OH Pike County: 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue, 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested#49

[rescuemom]

Google Image Result for https://d31029zd06w0t6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2019/03/web1_a-wagner-2.jpg

what's so funny, Angie???

 

[Antimony]

The fire marshal's office was called in? Why? Perhaps there was some sort of evidence that the fire marshal would have special knowledge or skills to analyze. I have always wondered why fire was not used to cover the evidence. Maybe they tried and failed. I am thinking a timed fuse igniter system that didn't work. At least at CRSR trailer and Kenny's. Guinea's make a ruckus at almost anything. It could be that all thought that the ruckus would scare off coyote's and such and so ignored it. Trial's are closer. We shall soon have answers. I think the cop's had a good idea by noon of the culprits identity. Leonard told them.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

Yes, the open windows and locked doors are going to be a mystery for a while longer, at least until the trials. I don't recall JM saying whether Dana's door was locked. KR's wasn't, it locked from the outside.

It reminds us again of the depth of planning that went into every murder & crime scene. Almost like someone was there with a check list for each location, reminding everyone what to do, covering all the details of the plan. A plan they helped devise, whose details they worked out in advance. "Do we leave the dogs inside or out?" "Do we lock the doors where the kids will be left alive?"

As for using ammonia or something similar at the crime scenes to destroy any DNA, wouldn't someone have mentioned by now the powerful odor at the crime scenes or did LE instruct everyone to not mention it? I'd think you could smell that a ways down the road, IDK.

I agree that the scent of ammonia or another substance most likely would’ve been mentioned in interviews somewhere along the way over the last three years, if it had been poured over the crime scenes/victims . The only scent I ever recall reading about was written by Hazlitt (sp?) and it was in that article that the scent of wet penny’s was mentioned by BJM. Better known as the smell of the iron in blood. Using a substance such as ammonia also seems like it would take more time and leave more evidence, unless the defendants carried empty cases of ammonia bottles out of the homes when they left. 8 victims and 4 houses would require quite a bit of a liquid chemical deterrent. JMO.

Death in the Foothills mentions that Kenneth’s home was the only home unlocked. I always understood that to mean Dana’s door was locked, just like CR1’s and FR’s.

Kenneth was the only victim shot once. He was shot in the eye. He, too, was found in his bed. His home was the only left unlocked.

Pike County: Death in the foothills

 

[Dudly]

Yes, the open windows and locked doors are going to be a mystery for a while longer, at least until the trials. I don't recall JM saying whether Dana's door was locked. KR's wasn't, it locked from the outside.

It reminds us again of the depth of planning that went into every murder & crime scene. Almost like someone was there with a check list for each location, reminding everyone what to do, covering all the details of the plan. A plan they helped devise, whose details they worked out in advance. "Do we leave the dogs inside or out?" "Do we lock the doors where the kids will be left alive?"

As for using ammonia or something similar at the crime scenes to destroy any DNA, wouldn't someone have mentioned by now the powerful odor at the crime scenes or did LE instruct everyone to not mention it? I'd think you could smell that a ways down the road, IDK.

BBM
Maybe there was a list on their cell phones that was erased but found by BCI.

 

[Dudly]

what's so funny, Angie???

I believe she thought there was no way the charges would stick because she knew all the effort made to mess with evidence, etc.
She thought they were wasting their time...

 

[Johnny B Bad]

I believe she thought there was no way the charges would stick because she knew all the effort made to mess with evidence, etc.
She thought they were wasting their time...

That photo is at Angela’s last pre-trial and if you watch it on YouTube you can see her attorney smiling while he is telling her something and she smiles all the way back to the wooden door in the courtroom, it looks like he is saying that the prosecution doesn’t have anything on her, JMO

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Could it be because the child has stated what sex the intruders were?

Or what disguises they were wearing. There was one child who testified that the murder was dressed like some super hero character. Can't remember the case specifically but I think it turned out his dad was the killer.

JMO

 

[Betty P]

I keep wondering how much time the suspects had to sneak in, kill and clean up each crime scene. Here's a rough estimate (MOO) of the murder timelines, based on the preliminary autopsy info and what we know about the activities of family that night.

Considering it was alleged that DR sent a text message before going to bed and LE allegedly claimed to James Manley that Jake Wagner sent him a text message at 2 am, here's a possible timeline. All times approximate. This is all guesswork, MOO. We don't know what final A/Rs say about TOD or the sequence of the murders.

11:30 pm - Dana Rhoden arrives home from work
1:00 am - Dana sends a text to her SIL April Manley
2:00 am - LE alleges JW sent text to JM
Around 2:00 am - Attack on CR
3:00 am or later - Suspects wait, then kill GR (CR had more advanced state of decomp acc to preliminary AR)
3:30 am - Kill FR & HG
4:00 am - Kill DR and kids
4:30 am - Kill KR
5:00 am - Return to hideout (possibly old trailer on Mt Etna Rd, searched by LE per discovery)
5:05 am - Nautical twilight, per Weather Underground history for that day
Columbus, OH History | Weather Underground
6:14 am - Spring Turkey Season begins that day, 30 minutes before sunrise

Was it already getting light out by the time the suspects finished murdering the Rhodens & HG? Did any of the hunters out there see or hear anything?
See timeline on page 1 of this thread

Photo of Nautical Twilight (not Pike Co)

MOO and guesswork

 

[Johnny B Bad]

I keep wondering how much time the suspects had to sneak in, kill and clean up each crime scene. Here's a rough estimate (MOO) of the murder timelines, based on the preliminary autopsy info and what we know about the activities of family that night.

Considering it was alleged that DR sent a text message before going to bed and LE allegedly claimed to James Manley that Jake Wagner sent him a text message at 2 am, here's a possible timeline. All times approximate. This is all guesswork, MOO. We don't know what final A/Rs say about TOD or the sequence of the murders.

11:30 pm - Dana Rhoden arrives home from work
1:00 am - Dana sends a text to her SIL April Manley
2:00 am - LE alleges JW sent text to JM
Around 2:00 am - Attack on CR
3:00 am or later - Suspects wait, then kill GR (CR had more advanced state of decomp acc to preliminary AR)
3:30 am - Kill FR & HG
4:00 am - Kill DR and kids
4:30 am - Kill KR
5:00 am - Return to hideout (possibly old trailer on Mt Etna Rd, searched by LE per discovery)
5:05 am - Nautical twilight, per Weather Underground history for that day
Columbus, OH History | Weather Underground
6:14 am - Spring Turkey Season begins that day, 30 minutes before sunrise

Was it already getting light out by the time the suspects finished murdering the Rhodens & HG? Did any of the hunters out there see or hear anything?
See timeline on page 1 of this thread

Photo of Nautical Twilight (not Pike Co)

MOO and guesswork

JMO the text sent to JM from JW was sent while the killers where ready to go in on Big Chris to kill him and GR, JW was making sure that JM family where asleep so they could put the Wagners plan into action.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

Or what disguises they were wearing. There was one child who testified that the murder was dressed like some super hero character. Can't remember the case specifically but I think it turned out his dad was the killer.

JMO

I always think of Dudly sharing that show with us last year. What was it again @Dudly , American Monster on ID?

 

[rsd1200]

I am curious to see how the 2:00 a.m. text shakes out between JW and JM and what it said, if it exists.

Leonard Manley said he thinks agents put the GPS device on the truck after they found a text message sent from his son's phone to Jake Wagner at 2 a.m. April 22, 2016.

Family members have said in the past that they routinely sent text and Facebook messages to each other.

Pike County judge: Evidence tampering charge to be heard by grand jury

Jake Wagner told the Cincinnati Enquirer the text messages “did not happen.”

Who are the Wagners? Pike County murder investigators want to know

I'm also very curious as to whether or not DR was the one who actually texted AM, at near 1:00 a.m., and made the two earlier FB posts @ 12:52 a.m., and 12:53 a.m. Also, did HMR make her own last text message, herself, that night, shortly before her mother is said to have made hers?

 

[rsd1200]

Thanks! Good catch. I hadn't noticed that, either.



It's possible he did that himself, but also possible it was done by someone else to keep him distracted. Makes me wonder how much the reporters know about these murders but can't report. Holly Zacharia reported this just after the arrests of the Wagners. Or maybe she didn't think it was relevant info. IDK.

The crime scene at Frankie's must have really made LE curious with Brently & Ruger locked inside, the TV playing cartoons and parents in bed.

If Brently said something about a woman being there that night, what did LE make of that? It would have been an odd bit of information to fit in with the rest of the evidence. Did they think, at first, that he may have imagined it?

Three year olds are very capable of turning on smart tvs, netflix boxes, selecting from drop down menus, and choosing their favorite programs. I have one (a three y/o).

Her lawyers may want it b/c he references a female, or b/c he might not reference a female being there. It could be either.

 

[Betty P]

Three year olds are very capable of turning on smart tvs, netflix boxes, selecting from drop down menus, and choosing their favorite programs. I have one (a three y/o).

Her lawyers may want it b/c he references a female, or b/c he might not reference a female being there. It could be either.

JMO, the prosecution wants to show that AW was there, as she most likely was. The tape would have the dual benefit of revealing the horrible damage to this innocent child and that the killers (likely AW included) only cared about slaughtering the parents with little concern for the baby and 3 yo boy. Heartless monsters and the video of the interview will help demonstrate that.

 

[rsd1200]

JMO, the prosecution wants to show that AW was there, as she most likely was. The tape would have the dual benefit of revealing the horrible damage to this innocent child and that the killers (likely AW included) only cared about slaughtering the parents with little concern for the baby and 3 yo boy. Heartless monsters and the video of the interview will help demonstrate that.

I thought the defense wanted it in their discovery.

Edit:
If he was awake, I don't believe they knew the child was awake, during the murders. If so, and they knew he was awake, I feel that they may not have let him live. They murdered a 16 y.o. kid. who they'd known since before he was ever a teen. That speaks volumes.

 

[MittenScarpetta]

Three year olds are very capable of turning on smart tvs, netflix boxes, selecting from drop down menus, and choosing their favorite programs. I have one (a three y/o).

Her lawyers may want it b/c he references a female, or b/c he might not reference a female being there. It could be either.

I thought perhaps B could’ve fallen asleep watching cartoons the night before and maybe that’s why the TV was on with cartoons. Again, there’s a few possible answers to the cartoons being on tv. We just don’t know for sure. JMO

 

[rsd1200]

I thought perhaps B could’ve fallen asleep watching cartoons the night before and maybe that’s why the TV was on with cartoons. Again, there’s a few possible answers to the cartoons being on tv. We just don’t know for sure. JMO

We really don't. I just don't think they'd sit down with the kid and turn on cartoons. Personally, I feel that he probably was very confused, and probably scared, after going to his parent's room, so he turned to something normal and comforting; The couch, and his favorite cartoons.

 

[Betty P]

We really don't. I just don't think they'd sit down with the kid and turn on cartoons. Personally, I feel that he probably was very confused, and probably scared, after going to his parent's room, so he turned to something normal and comforting; The couch, and his favorite cartoons.

Agree, that sounds like the most likely scenario, the poor little guy did it himself. I'm guessing at that age he was kind of in shock and not really able to process what had just happened and that his parents were dead in bed in the next room with his baby brother crying. He probably just shut down mentally and emotionally. Sometimes that's the only way our brains can protect us from severe trauma, fear, terror, etc.

Highly unlikely andy of the Wagners cared about the kids. They just wanted to head on and kill more people, adding to the body count, working through their sick "to do" list.

 

[Renee110]

Yes those Guinea Fowl are noisy and get refered to as watch dogs with feathers...

Wow. I’ve had guinea’s on my farm and they didn’t alert unless I was feeding horses. They were noisy THEN!

 

[NWLady]

Yes, the open windows and locked doors are going to be a mystery for a while longer, at least until the trials. I don't recall JM saying whether Dana's door was locked. KR's wasn't, it locked from the outside.

It reminds us again of the depth of planning that went into every murder & crime scene. Almost like someone was there with a check list for each location, reminding everyone what to do, covering all the details of the plan. A plan they helped devise, whose details they worked out in advance. "Do we leave the dogs inside or out?" "Do we lock the doors where the kids will be left alive?"

As for using ammonia or something similar at the crime scenes to destroy any DNA, wouldn't someone have mentioned by now the powerful odor at the crime scenes or did LE instruct everyone to not mention it? I'd think you could smell that a ways down the road, IDK.

BBM: Is there a link available for this information? Thanks in advance!

 

[rsd1200]

Agree, that sounds like the most likely scenario, the poor little guy did it himself. I'm guessing at that age he was kind of in shock and not really able to process what had just happened and that his parents were dead in bed in the next room with his baby brother crying. He probably just shut down mentally and emotionally. Sometimes that's the only way our brains can protect us from severe trauma, fear, terror, etc.

Highly unlikely andy of the Wagners cared about the kids. They just wanted to head on and kill more people, adding to the body count, working through their sick "to do" list.

BBM
I think this could very well be what happened. He may have even heard specific voices/names but instinct kept him quiet, then he shut it all down, and watched cartoons til he heard his aunt. A familiar voice. A safe voice.