OH - Pike County: 8 People From One Family Dead As Police Hunt For Killer(s) #36 *Arrests*

[JusMeJim]

JMO but I heard or saw nothing today to prove guilt or innocence, I still have to wait for evidence. I do feel extremely sorry for families of Rhodens, Gilley, and Manleys. I can’t imagine their pain.

Of course you didn't. Today was just the reading of the charges and his plea. There was no evidence given by either side.

 

[rsd1200]

OSO T, At this level....no chance a CI could be the " reliable resource"... AC (the prosecutor kind of let that part slip out, IMO!!) I would imagine threats against LE and elected officials is a higher priority every where in the United States. What judge would not authorize a wire tap and/or other listening/monitoring on individuals who are already suspected of mass slaughter of 8 innocent people.

I wonder if the suspected taps were put in place, on, or about, the time, that JM found the GPS on his vehicle? Iirc, after JM spoke to the GJ, LM pretty much went silent. I think the families highly suspected after that. I also believe that JM did receive an early text from JW, but, like my friend, whose signal is very sketchy, JM didn't receive it til after midnight. Maybe when he walked to a signal point, to make a call of his own. It looked "off" to LE.

 

[Normrock]

It's probably much more sophisticated today, but the rules are still pretty much the same w/ regard to search warrants and probable cause. Considering they had placed GPS devices on James Manley and Jake Wagner's respective vehicles, they were probably also placing listening devices. Interesting, though, that they may have placed one at Flying W Farms. At this point, I'm not absolutely sure they did get evidence from a listening device as opposed to a CI. I'm going to listen again to the prosecutor's argument. She said GWIV was heard being one of the strongest in arguing to go after LE. That could have also been info relayed by a CI. I'm just not sure.

Oh I know more sophisticated but passives ones have to have a radio signal or laser signal to turn on. Since Ws had bug detectors.
Edward Snowden said the NSA can 'turn on' your cell phone remotely. Here's how

If you don't like Snowden go down to Navy Seals talking how this done.

Then there is the " stingray" which I personally disagree with on two principals. First the company that makes it controls the government use of it (1.cases dropped when defense attorneys subpoenas it.2. It scoops up everyone's calls etc not just perps in area.)
Stingray Tracking Devices: Who's Got Them?

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Interesting that prosecution said GWIV was the most vocal about killing them. He was really passionate about these killings. What dog did he have in the fight? Can't help but wonder why some family members were so willing to murder 8 innocent people and plot to kill LE when they weren't directly connected to the victims.

Wonder if he is thinking about the fact that not only will his brother not have custody of SW but he has now lost custody of his son and will not be seeing him until the son is at least 18? That's a lot to give up for a brother and just to get revenge on a brothers girlfriend.

In my opinion GW4 gave up much more that JW or parents did in order to participate in these murders. Like you said he doesn't seem to have a dog in the fight so what was the driving force behind his participation?

JMO

 

[Betty P]

Short video of GW IV going to his arraignment. Still not finding video of the full arraignment hearing.

Starting around 1:26, you hear the prosecutor talking about the recording from a confidential information source of GW IV's remarks.

ETA: Correction: She doesn't mention a recording, only information from confidential reliable source. Difficult to hear.

 

[KentuckyMama]

Short video of GW IV going to his arraignment. Still not finding video of the full arraignment hearing.

Starting around 1:26, you hear the prosecutor talking about the recording from a confidential information source of GW IV's remarks.

ETA: Correction: She doesn't mention a recording, only information from confidential reliable source. Difficult to hear.

That man has his daddy's angry face!

 

[IQuestion]

Short video of GW IV going to his arraignment. Still not finding video of the full arraignment hearing.

Starting around 1:26, you hear the prosecutor talking about the recording from a confidential information source of GW IV's remarks.

ETA: Correction: She doesn't mention a recording, only information from confidential reliable source. Difficult to hear.

YES THIS, BP.... if the info was from a "confidential informant" ie a human being...
1. ...who could be cross examined?
2... who could be impeached/found guilty of perjury, misleading info?
3... be found to have a grudge against the defendants?
4... found to have a "shady criminal past"?
5... would also have to be a person WITH FRICKIN' ONE INCREDIBLE MEMORY!!
6... A CI could die (advanced age) or get in accident (head injury before court) etc..
....I've got at least 10 other reasons, too...
THERE MUST BE WIRETAPS AND RECORDING DEVICES...too much is at stake/steak! (couldn't help myself)
And who cut the volume when AC got up to speak??? grrrrr... off to google world

 

[Betty P]

YES THIS, BP.... if the info was from a "confidential informant" ie a human being...
1. ...who could be cross examined?
2... who could be impeached/found guilty of perjury, misleading info?
3... be found to have a grudge against the defendants?
4... found to have a "shady criminal past"?
5... would also have to be a person WITH FRICKIN' ONE INCREDIBLE MEMORY!!
6... A CI could die (advanced age) or get in accident (head injury before court) etc..
....I've got at least 10 other reasons, too...
THERE MUST BE WIRETAPS AND RECORDING DEVICES...too much is at stake/steak! (couldn't help myself)
And who cut the volume when AC got up to speak??? grrrrr... off to goole world

To be fair to the video crew, the courtroom has terrible acoustics. High ceiling, lots of echo. I've switched to listening to these hearings on an external bluetooth speaker so I can turn the volume up higher.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Do not let Jake's baby face and frail appearance fool you. This was Jake's show all the way. This was Jake's ex girlfriend. Jake's ex in-laws. Jake's daughter.

Jake is the baby of that family, smaller and weaker than his brother and father. So you can bet that it was pounded into GW4's head from a young age that he had to protect his baby brother. Mom and Dad too. Even grandparents as evidenced by FW's "Jake had nothing to do with this."

But in reality "baby" Jake is a controlling, manipulative abuser. His own statements bear this out. "Hannah left because I worked too much." shows that even after her death Jake was trying to manipulate the judge and court system. All Hannah's fault even after her death. In reality we have seen no evidence that Jake is a workaholic. In fact we have seen no evidence that Jake works much at all.

Then there is that "I won't try to take her." and "I will want mandatory visitation rights." No, Jake has spent a lifetime manipulating family and friends. A lifetime of getting what he wants because he is the "baby".

IMO Jake found it very easy to manipulate his parents and brother into this crime. By stressing how much HR hurt him when she left. How he was going to have to pay child support and maybe go to jail if he didn't. How "mean" HR was maybe going to marry someone else and he wouldn't get to see SW at all. How she betrayed him by having another man's child. How her big mean dad and brother was not going to let him intimidate her into coming back or signing away her rights to a child he was using to hurt her. How her big mean dad might even beat the daylights out of him if he continued to harass her. How she might have him thrown in jail for molesting her when she was just 13.

And all that "We have to protect Jake, he's the baby. We can't let him go to jail. We can't let those R's beat him up or take his daughter from him." was so easy for him. It was a piece of cake for him to fire them all up into a frenzy of killing.

Make no mistake. Baby Jake was the puppet master in all this, manipulating his family into revenge against the woman who dared walk away from him.

JMO

 

[Normrock]

delete please redundant

 

[Betty P]

From the Dayton Daily News

Pike County murders: George Wagner IV ‘most vocal’ about DeWine revenge, prosecutors say

George Wagner IV — the uncle of the little girl shared by his brother Jake and one of the eight victims his immediate family is accused of killing — was the most vocal proponent of the Wagners exacting revenge on Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine if any of them were arrested in the 2016 murder case, prosecutors said.

 

[Betty P]

Do not let Jake's baby face and frail appearance fool you. This was Jake's show all the way. This was Jake's ex girlfriend. Jake's ex in-laws. Jake's daughter.

Jake is the baby of that family, smaller and weaker than his brother and father. So you can bet that it was pounded into GW4's head from a young age that he had to protect his baby brother. Mom and Dad too. Even grandparents as evidenced by FW's "Jake had nothing to do with this."

But in reality "baby" Jake is a controlling, manipulative abuser. His own statements bear this out. "Hannah left because I worked too much." shows that even after her death Jake was trying to manipulate the judge and court system. All Hannah's fault even after her death. In reality we have seen no evidence that Jake is a workaholic. In fact we have seen no evidence that Jake works much at all.

Then there is that "I won't try to take her." and "I will want mandatory visitation rights." No, Jake has spent a lifetime manipulating family and friends. A lifetime of getting what he wants because he is the "baby".

IMO Jake found it very easy to manipulate his parents and brother into this crime. By stressing how much HR hurt him when she left. How he was going to have to pay child support and maybe go to jail if he didn't. How "mean" HR was maybe going to marry someone else and he wouldn't get to see SW at all. How she betrayed him by having another man's child. How her big mean dad and brother was not going to let him intimidate her into coming back or signing away her rights to a child he was using to hurt her. How her big mean dad might even beat the daylights out of him if he continued to harass her. How she might have him thrown in jail for molesting her when she was just 13.

