Prosecutors within the murder trial of an Ohio man charged within the 2016 massacre of eight members of a rival family presented chilling texts shedding light on a bitter custody battle that allegedly led to the slaughter.
George Wagner IV, 30, is the primary defendant to go on trial in Pike County Court greater than six years after the shocking execution-style killings of the Rhoden family.
Wagner IV — along together with his father George “Billy” Wagner III, mother Anglea Wagner and brother Edward “Jake” Wagner– is accused of killing the Rhodens on their property on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains on April 22, 2016.
The victims were Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their three children: Hannah Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20.
Frankie Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, was also slain, together with the elder Christopher Rhoden’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.
On the trial Thursday, a Bureau of Criminal Investigations agent read aloud text messages between Jake Wagner and Hannah Rhoden from November 2013, documenting their custody strife — which began before their daughter, Sophia, was even born.
Prosecutors have said the furious disagreements between Jake and Hannah over Sophia’s upbringing were the primary motive behind the massacre.
In text conversations presented in court, Jake and Hannah clashed repeatedly over their relationship, where they’d live and who their baby would stick with, reported WCPO.
Jake, who began dating Hannah when she was 13 and got her pregnant two years later, insisted they move in together with his parents and brother, but his girlfriend resisted.
“I done told u she resides with me now u can live with us or not that’s ur selection,” Jake wrote in a text to Hannah on Nov. 4, 2013.
Hannah replied that if he tried to take the newborn from her, it might be his worst mistake.
“Hanna I’m telling you immediately make a selection and make it now if u do that it’s over and I’ll take Sophie and if I actually have to by force,” Jake replied. “I really like u with all my heart if u love me and Sophie u will make the suitable selection I would like u to live with me and Sophie. That don’t mean we’ve to remain at my house on a regular basis but she’s going to live wear ever (sic) I’m.”
The couple continued bickering via text for the subsequent two years, with Hannah refusing to live together with his family and insisting they get their very own place.
In March 2015, she sent Jake a text that read: “I don’t wish to be with you. You hurt me,” alluding to alleged domestic violence.
The couple ultimately split, and the fight over custody of their daughter intensified. Rhoden refused to sign papers agreeing to share custody with Jake’s brother, George.
“They’ll must kill me first,” she wrote in a message on Facebook in December 2015.
Prosecutors said members of the Wagner clan spent months preparing for the attack on Hannah and her family, including constructing homemade silencers and procuring phone jammers to stop the victims from calling for help.
A lot of the victims were shot in the pinnacle as they slept in trailers and a camper. A few of the deceased were said to have been targeted, while others were killed just because they were there. The attackers spared the lives of two babies and a toddler.
Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last yr to counts of murder and related charges, confessing to killing five of the victims.
As a part of Wagner’s plea deal, he can be spared the death penalty if he testifies against his brother and father.
Angela Wagner also pleaded guilty to participating within the murderous plot and agreed to offer evidence against her husband and son in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence.
George Wagner IV’s defense has argued he was in a roundabout way chargeable for any of the murders and only went together with the plot out of fear his father would kill Jake.
George Wagner III has pleaded not guilty and is anticipated to go to trial after his son.
Prosecutors within the murder trial of an Ohio man charged within the 2016 massacre of eight members of a rival family presented chilling texts shedding light on a bitter custody battle that allegedly led to the slaughter.
George Wagner IV, 30, is the primary defendant to go on trial in Pike County Court greater than six years after the shocking execution-style killings of the Rhoden family.
Wagner IV — along together with his father George “Billy” Wagner III, mother Anglea Wagner and brother Edward “Jake” Wagner– is accused of killing the Rhodens on their property on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains on April 22, 2016.
The victims were Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, and their three children: Hannah Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20.
Frankie Rhoden’s fiancée, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, was also slain, together with the elder Christopher Rhoden’s brother Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38.
On the trial Thursday, a Bureau of Criminal Investigations agent read aloud text messages between Jake Wagner and Hannah Rhoden from November 2013, documenting their custody strife — which began before their daughter, Sophia, was even born.
Prosecutors have said the furious disagreements between Jake and Hannah over Sophia’s upbringing were the primary motive behind the massacre.
In text conversations presented in court, Jake and Hannah clashed repeatedly over their relationship, where they’d live and who their baby would stick with, reported WCPO.
Jake, who began dating Hannah when she was 13 and got her pregnant two years later, insisted they move in together with his parents and brother, but his girlfriend resisted.
“I done told u she resides with me now u can live with us or not that’s ur selection,” Jake wrote in a text to Hannah on Nov. 4, 2013.
Hannah replied that if he tried to take the newborn from her, it might be his worst mistake.
“Hanna I’m telling you immediately make a selection and make it now if u do that it’s over and I’ll take Sophie and if I actually have to by force,” Jake replied. “I really like u with all my heart if u love me and Sophie u will make the suitable selection I would like u to live with me and Sophie. That don’t mean we’ve to remain at my house on a regular basis but she’s going to live wear ever (sic) I’m.”
The couple continued bickering via text for the subsequent two years, with Hannah refusing to live together with his family and insisting they get their very own place.
In March 2015, she sent Jake a text that read: “I don’t wish to be with you. You hurt me,” alluding to alleged domestic violence.
The couple ultimately split, and the fight over custody of their daughter intensified. Rhoden refused to sign papers agreeing to share custody with Jake’s brother, George.
“They’ll must kill me first,” she wrote in a message on Facebook in December 2015.
Prosecutors said members of the Wagner clan spent months preparing for the attack on Hannah and her family, including constructing homemade silencers and procuring phone jammers to stop the victims from calling for help.
A lot of the victims were shot in the pinnacle as they slept in trailers and a camper. A few of the deceased were said to have been targeted, while others were killed just because they were there. The attackers spared the lives of two babies and a toddler.
Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last yr to counts of murder and related charges, confessing to killing five of the victims.
As a part of Wagner’s plea deal, he can be spared the death penalty if he testifies against his brother and father.
Angela Wagner also pleaded guilty to participating within the murderous plot and agreed to offer evidence against her husband and son in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence.
George Wagner IV’s defense has argued he was in a roundabout way chargeable for any of the murders and only went together with the plot out of fear his father would kill Jake.
George Wagner III has pleaded not guilty and is anticipated to go to trial after his son.
