OH - Pike Co - 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue - 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested #73

[pittsburghgirl]

They already caught him in two lies. One the BCI investigator said it was highly unlikely anyone crawled through the window at Frankies given the tiny space without kicking over that trash can of feed or the tub of feed or tripping on electric wires or some kind of toy. AC tried to get the BCI Agent to admit it was possible on re direct but the agent wouldn't budge off that highly unlikely. She finally gave up on it.

The second is when he said Hannah turned her head to look at him but didn't recognize him before he killed her. The coroner said she was lying on her side maybe nursing and was shot twice in the back of the head. No way she was looking at him or she would have been shot in the face. AC tried to cover it by bringing up something about her head lying or falling back on a bar on the headboard of the bed after she was shot. The coroner admitted that could cause that white mark on the back of Hannahs head but would not commit or move off Hannah lying on her side and being shot in the back of the head or say her body was repositioned after death so the baby could nurse. So that means Jake lied about Hannah waking up, seeing him before he shot her, and repositioning her body so the baby could nurse.

Jake just said that to make himself look like a kind hearted cowboy in a Willie Nelson song who loves babies, warm puppies and girls of the night. He wanted to make it look like he was really just a good guy who loves babies and didn't want the baby to go hungry. I call BS because JM testified he heard little KR crying, probably from hunger.

JMO

We don't know that these are lies--we just know that two people have different versions of what happened. The coroner wasn't there. Hanna might well have turned in that direction and then turned back. Jake was in the middle of a murder spree. As to the crawling through the window, why would Jake lie? The BCI expert says it was "highly unlikely," not that it did not happen.

There are always these moments in a trial. I don't see why jake would lie about either of those things. I doubt that a man admitting to 8 murders thought he could convince the prosecutors that he was "just a good guy." In fact, the only thing worse than getting a baby to nurse from its now-dead mother would have been to murder the babies.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

We're still at the early stages of hearing all the evidence. There will be more evidence to connect the family and GW4 to the crime. For those who haven't followed the case closely in recent years you can expect to hear about:

• More ballistics evidence - state has the weapons used in the murders. Experts have already described ballistics evidence retrieved from victims and the crime scene
• Digital evidence - a mountain of texts, messages, photos, locations, social media, etc. before, during and after the murders by the killers
• Audio recordings from phone calls and wire taps inside the family home and the trucks driven by Jake and George. These may include family meetings
• Video evidence and financial transactions related to the purchase of equipment, supplies, etc. for carrying out the murders
• Full confessions from two of the 4 Wagner family members - not much of the contents have been revealed and the rumor mill has exaggerated quite a bit about those confessions.

We're just getting started on the evidence. Just because there was no killer DNA at the crime scenes doesn't mean there isn't a lot of evidence. It's just that a trial with 8 victims and 4 crime scenes and 3 shooters with 3 weapons takes a while to explain.

There's a mountain of evidence, be patient, ignore rumors, ask for links.

ETA: We're also just getting started on shoeprint evidence. It's more valid than you might think.

Betty, thanks for putting all of this in context, as usual.

 

[ColMustard]

If those are county roads, those pickups look to be making pretty good time. jmo

Edit: Depends on the road I guess. If there's no marked centerline, they're moving pretty quick.

Only time I've wished for a deer to jump out in the road..

Hopefully the prosecution presents these maps, videos, and times in a more clear way after the evidence is introduced.

 

[dgfred]

A cartel would not have gone to all 4 places IMO; in fact when the custody problems came out it was almost directly pointing at the Wagners and nobody else.

For me early... I felt I knew when I found out about JW picking up his child before it happened. Just knew he was involved and knew he would not have done it alone.

When did y'all start to home in on the Wagners?

 

[justtrish]

They did many interviews of family and friends in the initial days/weeks and asked for voluntary DNA and phone data.

Every single person agreed except one.

Jake Wagner gave DNA, but refused to allow them to look at his phone.

 

[sunshineray]

JW was only one of family to say no to giving his phone.

 

[sunshineray]

A cartel would not have gone to all 4 places IMO; in fact when the custody problems came out it was almost directly pointing at the Wagners and nobody else.

For me early... I felt I knew when I found out about JW picking up his child before it happened. Just knew he was involved and knew he would not have done it alone.

When did y'all start to home in on the Wagners?

Cartel would have busted into FR's the first time they tried to get in

 

[justtrish]

Edited to change Dana to Angela. I mistyped. Did Angela know what shoes Dana's dad wore and bought those to try to throw investigators off?

Oh this just makes me sick. Testimony from BCI agnet Schieder.

