Pike County murder trial continued Tuesday

Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

WAVERLY, Ohio – The trial of George Wagner IV continued Tuesday with a hearing on whether full audio clips of conversations among Wagner IV and family members should be played for the jury.

Wagner IV faces 22 counts, including eight for aggravated murder, for the 2016 deaths of eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County. Wagner IV has pleaded not guilty.

On Monday, the prosecution played evidence pulled from phone calls, a laptop and an in-car conversation between members of the family. Wagner IV's attorneys objected to playing portions of the conversations and requested that the full audio be played.

Wagner IV's attorneys want jurors to get more context for the intercepts collected by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. "The problem is whatever excerpt is played, the jury is left with the impression about what the call was all about," attorney John Parker said.

The prosecution is expected to call more of its star witnesses in the days ahead. Those include Wagner IV's grandmother Fredericka Wagner, mother Angela Wagner and brother Edward "Jake" Wagner.

Here are highlights from Tuesday's proceedings via Twitter:

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial of George Wagner IV continues in Pike County with audio review