OH Pike County: 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested#37

[kaaky]

I noticed that, too. I watched the video now available and all that fiddling about in his chair done by BW3 seems to take place when the "charges repetitions" are addressing Frankie and Hannah G's murders. However, I watched BW3 closely and he doesn't seem to be listening to or being affected by a word the judge is saying at that point. His attorney seems to be explaining something to him. Other people might see it differently and I'd be interested if they do.
One problem is that the camera person is filming those in the benches when whatever is happening for BW3 begins. We don't see him from the beginning of whatever seems to be bothering him, imo.
(And he may not be bothered because he seems to have a sort of naturally grumpy face so it's hard to gauge what he might be feeling.)

I have a hearing issues, and I noticed that BW3 had his lawyers to repeat things to him several times. I wonder if he does have a hearing issue and that is the reason he seems to not pay attention more.......

 

[IQuestion]

How do I send my post for a mod to review first? Or do I just "report myself" and wait?

 

[abeaman02]

Pretty sure they're all appointed by the court in the Death Penalty cases.

Pike County massacre: George Wagner IV pleads not guilty to 22 counts

Pike County massacre: Edward 'Jake' Wagner pleads not guilty to 23 counts

etc

Do you have a link that states Billy Wagner's attorney is not appointed by the court? TIA

I am trying to find a link that states his attorney is not appointed by the court. At the beginning of Billys arraignment I didn't hear the judge say anything about the attorney being court appointed.

If you listen at right about the 16 minute mark at this link from the NBC4 arraignment. The judge states that BW's attorneys are court appointed.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=369679323608267

Sorry RSD saw you already posted this

 

[IceIce9]

This is a pretty good news article about this case and local people affected.
Investigators, surviving Rhodens spent two years going through Hell. They'll have to keep going.

"It's never enough to know who did it," DeWine said Tuesday. "You can know who did it and you can't prove it."

I think they knew early on who was responsible for the murders. It just took 2 1/2 years to gather the evidence to make a strong, hopefully airtight case.

 

[Johnny B Bad]

George Wagner is accused of killing a family of 8 living on a pot farm in Pike County OH. While first thought to be drug related the killings now could be the result of a custody battle. 3 other members of the Wagner family have been arrested as well. So many twists and turns and Websleuths members are on top of every single thing that happens in the shocking case.

The gruesome slayings have rattled this southeast corner of Appalachian Ohio, a region that culturally identifies more closely with neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia than the state’s northern cities.

[...]

Adding to the shock was the discovery of hundreds of illegal marijuana plants on Rhoden’s property, highlighting the region’s dependency on the illegal drug trade as jobs in agriculture and timber have dried up.

Audio 911 Calls

PRESSER: APRIL 27, 2016

Video Interview with Attorney General DeWine Published 8-13-16

Minors: You may discuss what is covered in the main stream media regarding the custody of minor children. If posting snips from articles regarding the children please redact their names. These babes are innocents. One day they will google their names or those of their parents. And plenty will come up. Let's be respectful of them and the catastrophic loss they have suffered at such tender ages. Thanks.

DO NOT SLEUTH STILL LIVING FAMILY MEMBERS' FACEBOOK PAGES AND POST ABOUT IT HERE. Just don't mention it. Period.

Leave the politics, both national and local, at the door. There is no room for them here.

Rules Etiquette & Information

CASE NOTES (courtesy of cujenn81) this link contains locations, distance, victim info, relationships and more.

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CASE MAP (courtesy of K.L.Puyallup)
Preliminary Autopsy Reports
Final Autopsy Reports source article

Thread #33
Thread #34
Thread #35

This killing has been way to long coming to justice, there was four children under the age of twenty years old that where brutally murder in their bed, the cowards that commitment the act should be put to death, people with money can get by with a lot of crimes in their community but now is the time for Piketon to pull together and send the word and tell all that enough is enough, remember the little children that were left without a mom or dad!

 

[IQuestion]

Thanks, RSD, I was just searching You Tube for the full video from today. You just saved me some work.

Yes, thank you for posting. We all get see things in the videos...for me, it was at the very beginning when BGIII walks into the court room and his sister scoots along on the bench several times trying to make eye contact with him and he noticeably makes an effort NOT to look in her direction. Perhaps he does has some embarrassment/ shame and knows it would be difficult to make eye contact with her? Sometimes people are strong, until they see a person who knows them well. A person who has grown up with you and can't believe you could be responsible for multiple acts of violence. (It is in the first 47 seconds of the hearing.)

