two others were dead inside a second house trailer on the same property. Then three more in a house just up the road.
And that wasn’t the end of this tragic day. Several hours later, an eighth member of the family was found dead in his camper a few miles away.
All were shot to death, six of them while asleep in bed. Three children, including a newborn, were found alive and physically unharmed at two different scenes.
The killings set the southern Ohio Appalachian community on edge, thrust it and the surviving Rhoden family into an international spotlight and set a criminal case in motion that went unsolved for more than two-and-half years. That’s when a mother and father and their two grown sons – the Wagner family – from southern Ohio were arrested and charged with eight counts of aggravated murder.
All four remain in jail and not even the first trial has been held.
On this five-year anniversary, here’s a recap of this case and where things stand today:
Who died in the Rhoden family killings in Pike County?
Killed were Dana Manley Rhoden, 37; her ex-husband, Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; their sons, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; their daughter, Hanna Rhoden, 19; Frankie’s fianceé, Hannah Gilley, 20; Kenneth Rhoden, 44, a brother to Chris Sr; and Gary Rhoden, 38, a cousin to
Kenneth and Chris Sr.
Chris Sr. and Gary were found in Chris Sr.’s house trailer on Union Hill Road.
Killed in a second trailer on the property were Frankie and Hannah Gilley.
In a trailer just up the road, authorities found Dana, Hanna and Chris Jr.
Kenneth’s body was found later in the day in his camper on West Left Fork Road several miles away.
Who did authorities arrest for the killings?
George “Billy” Wagner III; his wife, Angela Wagner; and their two grown sons, George Wagner IV, and Edward “Jake” Wagner were arrested. The family had moved to Alaska after the killings, but had returned to this part of the country, and all were from the nearby Scioto County village of South Webster.
What charges do the Wagner family face and when will the trials take place?
All four Wagners are charged with eight counts of aggravated murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. Other charges include aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, unauthorized use of property, interception of communications, conspiracy and unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance. They are also charged with forgery. All were taken into custody in coordinated arrests on Nov. 13, 2018.
Billy Wagner was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky, where he had taken a horse from the family farm for treatment.
Angela Wagner was arrested at her home in Scioto County, and Jake and George Wagner – who had been traveling together as a long-haul semi driving team – were arrested together in a traffic stop in Ross County.
All have pleaded not guilty.
Jake Wagner’s trial is the first to be scheduled, set for August of this year, though legal experts say it is likely to be delayed again. Other trial dates have not been set.
What do authorities say was the motive for the homicides?
The motive was control over child custody. Jake Wagner and Hanna Rhoden had a young child together, and Hanna had just given birth a few days before the killings to a second daughter, who Jake Wagner thought might be his.
What is the latest information in the case?
There have been several developments in the most recent hearings.
Billy Wagner’s attorneys told Pike County Common Pleas Judge Randy Deering earlier this month that their client disagrees with some of the defense
strategies and is frustrated by how slow the case has progressed through the courts.
His legal team, however, remains in place.
In addition, prosecutors have said they plan to introduce “prior acts” of the defendants at trial.
Those include, according to court filings, accusations that the Wagners spied on, controlled, isolated, mistreated and threatened to kill the then-wives of both Jake and George IV. In addition, prosecutors allege that Billy Wagner trafficked in drugs, and that he “has killed/plotted/threatened to kill others before.”
Prosecutors also say that Jake Wagner had threatened to kill Hanna Rhoden before and “put her body where it would never be found” and that he assaulted, chased and strangled her in their relationship. hzachariah@dispatch.com @hollyzachariah