And all that "We have to protect Jake, he's the baby. We can't let him go to jail. We can't let those R's beat him up or take his daughter from him." was so easy for him. It was a piece of cake for him to fire them all up into a frenzy of killing.

Make no mistake. Baby Jake was the puppet master in all this, manipulating his family into revenge against the woman who dared walk away from him.

JMO

Good analysis, Raisin. You're right, he was probably the one who always got his way. His complaints about HMR and S probably resonated strongest with his mother, AW, but also with the others. One can't help but guess that GWIV is wondering how he let himself get into this mess. Or maybe he still feels justified in such a radical attack against the Rhoden family.

 

[Betty P]

Also from the Dayton Daily News article linked above:

Across the aisle sat Wagner IV’s aunt Robin Wagner, who has previously declined comment to the media. Before the arraignment, she sat beside her mother Fredericka’s attorney, who relayed a message to one of Wagner IV’s attorneys: “She just wants you to pass on to George that she loves him.”

 

[Betty P]

Interesting article from 2012 about GW IV's defense attorney, Richard M. Nash, Jr.

Judge alters routine to toss out drug case against lawyer

Nash is the bearded attorney who sat next to W IV at the hearing today.

Attorney Profile

ETA:

Another article from the Pike Co News Watchman about GW IV's hearing today

George Wagner IV pleads not guilty to murder charges, held without bond

The reporter also makes note of the prosecutor's statement that GW IV was the "most vocal" in conversations when the threats were made against DeWine, Reader, et al.

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Good analysis, Raisin. You're right, he was probably the one who always got his way. His complaints about HMR and S probably resonated strongest with his mother, AW, but also with the others. One can't help but guess that GWIV is wondering how he let himself get into this mess. Or maybe he still feels justified in such a radical attack against the Rhoden family.

You can bet that his justification in protecting his "baby" brother against those "big bad Rhodens" is fading with every day he spends in jail realizing he has lost his own son along with his freedom. But IMO he won't be the one who breaks. No it will be manipulative, narcissistic, controlling Jake who will sell his family down the river to get out of the death penalty. Because after all he is the "baby" who should be protected at all costs and who should always get his own way.

JMO

 

[taximama24]

From the linked DDN article:

"But the state’s special prosecutor successfully objected, citing a confidential informant who disclosed to investigators that Wagner IV and his family discussed revenge multiple times, as well as discussing how the incarcerated family member would have escaped from jail."

"Before the arraignment, she sat beside her mother Fredericka’s attorney, who relayed a message to one of Wagner IV’s attorneys: 'She just wants you to pass on to George that she loves him.' "

Anyone else read that and then look for some code or underlying message from FW to GW3?! Hahaha. I hope there was no "exchange" of a note via handshake or something dropped and picked up! Maybe I'm going too far into hollywood with it but my ears perked a little at that! Also...why was there no message to JW from her attorney? That, coupled with no request for bond for JW either, definitely makes you wonder if he is either the ring leader or the mole!

 

[Betty P]

Found full length video of GW IV's hearing today

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=268347663867382

 

[Betty P]

From the linked DDN article:

"But the state’s special prosecutor successfully objected, citing a confidential informant who disclosed to investigators that Wagner IV and his family discussed revenge multiple times, as well as discussing how the incarcerated family member would have escaped from jail."

"Before the arraignment, she sat beside her mother Fredericka’s attorney, who relayed a message to one of Wagner IV’s attorneys: 'She just wants you to pass on to George that she loves him.' "

Anyone else read that and then look for some code or underlying message from FW to GW3?! Hahaha. I hope there was no "exchange" of a note via handshake or something dropped and picked up! Maybe I'm going too far into hollywood with it but my ears perked a little at that! Also...why was there no message to JW from her attorney? That, coupled with no request for bond for JW either, definitely makes you wonder if he is either the ring leader or the mole!

From Twitter photos, etc. it appears there's a lot of communication going on among the family members of the defendants and with their attorneys.