They reviewed the Walmart footage of all purchases of the shoes and James Manley (Editing this a second time because it was said Leonard Manley, not James purchased these, I misheard and then wrote this wrong) purchased a size 10 during the time frame they were looking for.

So were they trying to frame him? Did Angela know what shoes he wore and pick those based on that?

He was interviewed and he had thrown the shoes away. They did a trash dump and found the shoes. They were ruled out. Didn't match and no DNA on the shoes.

 

[ColMustard]

MOO

Whaaat?! Defense is going make an issue out of county boundary lines?

 

[Betty P]

Oh this just makes me sick. Testimony from BCI agnet Schieder.

They reviewed the Walmart footage of all purchases of the shoes and James Manley purchased a size 10 during the time frame they were looking for.

So were they trying to frame him? Did Dana know what shoes he wore and pick those based on that?

He was interviewed and he had thrown the shoes away. They did a trash dump and found the shoes. They were ruled out. Didn't match and no DNA on the shoes.

Just checking back in, so didn't hear it, but that's very interesting. It is sickening the Wagners were trying to frame the Manleys, a family that lost so many loved ones in this massacre.

Wasn't there earlier testimony indicating they also tried to frame Len Manley with the "murder shoes"?

 

[Betty P]

MOO

Whaaat?! Defense is going make an issue out of county boundary lines?

Judge already ruled against them on that once before. Just trying to find grounds for future appeals?

 

[Recidivist]

Is court over for the day?

 

[justtrish]

Can anyone explain why this county line deal is such a big issue? Or maybe it isn't and the defense is just trying to insert this to have an appeal later?

I thought the agent gave a good answer about as long as it was a continuning crime it was allowed to be charged in that county.

How many crimes are done in a spree like this and I don't recall trial in every county for each offense.

Wouldn't they rule on this beforehand? If it couldn't be done wouldn't the charges be filed in that county for Dana, CRjr, and Hanna Mae? The fact they drove around and continued to go back and forth tells me it's all one crime and they didn't go home, come back to kill someone else, they left home to commit all these crimes, then did it over the next 4 hours and then returned home. Is that how the agent was explaining one continuous event?

UGH this defense is really annoying. It's VERY telling what they are choosing to pick apart. It means there is NO DEFESE because he was there and he did this so they have to pick apart things that are distractions from the real crimes.

 

[dgfred]

If, if, if, if you killed several people it might be in your interest to try to get LE in another direction. So that part doesn't bother me.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Why didn't they go over the Wagner's phone records?

I'm guessing. The prosecution is unfolding the case chronologically, focusing on what happened at the crime scenes and to the Rhodens and Hannah Hazel. We will likely get the Wagners' movements when they start to establish where they were and what exactly they did. Just a guess but based on the order the state is presenting things.

 

[twall]

Edited to change Dana to Angela. I mistyped. Did Angela know what shoes Dana's dad wore and bought those to try to throw investigators off?

Oh this just makes me sick. Testimony from BCI agnet Schieder.

They reviewed the Walmart footage of all purchases of the shoes and James Manley purchased a size 10 during the time frame they were looking for.

So were they trying to frame him? Did Angela know what shoes he wore and pick those based on that?

He was interviewed and he had thrown the shoes away. They did a trash dump and found the shoes. They were ruled out. Didn't match and no DNA on the shoes.

Scheiderer said Leonard purchased the shoes, not James.

 

[justtrish]

Just checking back in, so didn't hear it, but that's very interesting. It is sickening the Wagners were trying to frame the Manleys, a family that lost so many loved ones in this massacre.

Wasn't there earlier testimony indicating they also tried to frame Len Manley with the "murder shoes"?

Well darn it, it might have been Leonard Manley. I'm replaying.. it was Leonard Manley that bought the size 10, then he said it was the father of Bobbi Jo and James Manley. I misheard him and head James Manley and then they talked about purchasing the shoes. I'm so sorry I was incorrect on the initial post.

 

[justtrish]

Scheiderer said Leonard purchased the shoes, not James.

I just realized this after reading another comment about Leonard. I listened again and just noted in my original post I was incorrect. Thanks for also clarifying. I don't want to mistype anything!

 

[twall]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575212536873508864

 

[pittsburghgirl]

When Jake told them of Billy using the ruse of losing his cell phone outside and asking Chris Sr. to call it, those last calls from Chris's phone to Billy Wagner's is a close estimate of when Chris was killed. For the rest, it seems to indicate the approximate time they went to sleep.

This was just classic stupidity that gave the state a time line. Maybe they thought it was a good ruse to establish an alibi and an explanation for why anyone might have seen BW in the area--along with luring CR outside.