Seven themes as defense takes over in Pike County murder trial

WAVERLY, Ohio − In nine weeks of testimony, prosecutors in the Pike County murder trial of George Wagner IV have revealed much about the crime, the victims and the accused.

This week, Wagner IV’s attorneys continue their defense, after bringing on seven witnesses last week.

Here are seven themes that have emerged in the often dramatic and contentious trial in Ohio’s largest ever homicide investigation, with some of what The Enquirer has already reported on each.

Theme No. 1: Which Wagner is on trial?

From the beginning, the prosecution has been intent on presenting the Rhoden family massacre in full. They’ve introduced the jury to all eight victims and each of the four crime scenes. They’ve presented evidence not just of the 31-year-old defendant, but his father, mother and brother as well.

The defense, early on, implored jurors to focus only on evidence related to Wagner IV.

“Every time you hear ‘The Wagners,’ think of how that applies to George,” Richard M. Nash Jr., one of Wagner IV’s two attorneys, said in his opening statement. “George cannot help that he was born into the Wagner family ... but that doesn’t make him a murderer.”

Here is what jurors learned about the crime scenes at the start of the trial: Jurors visit scenes of Rhoden family killings.

Here’s the key background as the trial got underway: Anticipation is high.

Here’s what attorneys in state of Ohio v. George Washington Wagner IV had to say in their Sept. 12 opening statements: What was Wagner’s role in Rhoden deaths?

Here’s more about Wagner IV himself: Who is the man on trial?

Theme No. 2: Wagner family of Pike County matters

The courtroom was filled with still-grieving Rhoden family members as the prosecution called its earliest witnesses.

Among them were two siblings of victim Dana Manley-Rhoden, two children of victim Kenneth Rhoden and Kenneth Rhoden’s cousin, Donald Stone, who found him dead in the camper where he lived in rural Pike County.

“Any time I was down and out, the man was there to help me,” Stone said of Kenneth Rhoden, in one of the most emotional moments of that day.

Family testimony, bolstered by witnesses from law enforcement, laid out events of April 22, 2016, the morning seven members of the Rhoden family and one future member were discovered shot to death in four different locations.

Rhodens and Manleys have been regulars in the second-floor Pike County Common Pleas Courtroom and a designated family room on the first floor.

Here’s what early witnesses had to say: More witnesses, more tears to come.

Theme No. 3: 'Voluminous evidence' prosecutors in Rhoden case say

At the start of the trial, Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa read 264 names on the prosecution’s list of potential witnesses.

Earlier, in court documents, Judge Randy Deering noted the trial would include “voluminous evidence."

When prosecutors rested their case last week – pending Monday proceedings to officially submit their evidence to the court – they’d called more than 50 witnesses, several of them multiple times.

Dr. Karen Looman was one of the repeat visitors to the witness stand. The chief deputy coroner for the Hamilton County Coroner's office conducted autopsies on all eight victims. Chris Rhoden Sr., the most seriously injured with nine bullet wounds, was the last to be examined.

Rhoden Sr. was shot six times in the face and once each in the chest, stomach and arm. One bullet lodged in his spine, and caused an “internal decapitation,” Looman said.

Prosecutors also spent considerable time on weapons and ammunition used in the homicides.

Frequent witness Matthew White, a ballistic expert with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, tied spent ammunition to recovered guns.

Another repeat witness, criminal intelligence analyst Julia Eveslage, presented evidence discovered with cyber surveillance. Eveslage was the investigator who discovered one of the most-mentioned pieces of physical evidence in the case, prosecutors revealed last week: A receipt for shoes from Walmart with soles that matched shoeprint evidence at two of the crime scenes.

Here’s some of what Looman contributed: What did the coroner say?

Here’s how Wagner IV lead attorney John P. Parker reacted to autopsy photos: Lawyer wants a mistrial.

Here is some of the drug and gun evidence found at crime scenes: What did jurors see in Pike County.

Theme No. 4: Friends and lovers

Former Wagner family friend Jeff Tackett offered a harsh assessment of the criminal leanings of Wagner IV’s father, George “Billy” Wagner III, and of the nagging nature of his mother, Angela Wagner.

Corey Holdren, who was dating Hanna Rhoden at the time of her death, called Jake Wagner “very, very controlling.” The Wagners killed the Rhodens, the prosecution maintains, in an effort to win custody of the then-2½-year-old daughter of Jake Wagner and Hanna Rhoden.

