In massacre lawsuit, a key question: how rich were the Wagners?
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George “Billy” Wagner III bragged about being a trust fund brat.
That’s how he described himself to investigators in Ohio’s Pike County when they first questioned him about the 2016 Rhoden family massacre.
If that’s true, the Rhodens want his riches, they make clear in a new filing in their wrongful death suit against the Wagner family.
The Wagners – each charged in the octuple homicide case – should pay surviving Rhodens to address their “serious emotional distress of a severe and debilitating nature,” the original 2020 civil suit said.
Last month, in an update filed in advance of a court hearing this Thursday, the Rhodens list Billy Wagner, his wife, sons, mother and mother-in-law, along with representatives of law enforcement, as “anticipated witnesses” in what they hope will be a jury trial.
Each should pay amounts “far exceeding $25,000” for actual damages inflicted on the Rhoden family, the new filing says, with unspecified additional amounts as punishment for acts the filing calls wanton, reckless, malicious and brutal.
Who among the Wagners have funds to pay damages is not addressed.
Tony Rhoden could not be reached for comment on that or other points. His attorney, via email, said Rhoden will target real estate as awards.
Rhoden wants Wagners on the stand
Tony Rhoden filed the wrongful death suit as the administrator of the estates of four victims of the April 21-22, 2016, slaying in Pike County: his brother, Chris Rhoden Sr.; and Chris Rhoden’s children, Frankie, Hanna and Chris Jr.
Also shot to death that night were Tony Rhoden’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden; cousin, Gary Rhoden; sister-in-law, Dana Manley Rhoden; and future niece-in-law, Hannah Hazel Gilley. Their estates are not part of Tony Rhoden’s case.
If the suit makes it to trial, Rhoden’s attorneys will call all the Wagners to testify, last month’s update says. They include:
Billy Wagner, charged with eight counts of aggravated murder and 14 other charges related to the Rhoden deaths. He entered a not guilty plea and is expected to be tried next year.
Angela Wagner, Billy’s wife, who admitted guilt in the crimes in 2021 and is awaiting formal sentencing.
George Wagner IV, convicted last November on the same 22 counts his father is facing. The state of Ohio transferred him to Rhode Island in May, where he is working on an appeal of a sentence that includes eight consecutive life terms.
Edward “Jake” Wagner, Billy and Angela’s younger son, who also admitted guilt in 2021 and is awaiting sentencing.
Rita Newcomb, the mother of Angela Wagner, who pleaded guilty in December 2019 to one misdemeanor count of obstructing official business.
Fredericka Wagner, the mother of Billy Wagner, who faced two counts related to the purchase of bullet-proof vests. Prosecutors dropped the charges in June 2019.
George Wagner IV, Rita Newcomb and Fredericka Wagner each called for dismissal of the Rhoden suit back in 2020. Fredericka Wagner renewed that stand in filings last week. Billy, Angela and Jake Wagner have yet to respond.
Of them, only Fredericka Wagner is known to have sizable assets.
Horses and dogs helped build Flying W
If Billy Wagner is, in fact, a trust fund brat, he has horses to thank for that.
His parents built the family’s wealth by breeding “the finest sports horses to be found anywhere in the world” at Flying W Farms, a 2,000-acre site in the hills of southeastern Ohio, the website for the Lucasville operation boasts.
Among the 200-plus horses produced at Flying W were Friesian Georgian Grandes, a cross between Friesian and American Saddlebred breeds the Wagners said they created.
Over time, the Wagners added dogs to Flying W’s offerings, also creating a new canine breed. The American Mastiff, with adult males weighing up to 200 pounds, is a cross of English and Anatolian Mastiff breeds.
Now 81 and a widow since 2017, Fredericka Wagner continues to run Flying W, her attorney, James Owen, said last week. “She tries the best she can,” he said.
Publicity over the Rhoden killings has hurt the business, he said. “Her ability to make a living is greatly diminished.”
Wagner “feels horrible” about the Rhodens’ deaths, but had nothing to do with them, her lawyer said. “Ms. Wagner grieves for the Rhoden family,” her new filing says, “but has no liability whatsoever.”
