OH Pike Co., 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue, 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested #55

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Wednesday, June 24th:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ 1:30pm 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) – for *Angela Jo Wagner (48/now 49) (Jakes’ mother) indicted (11/12/18), arrested (11/13/18), charged (11/15/18) & arraigned (11/29/18) with 8 counts of aggravated murder, (plus gun specifications on each), 1 count of 1st degree conspiracy, 4 counts of 1st degree aggravated burglary, 1 count of 5th degree unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 3 counts of 3rd degree evidence tampering, 1 count of 5th degree forgery, 1 count of 5th degree unauthorized use of computer or telecommunications, 1 count of 4th degree interception of wire, oral or electronic communication, 1 count of 5th degree obstructing justice, 1 count of 1st degree engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Plead not guilty. No bond. DA will seek the DP.
Court information from 11/19/18 thru 3/14/20 reference post #1082 here:
OH Pike Co., 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue, 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested #54
4/21/20 Update: Joint Motion to Continue Pretrial hearing on 4/23/20 due to the coronavirus-Granted. The pretrial hearing is continued to 6/24/20. 6/4/20 Update: Motion to Appoint special prosecutor filed by DA Robert Junk; Appointed special prosecutor, Angela Canepa. 6/19/20: Motion to withdraw appearance of counsel filed-Attorney: Carol Hamilton O’Brien.
*George Washington Wagner III (47/now 49) – Status conference & bond review hearing on 8/6/20 & evidentiary hearing on 9/8/20.
*Edward Jacob "Jake" Wagner (26/now 27) – Pretrial hearing on 9/21/20.
*George Washington Wagner IV (27/now 28) – Pretrial hearing on 6/30/20.
*Rita Jo Newcomb (65/now 66) – Motion hearing on 12/2/19 entered a plea of guilty. Will be testifying at the trials. No further court dates yet as of 6/23/20.
*Fredericka Carol Wagner (76) – 6/26/19: Charges were dismissed without prejudice.
 
Cool Cats said:
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Little Jake appeared to be more concerned and nervous. MOO
Betty P said:
It was a live transcription as the hearing was going on. Jake's was a long and busy hearing today with a lot of new information, new players. As others pointed out, it was also difficult to hear many of the speakers. I had multiple interruptions as I was watching.

If my running commentary is too convoluted for you, please don't bother reading it. Just wait until the video of the hearing is posted on You Tube or other social media and watch it.

I have a couple of meetings to attend this evening, so will view a replay tomorrow.

ETA: My quote above is self-explanatory and JMO.
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Betty P I for one appreciate your transcript of live hearings.
 
molly1255 said:
Agree that Freddy is sharp. I don't know what the brother, GIII, really had to gain out of this, except keeping favor with his family. It cost him everything, including his child.
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I haven’t researched G that much, just familiar with the revenge talks and his custody situation. But as AC said, he was the most vocal at revenge talks. Hope we get the chance to hear it all unfold at trial. I believe it was DeWine that said the entire story would leave us shaking our heads. My opinion only.
 
Fight4justice said:
Are you thinking maybe the brothers together or JW or maybe even ole Freddy? Freddy seems to me to be a pretty sharp cookie.
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I have always been taught "follow the money". That leads back to FW, she rules with an iron fist and controls the purse strings.
And.. If she was searching for penalties for lying to the grand jury that tells me she knew her family committed the crimes. If you believe your family is innocent you would not plan to lie.
 
Berrybell said:
I have always been taught "follow the money". That leads back to FW, she rules with an iron fist and controls the purse strings.
And.. If she was searching for penalties for lying to the grand jury that tells me she knew her family committed the crimes. If you believe your family is innocent you would not plan to lie.
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Yes, as we see now, she was definitely already planning out the defense. And yes I say that makes it very aware that she knew what had happened and had every intention of lying to the grand jury. Planning, planning, what else did she plan? My opinion only.
 
Fight4justice said:
Yes, as we see now, she was definitely already planning out the defense. And yes I say that makes it very aware that she knew what had happened and had every intention of lying to the grand jury. Planning, planning, what else did she plan? My opinion only.
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I agree and think FW has been an active participant from the beginning, I also see her as the mastermind or at the very least the organizer. MOO
 
Betty P said:
Billy's hearing beginning, sound is on. Our favorite courtroom video guy just did a long close up of his scorpion tattoo.

Judge Deering doing intro. Prosecution will be adding a special prosecutor. Junk is explaining the change w/ Yost's office pulling out of the trial, leaving it to Pike County prosecutor. Shouldn't change anything or create a delay. Still have access to special prosecutor and BCI.

AC talks about March meeting, stating they all needed 10 terabyte hard drives. They provided them, she compared to mirrored data from defense attorneys and confirmed it was the same stuff in the master files. 20 folders less on their hard drives, but the data was still there (maybe compressed?). March 13 additional discovery provided. All identical files. She's still going to the shared drive (didn't have access for last 30 days) so she's asking until end of August to complete studying what is in the shared drive.