Chris Newcomb, brother to Angela Wagner, said he was shocked when his sister and nephew, Jake Wagner, admitted their guilt in the Rhoden homicides last year. Rita Newcomb, Angela Wagner’s mother, said she got caught up in the case to protect her daughter.

Wagner IV’s ex-wife, Tabitha Claytor, said she fled the family in fear of her life.

Elizabeth Armer met and married Jake Wagner during the family’s one-year stay in a small Alaska town. She, too, said she left the marriage in fear of the family.

Here’s the Newcombs’ emotional testimony: Star witnesses still to come.

Here is what Claytor told the jury: Wagners “strange, controlling.”

Here’s is part of Armer’s testimony: Former sister-in-law describes life with Wagners.

Theme No. 5: The brother and the mother

The most anticipated witnesses in the trial – Wagner IV’s brother and mother – offered the most detail about Wagner IV's involvement in the Rhoden deaths from the stand.

Jake Wagner said his brother traveled to the four crime scenes with him and their father on the night of April 21, 2016. The two brothers lay under a false bed in a pickup truck as Billy Wagner drove to the first location, Jake Wagner said.

Wagner IV did not fire a weapon that night, according to his brother.

In her hours on the stand, Angela Wagner said the entire family planned, prepared for, carried out and attempted to cover up the crimes. She said her husband and sons left the house together that night and returned together the next morning. She said she stayed home with her two grandchildren ‒ Sophia, the subject of the custody battle between Jake Wagner and Hanna Rhoden, and Bulvine, the son Wagner IV had with Tabitha Claytor.

Jake Wagner changed his plea in April 2021 on the fifth anniversary of the homicides. Angela Wagner followed in September 2021.

Here is Jake Wagner’s testimony: Jake Wagner admits to killing five of eight victims

Here is what Jake Wagner said vs. what Wagner IV’s lawyers have said: Brother vs. brother in Pike County.

Here is what Angela Wagner said: Wagners distrusted legal system

Theme No. 6: Family dynamics

The prosecution’s case rests on complicity. Even if Wagner IV did not pull the trigger, he should be found guilty on eight charges of aggravated murder and 14 other charges because he was fully engaged preparing for and covering them up, state lawyers have argued.

“He's guilty of aggravated murder … because even if he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger he was complicit,” special prosecutor Canepa said, employing some form of the word 17 times in her three-and-a-half hour opening statement.

Canepa and the state’s other two prosecutors have repeatedly told the jury that the Wagners operated as a unit. They shared a home, they shared credit cards, they paid bills jointly, they remained in constant contact with each other. After the Rhoden homicides, in conversations that investigators captured by tapping their phones and bugging their cars, they talked about hiring lawyers, protecting the children and the possibility of being arrested and jailed.

Last week, in their final days of testimony, the prosecution played hours of audio recordings. In most, family members screeched, screamed and talked on top of each other.

Witnesses said Angela Wagner ran the household. Angela Wagner said Billy Wagner ultimately decided they needed to kill the Rhodens. If they killed just Hanna Rhoden, to win Sophia, he reasoned, other Rhodens would seek revenge on the Wagner family.

Here are live feeds to the audio recordings: Trial continues, Nov. 9. Trial continues, Nov. 10.

Here is what earlier cyber evidence revealed: What was found on Wagner phones

Theme No. 7: What’s Wagner IV’s defense?

The defense began rolling out its case last week, even as the prosecution was still up, for scheduling reasons. Defense attorney John P. Parker had lined up three witnesses from Alaska for Tuesday and one from Denver for Thursday.

Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen was not impressed with the initial defense witnesses – two pastors from Alaska, a mechanic who employed the Wagner brothers and a tattoo artist among them.

“Witnesses like that, I don’t think are going to sway that jury,” Allen said.

Bloodstain-pattern expert Jonathyn W. Priest, the Denver witness, testified for the defense Thursday. He maintained that one person could have shot all eight victims – in opposition to Jake Wagner’s testimony that he shot five of the eight. That supports the defense's position that Jake and Angela Wagner are “con artists and liars” who cannot be believed.

Under cross-examination from D. Andrew Wilson, however, Priest agreed that other evidence in the case pointed to the possibility of more than one shooter.

The defense has subpoenaed 10 more possible witnesses but has not indicated in court who they will call.

Here are the possibilities for the defense: “Pretty overwhelming” prosecution testimony.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pike County killings: What to know as the defense takes over