George Wagner IV — along with his mother Angela, father George “Billy” Wagner and brother Edward “Jake” Wagner — is accused of shooting and killing the Rhoden family members “execution-style.” The family’s bodies were found on April 22, 2016. He faces eight charges of aggravated murder, along with other charges associated with tampering with evidence, conspiracy and forgery.
Found dead that day were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 37-year-old Gary Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden, and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden.
Jake Wagner pleaded guilty to the murders in April 2021, accepting a deal from the state. In exchange for his testimony in the trials of any family members who face a jury, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss the possibility of the death penalty for himself, his parents, Angela and Billy, and his brother, George Wagner IV, all of whom face similar charges in connection to the killings. trial is the first time a person has faced a jury for the deaths of the Rhoden family six years ago.
In addition to pleading guilty to all eight counts of aggravated murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment, Jake Wagner admitted guilt to felony conspiracy, aggravated burglary, unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance, tampering with evidence, forgery, unauthorized use of property, interception of wire and oral communications, obstruction of justice, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Hanna May Rhoden, who was 13 when their relationship began.
Jake Wagner and Hanna May Rhoden share a child, Sophia, who was unharmed in the mass murder. Hanna was one of the eight people killed, and prosecutors say their tumultuous relationship and custody issues were the Wagner family’s motivation for killing the Rhodens.
The defense says George Wagner is innocent and simply a suspect because he is part of the Wagner family.
Jake Wagner first took the stand Monday morning — the first time he and his brother have laid eyes on one another since the family’s arrest in 2018.
Early in his testimony, he smiled when he told the jury he loved his brother and would love nothing more than for George to be able to go home.
The prosecution began by questioning him on the different homes owned by the Wagner family; he admitted they’d intentionally burned down their house on Bethel Hill Road for insurance money. After that, the Peterson Road farm the family bought was put into his and George’s names because their insurance history was clean.
He also admitted the family burned a semi truck in 2016 and that he intentionally wrecked George’s truck in order to collect insurance money.
Jake and his brother would also commit other crimes, like poaching deer. Alongside their father, Billy, they also stole fuel, lumber, appliances, tools, fencing and building materials and livestock from businesses in the area. Jake said they chose businesses with insurance so they wouldn’t hurt working-class people nearby.
Like other witnesses before him, Jake told the jury the Wagner family finances were very entangled, with family members holding several bank accounts both alone and with one another. He and George often shared accounts, he said, though he was always able to access other family members’ accounts for purchases if he needed.
The prosecution asked him about how decisions were made among the Wagners and he described the family meetings the jury heard about previously from Jake’s ex-wife Beth Ann and George’s ex-wife Tabitha Claytor. During those meetings, the family discussed chores, farm work and anything else affecting the family; at the end of the meetings, family members voiced their opinions and sometimes took votes to determine what everyone would do.
Jake Wagner described meeting Hanna Rhoden when she was 13 and he was 17 in the 4-H building at the Pike County fair; he said the pair began dating, with her parents’ permission. At the age of 16, Hanna gave birth to Sophia, who was born on Nov. 18, 2013.
“I loved Hanna, and it was not love at first sight.,” Jake Wagner said. “She grew on me. ... She wanted babies.”
“I felt she needed to finish school, get a little older,” he told the courtroom on Friday.
The relationship ended in February of 2015 — a little over one year before the murders — and Jake said that’s when custody concerns began. Jake didn’t believe his daughter would be safe living with the Rhodens.
By the end of 2015, Hanna had begun stalling on signing paperwork that would define their shared custody over Sophia; he said sometimes George was with him as he went to pick up or drop off his daughter.
Meanwhile his mother, Angela, was monitoring conversations Hanna had with George’s e-wife, Tabitha, and Tabitha’s mother on Facebook Messenger, Jake said. That’s how he became aware that Hanna said the Wagners would have to kill her before she would sign custody papers.
Earlier in the trial, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations agent testified that a screenshot of that private conversation was made on an iPad belonging to the Wagners less than a half hour after Hanna sent it.
The message was a catalyst for the Wagner family; Jake said he discussed it with his parents after his mother showed him what Hanna said.
“To be frank, I had decided I felt I had no other choice than to kill Hanna,” he said.
Jake Wagner’s time in Alaska
After the murders, the Wagners moved to Alaska, where Jake Wagner met and married Elizabeth Armer. She moved back with the family to Ohio
Armer took the witness stand last week, describing her time living in the family’s home two years after eight members of the Rhoden family were murdered in Pike County.
Armer said she grew up in a Mennonite community in Tennessee before moving to Alaska. She met Jake through a church they attended; the first time she saw Jake, she said he was with Angela and his daughter Sophia and she thought they were a couple with their child. Later, she said she caught Jake noticing her and not long after that he contacted her on Facebook to ask her out.
Armer said she didn’t know anything about what the Wagners had left behind in Ohio, until the church’s pastor addressed it to the congregation. The pastor told everyone he’d known the Wagner family in Ohio and that the family was bothered by news stories circulating about them, so they’d moved to Alaska to get away. Armer said the pastor told the church to ignore the attention the family was getting in the news and welcome them into the community.
Jake told her his ex-girlfriend in Ohio was murdered and that people thought he did it because he’d dated her and that, after being “hounded” by the media, the family moved.
Before the pair were married, Armer said she’d only met the rest of his family once or twice; Jake told her he wasn’t on good terms with them, but that they’d fallen on hard times so he was renting space to them in his home.
Nine months after the two met, Jake proposed, she said. The plan was to remain engaged for two years while they got more comfortable with one another — Armer explained that in the community she grew up in, it was not unusual to meet someone in church, and date for under one year before becoming engaged.
WCPO is a content partner of Cox First Media.
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