Defense bond motion for Billy. Scheduled a Bond hearing on Aug 6 at 1:30 pm, referring to as status conference as well. Defense says they may ask for a delay - they're talking about calling witnesses.

Defense still making false claims about delays in discovery. All delays have been on their part.

Bringing in more consultants who can study about "searchable databases" - same BS trying to use technical jargon to confuse potential jurors and continue to delay the trial. JMO. Dude, any computerized evidence databases are searchable in criminal trials, except maybe in Mayberry. Government putting them on notice for 404 B evidence. Sept. 8 for an evidentiary hearing. Prosecution says that language is standard language used on all of these. It's boilerplate language but they're using it for a delay.

Billy is acting like he has a little attitude, JMO. Cuz he's been wronged, I suppose. :rolleyes: JMO

Once again, I didn't see Fred Wagner or anyone from the non-imprisoned Wagner family. Did anyone else see them?

ETA: In both hearings today, the defense was being very "defensive" about the fact these trials have been dragging on so long. Of course, we all know the defense teams are dragging it out by making the discovery process difficult. They've tried on numerous occasions to use these pretrial hearings to stage mini-trials with witnesses, etc., much to the judge's consternation. They keep trying to force selective information and arguments into the news media to slant coverage in their favor. They've delayed and messed up the exchange of discovery evidence, delaying getting hard drives to AC then sending the wrong ones sometimes. They've caught media criticism recently for these delays, so now they're trying to accuse the prosecution. I mean who takes the term "searchable database" in relation to computerized evidence files and tries to turn it into something corrupt and controversial. Really?

These guys are the reason lawyers (undeservedly) have a bad name. But I guess if I were the kind of person who went out and murdered 8 innocent people in their sleep, they're the kind of lawyers I would want.
Click to expand...

I so agree. All delays have been a defense effort. It is and has been so obvious.
 
Antimony said:
If anyone knows who does the courtroom audio setup,Tell them there is a mike system out now that will fix the problem. It is a "POLY-COMM Sound Structure" mike system. It uses digital signal processing to null feedback and to a multiple mike mix without interaction.
SoundStructure C Series - Installed Audio Solutions for Large Boardrooms
They will probably provide a free demo in the court room and set it up.
Since this is the biggest trial in Ohio History, I suppose the AG would fund it.
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This is a great idea. I hope they get it. Maybe,send info directly to Courthouse.
 
<mod snip>

Very good points. HR defied him, took her child and her family stood firmly behind her. In the minds of the brain trust, they all had to be murdered. There is no doubt in my mind that he made HR's life a living hell after she left, and that hell transferred over to her family.

There are pieces of the forum I've missed, but has it ever been resolved in everyone's mind that JW is really the bio-father? I know there was discussion a while back about the way he went about gaining custody of SW after HR and her family were murdered. It doesn't appear he provided a DNA test when he did this, but instead wrote a statement of how he parented, co-parented, etc. and his mother backed that up. They had possession of the child when they did this - they could have easily done a DNA test, and for not a whole lot of money and someone in that family has money. A DNA test would have been chump change to that family member. If you are desperate to gain custody of a child after the mother is deceased, why not provide a DNA test to completely cement your case?

As DeWine said, this is the most bizarre case he's ever seen. Was JW totally obsessed with HR and getting custody of the child? Or was JW totally obsessed with HR and his hatred of her so strong, that the only way he could hurt her was to try to take her child? He apparently retained a lawyer, and I think he found out that as long as HR was alive, he would never get custody. Then HR and all of her immediate family members were murdered, along with a cousin and an uncle. Her immediate family members, with the exception of her younger brother who was a minor, could have gone to court and tried to block him getting custody. The cousin and uncle who were murdered, either knew something or they could have been collateral.

All JMO
 
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rsd1200 said:
I'd guess that vid conferencing in that area may have some difficulties but..., but, none that any of the other folks in jail are not experiencing. He is not unique. The rest of the world has had to be inconvenienced too, it won't make a lot of difference in the long run regarding his case, as long as his attorneys do their level best for him. I'm sure his atty has recordings and notes from the visits that "couldn't be worse", and can speak to him via landline, rather than vid chat, if needed, should reception continue to be very poor. They'll get it going. The courts and jails, and most other places, just weren't planning on 2020 and the horrid gifts that it seems to just keeps giving us. Fwiw, his atty probably gives him as much attention as his other clients, or more, they just don't sit in the jails and hold their client's hands. It's not like BW's got anywhere to go, or things to do, anyway. He can wait like everyone else, He's only been in there for 6 or 7 months.
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Thankx for giving your opinion on my post about "poor" Billy's trials and tribulations with video conferencing - LOL...I have to say, glad your back @rsd1200 . I am so glad to see so many posters back on this thread again. I am looking forward to everyone's opinions when trials start. I believe it is very important to show support for the families. I hope they know that many people care. Being on this thread, to me, shows support to them. It matters. Ok, enough sentimentality, on to the evidence !
Evidence.png
 
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molly1255 said:
[


Very good points. HR defied him, took her child and her family stood firmly behind her. In the minds of the brain trust, they all had to be murdered. There is no doubt in my mind that he made HR's life a living hell after she left, and that hell transferred over to her family.

There are pieces of the forum I've missed, but has it ever been resolved in everyone's mind that JW is really the bio-father? I know there was discussion a while back about the way he went about gaining custody of SW after HR and her family were murdered. It doesn't appear he provided a DNA test when he did this, but instead wrote a statement of how he parented, co-parented, etc. and his mother backed that up. They had possession of the child when they did this - they could have easily done a DNA test, and for not a whole lot of money and someone in that family has money. A DNA test would have been chump change to that family member. If you are desperate to gain custody of a child after the mother is deceased, why not provide a DNA test to completely cement your case?

As DeWine said, this is the most bizarre case he's ever seen. Was JW totally obsessed with HR and getting custody of the child? Or was JW totally obsessed with HR and his hatred of her so strong, that the only way he could hurt her was to try to take her child? He apparently retained a lawyer, and I think he found out that as long as HR was alive, he would never get custody. Then HR and all of her immediate family members were murdered, along with a cousin and an uncle. Her immediate family members, with the exception of her younger brother who was a minor, could have gone to court and tried to block him getting custody. The cousin and uncle who were murdered, either knew something or they could have been collateral.

All JMO
Click to expand...

Maybe he didn’t want to give him his DNA because he got hurt, cut,etc... that night and might have left blood or DNA. My opin
 
Cool Cats said:
Hey, I respect your opinions any day of the week and we can have different points of view, no biggie!

I think the prosecution is talking about ALL of the Wagner phone calls to not just Rita and each other but to Fred and everybody else under the sun they talked to. A thousand hours includes tons of people, friends, businesses, BCI interviews, repair shops, doctors offices, even spam calls, everyone.

Angie's jail phone calls to Rita (in the motion to revoke Angela's privileges) all COME AFTER ARRESTS. The phone calls brought up in Jake's hearing on June 22nd, refer to phone calls BEFORE the arrests. From 2016 - 2018. I think.
Click to expand...

What I thought I heard the attorney say yesterday was 10 hours of recorded phone conversations...
 
Fight4justice said:
Maybe he didn’t want to give him his DNA because he got hurt, cut,etc... that night and might have left blood or DNA. My opin
Click to expand...
The Wagners did give their DNA to LE according to the Wagner's Ohio attorney:

"A message was left on Tuesday with John Clark, an attorney who has been representing the Wagners. Clark said a year ago that four of the Wagner family members had provided laptops, phones and DNA samples to investigators, and agreed to be interviewed about the slayings.

Clark said at the time that the family was being 'harassed while the real killer or killers are out there'.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said on Tuesday that the Wagners had been suspects for a long time.

Wagner family charged in Ohio massacre fled to Alaska after killings | Daily Mail Online

So interesting that BJM took 3 and JM took 1 or 2 lie detector tests, but you
never-ever in 4 years hear that the Wagners did the same. Why not? Something to hide? Abundance of caution on the Wagner's part?....Humm...
 
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Fight4justice said:
Maybe he didn’t want to give him his DNA because he got hurt, cut,etc... that night and might have left blood or DNA. My opin
Click to expand...
The Wagners did give their DNA to LE according to the Wagner's Ohio attorney:

"A message was left on Tuesday with John Clark, an attorney who has been representing the Wagners. Clark said a year ago that four of the Wagner family members had provided laptops, phones and DNA samples to investigators, and agreed to be interviewed about the slayings.

Clark said at the time that the family was being 'harassed while the real killer or killers are out there'.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said on Tuesday that the Wagners had been suspects for a long time.

Wagner family charged in Ohio massacre fled to Alaska after killings | Daily Mail Online

So interesting that BJM and JM took 2 - 3 lie detector tests, but you never-ever in 4 years time, hear that the Wagners did the same. Why not? Something to hide? Abundance of caution?....Humm...
 
Discussing a motion from defense about discovery and changes in Ohio AG status and whether it will affect timeline. By Aug 21 all digital and other discovery will be complete. Issue again over files given in January that were hard copy vs digital.

Junk says he doesn't think the AG withdrawal will have any impact on the timeline.

Now discussing the discovery meeting with hired expert/ consultant and creating a searchable database. Court will look at providing funds to create a searchable database. Angela's attorneys don't have a problem with it. Billy's attorney, IIRC, was objecting to creating a searchable database, as if it was something bad.

Aug 21 finishing discovery

Sept 8 complete?

Oct 15 defense file pre-trial motions

After that they will set date for hearings.

Defense bringing up issue with jail and order that she have no contact. Jail stopped delivering things, like Amazon orders. He wants to clarify the court order for no contact. Junk says it should be ok. If a third party is buying AW books from Amazon, it should be ok for her to have them. Judge said send him the paperwork and he'll review it and sign if its ok.

A fairly quick and no-drama hearing. AW was quiet, observant, etc. Defense attorneys of AW are very different, cooperative. They ask questions, but don't get confrontational or make accusations. They also had no problems with discovery or the AG withdrawing from the case.
 
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