My thoughts are LE likely talked to the W's very early on because of the custody dispute. LE was looking at anyone and everyone who may have had a dispute with any of the R's. It's hard to get inside the minds of murderers but I imagine the W's likely came off as very sincere and very helpful. They didn't want LE to figure out the motive for the murders was custody.
I go back to my homicide detective relative and the things that he talked about. I am absolutely positive that anyone who showed their face twice to him to provide information about a murder case would have been viewed with suspicion by him, especially if that person or persons were known to have had a relationship and then a dispute with the victim or victims and that dispute was "won" by murder. It was not a secret to LE there had been a custody dispute and that JW quickly swooped in to get custody of SW after the murders.
Not following up on leads the Wag's wanted to provide, waiting 4-5 months to get back to BW, who apparently wanted to talk to LE badly to give them information? Drug lords! Hmmmmm. Betcha their insides were churning as they waited and waited no one from LE called.
I still question whether there really was a grow op. LM was absolutely blown away when he heard that and his reaction was genuine. He didn't know anything about it. LM still referred to CR Sr. as his son-in-law, even though DR and CR were divorced. LM was on the R properties, likely on a regular basis, and I think if something big was going on, he would have noticed it and his reaction to the news of a grow op would have different than what he expressed.
We're going to have to wait until the trials to find out what kind of games LE played with the W's in order to solve the case and how long it took to collect enough evidence for a successful prosecution, and also to see what kind of games the W's tried to play with LE.
I agree - leads = suspects.
All JMO
LM was asked on video who killed the family and he mentioned road rage and custody. So LE knew from that first week about the custody dispute.
So when Jake and Angela said there was no custody dispute that was probably one of the first lies they told, it directly contradicts family testimony and I expect some family will take the stand at trial about the custody dispute.
The Wagners fit your detective's description of suspicious criminals:
1.) Inserting themselves into an investigation more than once.
2.) They know the victims.
3.) Had a dispute with the victims.
4.) The dispute was "won" by the murders.
Games LE played with them? A very big one, something rarely done, the laser focus announcement. See, without the announcement they would have been able to fly under the radar in AK.
Jake said they came to get away from death threats and so S wouldn't hear it and it was in her best interest etc...But then he said "it followed us here."
Yah it followed them....No accident...DeWine wanted to disrupt their stay in Kenai, not let them fly under the radar. Maybe they wired their Kenai house and wanted to get them talking amongst themselves?
What a mess of publicity DeWine created for them!
They were stalked by photographers and had their photos taken - Walmart, church, yard with toys - and splashed all over -
their activities published including Jake's speeding ticket, Billy's ticket for not having a life jacket in a boat, fishing licence, thrift store shopping, fish fry in their yard, Billy motorcycling alone on country roads, reporters asking questions coming up to the house...
If this wasn't a long game played between the Wagner's and DeWine then I don't know what is. Because of the laser focus announcement every Dick Tom and Harry were calling the Anchorage Police Department and Alaska State Troopers.
"...The news of DeWine's press has filled the airwaves on the Kenai Peninsula and been the topic of some cafe and workplace conversations in the last week...."
Alaska State Troopers have asked that Alaskans with information about the investigation call Ohio investigators at (855) 224-6446, rather than troopers.
The Anchorage Police Department says it is not taking calls about the Ohio homicide investigation. It says the department
has been inundated with 911 calls but that "APD is not involved in the investigation."
Conklin said. "I just struck up a conversation with them saying 'hi welcome to the neighborhood' and just a few hours later, he said he was shocked when he logged into Facebook and saw media reports that his new neighbors were a focus in the ongoing investigation of eight members of the Rhoden family who were all shot to death in Pike County in April 2016.
Conklin said he called Ohio authorities as well as Alaska state troopers to tell them the Wagners had just moved in. To his knowledge, police have not visited the home.
...2 Cents...