Wagner’s property, meanwhile, adds millions to her worth.
At present, her Pike County land and buildings have a market value of $5.3 million.
Two non-profits that count her as a key player make more modest contributions:
Crystal Springs Home in Piketon is a group home for four persons with developmental disabilities. The facility had $391,000 in revenue and paid Wagner a salary of $24,000 as the former CEO and administrator in 2019, according to its most recent filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
Lucasville Mission, owner of the Mission Family Church in Piketon, had $13,000 in revenue in 2019, its IRS filing said. Fredericka Wagner was listed as the secretary/treasurer with no salary.
Beyond that, Fredericka Wagner collected just more than $346,000 from two life insurance policies in her husband’s name, Pike County Probate Court records show. Bob Wagner left no other assets or a will when he died in August 2017, according to the records.
Wagner’s attorney said she would not talk about the wrongful death suit. She did not respond to a message left on the Flying W landline.
Billy Wagner portrayed as criminal in son's trial
Billy, Angela, George and Jake Wagner had limited assets and incomes when they were arrested and jailed in November 2018 for the Rhoden killings.
Billy and Angela Wagner, both 52, sold their last home in 2017 when the family moved to Alaska. New owners paid $165,000 for the 58-acre property on Peterson Road in Adams County.
Before that, the couple lived in homes owned by Billy Wagner’s parents. They rented in Alaska. When they returned a year later, Angela Wagner’s father had died and they moved into his home in Webster, Ohio. Her mother is still listed as an owner of that home, with a current market value of $96,000, according to Scioto County auditor records.
Billy Wagner transported Flying W animals and drove trucks for a while. Criminal activity put a dent in his ability to produce an income, according to testimony in son George Wagner’s fall trial and other court records.
In 2001 – following a 1997 speeding ticket and 1998 charge for driving under the influence – he was charged with receiving stolen property. Later that same year, he and Angela Wagner filed for bankruptcy, listing joint monthly income of $919. In 2009, they were arrested for trying to sell stolen Rocky brand boots.
In his son’s trial last fall, witnesses said Billy Wagner taught his sons to hunt and fish, took care of his ailing father and brought his grandchildren donuts. But they also said he siphoned fuel from semi-trailer trucks, burned homes and other property for insurance payouts, stole and sold off hot tubs and computers, dabbled in growing marijuana, popped pills, and turned angry and paranoid.
He said he had buried some of his ill-gotten proceeds in Mexico, two witnesses said.
In the months after the Rhoden homicides, the Wagners moved about $100,000 between 17 different bank accounts, a forensic accountant testified last fall. Jake and George Wagner contributed some funds working as auto mechanics and truck drivers; Angela Wagner contributed some from her own dog breeding business.
'Real property' target for awards
A trial in the wrongful death suit should not be scheduled until the criminal cases in the Rhodens’ deaths are wrapped up, the newest filing says.
“We intend to work with the court to establish a realistic case schedule,” his attorney, Brian Duncan of BKD Legal LLC, said last week.
Asked which Wagners could compensate the Rhodens, Duncan replied that the Wagner family owns or controls “various parcels of real property situated through southern Ohio.” That property “would be the primary target for satisfying any award,” he said.
How much could the Rhodens reap? Duncan replied in an email: “TBD.”
Wrongful death suits can yield $2 million to $5 million per victim for actual damages, according to Kenneth Katkin, law professor at Northern Kentucky University. Actual damages account for loss of income, inheritance and other quantifiable items.
Punitive damages – awarded as punishment for emotional harm – can be up to nine times actual damage awards, according to the U.S. Supreme Court standards. “You could be talking about very high numbers here,” Katkin said.
Given their losses, no one would blame the Rhodens for chasing the dollars, said Cincinnati attorney Mike Allen, a former Hamilton County prosecutor.
“If there’s a potential pot of money, (the Rhodens) are within their rights to go after it,” Allen said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pike County massacre: How much money did the Wagners have?