 

[pepper 34]

This killing has been way to long coming to justice, there was four children under the age of twenty years old that where brutally murder in their bed, the cowards that commitment the act should be put to death, people with money can get by with a lot of crimes in their community but now is the time for Piketon to pull together and send the word and tell all that enough is enough, remember the little children that were left without a mom or dad!

If they rush an arrest and trial, though; they never get another chance to arrest and try again. The prosecution has to wait for all results to come back from the labs and be totally prepared, in every way, to get it right and get convictions the first and only time around. I feel just horrible for all the young lives ended and those lives that have been changed forever. I can't even imagine what it's been like to live in Piketon or surrounding areas over the last 2.5 years. I do hope everyone can pull together though and not let everything that happened and is still going on tear people apart. There are an awful lot of issues to come to peace with and getting justice for those killed is one of the most important things of all.
They will finally have their day in court, though it's still quite a ways into the future.
Jmo.

 

[Johnny B Bad]

The motive for the annialation of the Rhoden’s is so simple yet so emotionally complex.

A child

Money

Drugs

A real or manufactured family dynasty blended with possible pipedreams of horses and other exotic animals. It’s ripe for a true crime movie.

Toss in a handsome good ole boy Sheriff, some State of Ohio politics, Appalachian morals, hillbilly justice and there you have it.

Except the Waggies lived and breathed the life where they thought themselves superior and above the law.

I have the overwhelming feeling that there are some Waggie advocates posting on all social media.

Sad to think out loud that I strongly believe it’s not going to be a very effective effort.

I think DEWine and Reader conducted a very careful and extremely competent investigation. They assembled a team who amassed an overwhelming amount of evidence.

They got em.

They got em good.

And may God have mercy in the souls who coldly pulled the triggers more than 30 times.

They had the time and resources to do what they needed done legally. Instead they opted to kill 8 people. None of the 8 may have had an impact on the future of the world, but each had the right to live lives as best they could have chosen.

8 bodies are buried in graves because of the barbaric choices of others. As humans we can’t allow that kind of justice. Decisions regarding who lives or dies must be left to our justice system. It’s not perfect but it’s the best in the world. And the killers had no right whatsoever to circumvent a system our forefathers carefully wrote into the Constitution, the US Bill of Rights, and the Laws of the State of Ohio. It is unadulterated arrogance to think they could violate law millions of the rest of us honor and follow.

I think that pipe dream was to Live Below Zero. The only thing stopping their dream to live in the Alaskan wilderness, killing their own food, building their own cabins, surrounded by their sons and grandchildren was HR. She refused to go back to JW and move to AK. Then she refused to sign over her daughter so she could move to AK with them. So they killed her and her entire family. To avenge JW. To pay her back for the hurt she caused him. To pay her family back for defending her. But most of all to get the last obstacle out of the way of their big dream of living the AK life.

JMO

"It's never enough to know who did it," DeWine said Tuesday. "You can know who did it and you can't prove it."

I think they knew early on who was responsible for the murders. It just took 2 1/2 years to gather the evidence to make a strong, hopefully airtight case.

Can anyone tell me why they came back from Alaska, did they think that the law didn t have any evidence.

 

[pepper 34]

Yes, thank you for posting. We all get see things in the videos...for me, it was at the very beginning when BGIII walks into the court room and his sister scoots along on the bench several times trying to make eye contact with him and he noticeably makes an effort NOT to look in her direction. Perhaps he does has some embarrassment/ shame and knows it would be difficult to make eye contact with her? Sometimes people are strong, until they see a person who knows them well. A person who has grown up with you and can't believe you could be responsible for multiple acts of violence. (It is in the first 47 seconds of the hearing.)

Seems very desperate on her part... awkward and obviously doesn't care who sees her behaving that way. A lot of emotion going on there...

 

[abeaman02]

Yes, thank you for posting. We all get see things in the videos...for me, it was at the very beginning when BGIII walks into the court room and his sister scoots along on the bench several times trying to make eye contact with him and he noticeably makes an effort NOT to look in her direction. Perhaps he does has some embarrassment/ shame and knows it would be difficult to make eye contact with her? Sometimes people are strong, until they see a person who knows them well. A person who has grown up with you and can't believe you could be responsible for multiple acts of violence. (It is in the first 47 seconds of the hearing.)

I did not notice that before it is very interesting, she obviously wants him to see her. It is like he holds some kind of power over her

 

[rigsby2]

Thank you, Tricia and Welcome to Larry!

Probably our first questions have to do with the indictments against the Wagner family, primarily those relating to murder and conspiracy charges. Is Larry ok with answering those things?

There's a link upthread to the indictments, and I'll pull it down here.

Again, thank you Tricia and Larry!

ETA: Link to indictments for Edward, Angela, George IV and George III Wagner

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov...ka0QgUz0HzUS2PY7DFUGDYyi55GBj310N2yYgIOpFFWzU

All 4 Wagners are charged with murdering each of the 8 members of the Rhoden family. We're not sure this was physically possible and are wondering if the murder charges apply, even if the perp was not a shooter. What kind of impact will this have on the trials?

Hi BettyP, I think Larry won't notice your question unless you " @ " him . See Tricia's post:

"Please feel free to ask Larry questions as they pertain to the Rhoden murders on this thread. Please keep your questions on this thread to the Rhoden family murders. Remember to tag him @Larry Levine"

 

[pepper 34]

I did not notice that before it is very interesting, she obviously wants him to see her. It is like he holds some kind of power over her

I wonder if, since he was arrested while in her company, if she is trying to catch his eye and let him know she had nothing to do with anything leading up to his arrest?
She just looks sort of desperate trying to catch his eye in court. I think she's trying to "tell" him something.

 

[Betty P]

I did not notice that before it is very interesting, she obviously wants him to see her. It is like he holds some kind of power over her

She's been there for all the arraignments and always tries to make eye contact with each of the Wagner defendants. Maybe she's trying to keep some family unity going, trying to encourage everyone to support each other. Who knows? IDK, it's hard to guess these things.

 

[Betty P]

Hi BettyP, I think Larry won't notice your question unless you " @ " him . See Tricia's post:

"Please feel free to ask Larry questions as they pertain to the Rhoden murders on this thread. Please keep your questions on this thread to the Rhoden family murders. Remember to tag him @Larry Levine"

Ok, thanks. I'm kind of busy and will be busy most of the day tomorrow, so encourage others to ask any questions you have. I don't think he can answer my question unless he's an attorney.

I'll try again tomorrow to see if I can get some help from one of our WS attorneys.
@Larry Levine

 

[Jennifer17]

Ok, thanks. I'm kind of busy and will be busy most of the day tomorrow, so encourage others to ask any questions you have. I don't think he can answer my question unless he's an attorney.

I'll try again tomorrow to see if I can get some help from one of our WS attorneys.
@Larry Levine

I think it would be better to ask an attorney. @riolove77 may help.

 

[Betty P]

I think it would be better to ask an attorney. @riolove77 may help.

I'm not familiar with that member, can you contact them? Otherwise, I might just contact some attorney friends of mine, IRL. I'm acquainted with a couple former prosecutors and 1 or 2 judges ( not in southern Ohio)

ETA: All the attorneys seem to be working over in the Shanann Watts thread, including the one you suggested. I thought that case was over. The husband pleaded guilty already, right?

No problem, I'll contact my friends.

 

[IQuestion]

I noticed the brunette. Is she a reporter? Attorney? Maybe the Wags have a reporter working with them on special assignment to tell their "inside story" as they go through the trial?

The way the young lady is dressed, I would presume she works in a law office and was asked to sit with/near RW so she would not be sitting alone? Sometimes it helps (I think) to have someone with you for emotional support. (I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt it.)

 

[rsd1200]

Seems very desperate on her part... awkward and obviously doesn't care who sees her behaving that way. A lot of emotion going on there...

If that were my family, I'd be trying to make eye contact too. The eyes have it.

 

[IQuestion]

Seems very desperate on her part... awkward and obviously doesn't care who sees her behaving that way. A lot of emotion going on there...

Thank you PEPPER (bbm) Excellent adjectives for what I was seeing, but unable to describe. I remember being in court before and hearing the bailiffs make an announcement to observers, along the lines of "Don't wave your hands or otherwise make unnecessary gestures (or scoot your khaki's 3 feet on a bench?) in an attempt to get the attention of the defendant." No doubt, lots of "unbridled" emotions going on. ps. @Larry Levine Are the defendants allowed to visit with family members and receive mail from family members once they are jailed and awaiting trial?

 

[IQuestion]

@Larry Levine At this point, do defendants want words of encouragement: I know you are innocent, honey? We are going to fight this to the end? Etc. Express feelings of helplessness, false hope or what? Would a defendant want their family members in the courtroom when the gruesome details of the crime scene are presented along with photos? Is there some kind of code (unwritten) regarding giving information that might also implicate a family member? ie, "Every man for himself or oldest guy takes the fall?" and Do you believe in the death penalty in the case of heinous crimes? Thank you in advance, IQuestion.