 

[Betty P]

Wednesday, Nov. 28th:
*Arraignment Hearing (@ 10am ET) - OH - Pike County 8 people dead: Christopher Rhoden, Sr. (40), his ex-wife, Dana Manley Rhoden (37), their three children, Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden (20), Christopher Jr. (16), Hanna Mae (19); Frankie's fiancée, Hannah Hazel Gilley (20), Christopher Rhoden Sr.'s brother, Kenneth Rhoden (44), & a cousin, Gary Rhoden (38). Hanna Rhoden's baby girl (5 days old), another baby (6 mos) and a young child (3) were unharmed. (April 21-22, 2016, Pebbles) – in four county jails -- Pickaway, Franklin, Ross, and Delaware counties.
*Edward Jacob "Jake" Wagner (26) (former boyfriend of Hanna) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18), charged (11/15/18) & arraigned (11/27/18) with 8 counts aggravated murder, (plus gun specifications on each), 1 count conspiracy, 4 counts aggravated burglary, 1 count unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 3 counts evidence tampering, 1 count forgery, 1 count unauthorized use of property, 1 count interception of wire, oral or electronic communication, 1 count obstructing justice, 1 count engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity & unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. (He’s accused of engaging in sexual contact with Hanna Rhoden when she was 15 & he was 20). Plead not guilty. No bond. Franklin County
Had Arraignment hearing on 11/27.
11/27/18 Update: Plead not guilty to all 23 charges. No bond per Judge. Defense asks to waive Speedy trial, granted by Judge. Next pretrial hearings on 12/20 & 1/24/19.
Only for *George Washington "Billy" Wagner III (47), (Jakes’ father) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18), charged (11/15/18) & arraigned (11/28/18) with 8 counts aggravated murder, (plus gun specifications on each), 1 count conspiracy, 4 counts aggravated burglary, 1 count unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 3 counts evidence tampering, 1 count forgery, 1 count unauthorized use of property, 1 count interception of wire, oral or electronic communication, 1 count obstructing justice, 1 count engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Was arrested in Lexington, Ky., remains in the Lexington Fayette County Jail as a “fugitive from another state” according to jail records. An extradition hearing will be scheduled for him.
Has Arraignment hearing on 11/28.
*Angela Jo Wagner (48) (Jakes’ mother) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18) & charged (11/15/18) with 8 counts aggravated murder, (plus gun specifications on each), 1 count conspiracy, 4 counts
aggravated burglary, 1 count unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 3 counts evidence tampering, 1 count forgery, 1 count unauthorized use of property, 1 count interception of wire, oral or electronic communication, 1 count obstructing justice, 1 count engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Delaware County
Has Arraignment hearing on 11/29.
*George Washington Wagner IV (27) (Jakes’ bro) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18) & charged (11/15/18) with 8 counts aggravated murder, (plus gun specifications on each), 1 count conspiracy, 4 counts aggravated burglary, 1 count unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 3 counts evidence tampering, 1 count forgery, 1 count unauthorized use of property, 1 count interception of wire, oral or electronic communication, 1 count obstructing justice, 1 count engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Ross County
Has Arraignment hearing on 12/4.
*Fredericka Carol Wagner (76) (Paternal grandmother) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18), charged & arraigned (11/15/18) with 1 count of perjury & 1 count of obstruction of justice. Plead not guilty. $100K Surety bond.
Had Arraignment hearing on 11/15/18: Wagner was released from the Pike County Jail Thursday (11/15/18) night on a $100,000 surety bond. To be fingerprinted at Pike Co Sheriff's office. To have no contact with any members of victims' family. Will be under electronically monitored house arrest. Should not leave her premises except for consulting with her lawyer, medical appointments, however she must document in advance any reason to leave which must be approved. Must notify pre-trial services officer when she leaves. May leave for court hearing. Not to use alcohol or controlled substances, she may take prescriptions prescribed by licensed physician.
*Rita Jo Newcomb (65) (Maternal grandmother) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18), charged & arraigned (11/15/18) with 3 counts forgery, 1 count obstructing justice & 1 count perjury. Plead not guilty. $50K Surety bond.
DA alleges Newcomb lied to the Grand Jury & forged custody papers before the murders. To place her under electronic monitor/house arrest. RN gives her mother's address. Court sets monetary bond at $50,000, will permit cash surety or 10% deposit. Will be under electronically monitored house arrest at her mother’s in South Webster, Ohio. To be put into Pre-Trial Services program. Can leave for medical emergencies, lawyer appointments, medical appointments. Must clear everything with Pre-Trial Services officer. Must keep Pre-Trial Services officer advised of her current address. With exception of medications prescribed by licensed physician for her, not to consume alcohol or controlled substances.
Had Arraignment hearing on 11/15/18. 11/20/18: Posted bond, released from jail.

A belated "thanks" to you, Niner, for such an excellent case summary today. If it's ok, I'd like to copy this over to our Media & Timelines thread.

Looks like we'll be watching Angela Wagner's arraignment tomorrow afternoon.

 

[IQuestion]

That man has his daddy's angry face!

TOS,TOS!!...And thankfully not the same barber... (you were not TOS KYMAMA, I was) But I was also looking for tattoos? Any significant ones?