Jake Wagner, one of the defendants in the 2016 mass murder of an Ohio family, is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday afternoon. Today marks five years since the shocking murders.
The April 22, 2016 murders of the Rhoden family were, in no uncertain terms, an execution. Eight victims were found dead in three trailers and a camper. They were identified as 38-year-old Dana Manley Rhoden, 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden, and 38-year-old Gary Rhoden. Clarence’s 20-year-old fiancée Hannah “Hazel” Gilley was also killed.
Autopsy results reportedly showed that all but one of them were shot multiple times in the head.
It took over two years for authorities to say they had suspects: George Wagner III, wife Angela Wagner, and their sons George Wagner IV and Jake Wagner.
The suspects – a husband, wife, and their two adult sons – are now charged with killing eight people: seven members of the #RhodenFamily and the fiancée of one of the victims. We will release more information later today. #PikeCounty pic.twitter.com/IKf6luYSXQ
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) November 13, 2018
Jake Wagner, the father of Hannah Rhoden’s daughter, was arrested for murder with his parents. George Wagner III’s mother Fredericka Wagner and Angela Wagner’s mother Rita Newcomb were also charged with allegedly participating in a cover up.
It was revealed in a WLWT report Hannah Rhoden and Jake Wagner broke up months before the murders. Mere days after the killings, Wagner filed for custody of the daughter. He formally obtained this on the following June 16.
Newcomb pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of obstruction in December 2019, saying she could not lie anymore. In June 2019, prosecutors dropped charges against Fredericka Wagner, who insisted on her innocence.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
[Image via Law&Crime Network]
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