Defense: Man had no reason to help family in killings of 8

Nov 29, 2022, 10:20 AM | Updated: 5:09 pm

WAVERLY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man accused of helping his family kill eight members of another family had no reason to take part and wasn’t even there, his attorney told trial jurors Tuesday during closing arguments.

George Wagner IV, his brother and parents were charged in the 2016 shooting deaths of seven adults and a teenager from the Rhoden family. The 31-year-old Wagner wasn’t accused of killing any of the victims, but prosecutors say he knew what would happen and participated in the plans.

Wagner testified earlier this month that he didn’t know anything about his relatives’ involvement in the killings and that he would not have let it happen if he had been aware.

“He didn’t kill anybody, and he didn’t go along because it makes no sense,” Wagner’s attorney, John Parker, told jurors.

Wagner, his attorney said, was not like the rest of his family and could not be persuaded by them to kill anyone.

The jury is set to begin deliberating on Wednesday.

Prosecutors have said the slayings stemmed from a custody dispute over the child of Wagner’s younger brother, Edward “Jake” Wagner.

Special prosecutor Angela Canepa said that George Wagner was with his brother and his father when they drove to three separate locations where all eight victims were killed, went inside with the pair and helped Jake Wagner move two of the bodies.

George Wagner testified that he was at home sleeping on the night of the slayings and learned that the Rhodens were dead from TV news reports.

Jake Wagner earlier testified as part of a deal that spared him the death penalty that he killed five of the eight victims. He said he felt he had no choice but to kill the mother of his toddler daughter because he feared for the girl’s safety. He implicated his and George Wagner’s father in the other three slayings.

Jake Wagner also testified that George Wagner was supposed to kill Chris Rhoden Sr. but didn’t fire the gun, so Jake Wagner shot Rhoden himself. George Wagner’s attorney on Tuesday tried to raise doubts about the younger brother’s testimony, saying the timeline and details he described didn’t add up.

Angela Wagner, the mother of Jake and George, earlier pleaded guilty to helping plan the slayings but blamed the massacre on her husband, George “Billy” Wagner III. She said he believed the other family would seek revenge for the death of the mother of Jake’s child and would kill Jake “if not all of us,” so the rest of her family “had to be murdered.”

George “Billy” Wagner III has pleaded not guilty and likely won’t go on trial until next year. The four members of the Wagner family were not arrested until more than two years after the April 2016 slayings.

Those killed were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr., and 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden, the mother of Jake Wagner’s daughter; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
6 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
14 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
14 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
21 days ago
A young bison calf stands in a pond with its herd at Bull Hollow, Okla., on Sept. 27, 2022. The cal...
Associated Press

US aims to restore bison herds to Native American lands after near extinction

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
21 days ago
Children play in a dried riverbed in Flassans-sur-Issole, southern France, Wednesday, March 1, 2023...
Associated Press

Italy, France confront 2nd year of western Europe drought

ROME (AP) — Bracing for Italy’s second consecutive year of drought for the first time in decades, Premier Giorgia Meloni huddled with ministers Wednesday to start mapping out an action plan Wednesday, joining France and other nations in western Europe grappling with scant winter rain and snow. Meloni and her ministers decided to appoint an […]
23 days ago

Sponsored Articles

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...
Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.
(Pexels Photo)...

Sports gambling can be fun for adults, but it’s a dangerous game for children

While adults may find that sports gambling is a way to enhance the experience with more than just fandom on the line, it can be a dangerous proposition if children get involved in the activity.
(Photo via MLB's Arizona Fall League / Twitter)...
Arizona Fall League

Top prospects to watch at this year’s Arizona Fall League

One of the most exciting elements of the MLB offseason is the Arizona Fall League, which began its 30th season Monday.
Defense: Man had no reason to help family in killings of 8