Cool Cats
GRUMPY CAT RULES
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2018
- Messages
- 11,591
- Reaction score
- 87,297
Some of the current testimony, a good way to get caught up - 4 witnessess close to the Wagner family.
Pike County killings: Witnesses paint picture of Wagner family …Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer
George Wagner IV trial in Pike County massacre enters fourth week …[www.fox19.com]
Wagner IV’s family spent their time fishing, hunting and riding four-wheelers – but also torching a home for insurance money and seeking information for a custody battle via Facebook, witnesses said.Wagner IV, facing 22 counts related to the 2016 shooting deaths of Pike County’s Rhoden family, was bubbly and “always trying to make someone laugh,” long-time friend Samantha Staley said. That changed after the Rhoden deaths, Staley said. “He looked dead inside. He didn’t have the crooked smile he always had.” But he would not talk to her about the crimes. “I was pretty much told to shut the ---- up,” she said.
Wagner IV’s brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner, was a “momma’s boy” who did whatever his mother, Angela Wagner, wanted, Staley said. Jake Wagner acted like he was better than other people and tended to blame his brother for anything that went wrong, she said.
George “Billy” Wagner, Wagner IV’s father, was erratic and moody because he took pain pills that his mother supplied, according to Jeffrey Tackett, his longtime friend. The elder Wagner had guns and ammunition in his bedroom a week before the Rhodens were killed, Tackett said. He waited to alerted authorities about the stash until after the Rhodens were dead, he said, because “I was scared he might kill me.”
Earlier in the day, Tackett told jurors he wore a wire four or five times on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the agency that led what is considered Ohio’s largest criminal investigation. He was paid $100 for each attempt to capture information from Billy Wagner.
Wagner IV’s mother got much attention on Monday, with witnesses saying she called the shots in the family.
Angela Wagner quizzed Staley about babysitting the young daughter that Jake Wagner shared with victim Hanna May Rhoden, seeking information for a custody battle. The Wagners killed the Rhodens to try to win custody of the child, prosecutors maintain.
***********************************************************************************************************
April Manley described Jake and his family as controlling and said Hanna was afraid of the Wagner family.
George Wagner IV’s ex-wife, Tabitha Claytor, also testified on Monday. Prosecutors will continue questioning Claytor on Tuesday.
During her opening statement, Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa said George Wagner IV and his family abused and controlled Claytor when they were married.
Claytor tried to flee once but, Angela Wagner threw a 2-by-4 at her — and the family kept their son, Bulvine, Canepa told jurors.
Also called to testify Monday was 48-year-old Jeff Tackett, who claims he knew Bill Wagner since he was a young teenager. Tackett, a bricklayer, said he worked at the Wagner’s Flying W farm when he was laid off.
Tackett said he also knew the Rhodens and when he learned that Jake was dating Hanna Rhoden, he tried to warn Chris Sr. and testified that he warned him to watch out.
“Be careful, they will hurt you. They will kill you,” Tackett said on the stand. He added that Billy Wagner said he “went to Mexico and shot a bunch of people over there one time.”
Tackett testified that about a week before the murders, he was in Billy’s bedroom at the Flying W Farm and saw a .22 caliber hornet gun, bulletproof vests and ammunition.
He said he suspected the Wagners were involved in the killings when he heard about the murders watching TV news.
When Tackett saw the guns in Billy Wagner’s bedroom, he said he told Wagner, “You’re going to get ready to kill somebody. I don’t know who it is, but they’re dead.”
When he asked why he didn’t report Billy to the police, Tackett said, “he might kill me.”
Tackett also claimed that Chris owed Billy Wagner $20,000.
George Wagner IV’s defense team had Tackett admit that he wore a wire for investigators four or five times while at the Wagner’s home on Peterson Road in Peebles, and said that he began to notice that Billy Wagner was giving him the cold shoulder.
Samantha Staley was next on the stand.
She said hung out with George IV and Jake from a very young age.
Staley said she dated Frankie Rhoden when she was in the 7th grade.
The prosecution asked Staley about the relationship between Jake and her now former boyfriend, Frankie.
“One incident that was told to me by George that Frankie and Jake had got into it because Jake had punched Hanna and Frankie was defending his sister,” Staley said on the stand.
She also testified that Jake Wagner texted her saying no one was allowed to babysit Sophia except his mom and Hanna’s mom.
George IV’s ex-wife, Tabitha Claytor, also testified Monday. This story will be updated later with information from her testimony.
Last edited:
