TWO suspects convicted in connection with the horrific massacre of eight family members a decade ago will be resentenced following a bombshell ruling.
The April 2016 murders of the Rhoden family rocked the rural community of Pike County, Ohio, after eight relatives were found dead in four separate homes, all with gunshot wounds to the head.
Jake Wagner enters the Pike County courthouse in January 2025 for his sentencing in the April 2016 murders of the Rhoden family members and Hannah GilleyCredit: Liz Dufour/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Angela Wagner appeared in court for sentencing in 2025 in connection with the Pike County massacreCredit: Liz Dufour/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Eight members of the Rhoden family were found slaughtered in their homes in April 2016Credit: Getty
Faded crime scene tape and a private property sign can be seen in front of a barn on the on the land where some of the Rhoden family lived in Piketon, Ohio, in July 2022Credit: Getty
The victims were identified as Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, Gary Rhoden, 38, Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20, Hannah Gilley, 20, Dana Rhoden, 37, Hanna Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Kenneth Rhoden, 44.
After a more than two-year investigation, involving extensive digital forensic evidence, authorities arrested four members of the local wealthy Wagner family.
Edward “Jake” Wagner, his brother George Wagner IV, and their parents Angela Wagner and George “Billy” Wagner III were all arrested in November 2018 and charged with eight counts of aggravated murder and other crimes.
However, before any of the relatives went on trial, Jake, now 34, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in April 2021 to save his family members from the death penalty.
Jake pleaded guilty to eight counts of aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 32 years.
His mother, Angela, now 55, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
But on Friday, more than five years since pleading guilty, an Ohio appellate judge ordered that the mother and son be resentenced, stating that their sentences violated their plea agreements.
Under the plea terms, Jake was to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Moreover, both Angela and Jake’s sentences were supposed to be imposed after they testified at George III’s trial, which has not been set yet.
As part of their plea deals, Jake and Angela also testified at George IV’s trial.
A jury convicted George IV, now 34, in October 2022 on all 22 counts, including aggravated murder, and sentenced him to eight consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 121 years in prison.
It’s unclear when Jake and Angela’s resentencing will be held.
Investigators learned that the motive behind the horrific massacre stemmed from a bitter custody dispute between Jake and Hanna, who shared a toddler girl at the time.
The gruesome executions were spread across four different properties, all within close proximity of one another.
George Wagner IV walks into the courtroom at the Pike County Courthouse for his arraignment in Waverly, Ohio, in November 2018Credit: AP
George ‘Billy’ Wagner III escorted into the Pike County Common Courtroom for a preliminary hearing in Waverly, Ohio, in March 2025Credit: Liz Dufour/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In the first property, a relative found Rhoden Sr. and his cousin Gary dead from gunshot wounds to the head.
Rhoden Sr. was also shot in the torso and limbs, authorities said.
Adjacent to the first home, the bodies of Clarence and Gilley were uncovered.
Investigators said Clarence and Gilley were engaged and had two young children, a 3-year-old and a newborn, who were found unharmed at the crime scene.
About a mile down the road, the bodies of Rhoden Sr.’s family were found, including his ex-wife Dana and their children Hanna and Rhoden Jr.
A 6-month-old infant was found in the home unharmed.
Clarence was the eldest son of Dana and Rhoden Sr.
The final crime scene was located roughly a 10-minute drive from the first crime scene, where the body of Kenneth was found.
Kenneth was the brother of Rhoden Sr. He was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.
The Pike County Sheriff’s Office described how seven of the eight victims were discovered to have been shot execution-style.
Hanna Rhoden had a newborn girl with Jake Wagner at the time of her murderCredit: Facebook
Prosecutors said that Jake Wagner and his family carried out the vicious massacre to ensure he gained sole custody of his and Hanna’s daughterCredit: AP
Bobby Jo Manley, the sister of Dana, was the first relative to stumble upon the grisly scene and recalled noticing pools of dry blood on the floor of her brother-in-law’s trailer.
Manley immediately called police and ran over to her nephew Clarence’s trailer nearby to alert him, but she stumbled upon another gruesome scene.
There she found her nephew’s two children in the home unsupervised, as Clarence and Hannah were shot dead in their bed.
Standing in the blood-soaked mattress between his two parents was the couple’s 6-month-old son, covered from head-to-toe in blood, Manley recalled.
Early in the investigation, authorities pursued false leads that Mexican 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 cartels were responsible for the massacre after finding a large cannabis cultivation on the Rhoden properties.
But the extensive investigation by law enforcement revealed that the Wagners meticulously planned the murders to ensure Jake gained sole custody of his daughter.
The Wagner family moved to Alaska a year after the massacre, raising suspicions by authorities who took the opportunity to execute multiple search warrants at the property they left behind.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation spent weeks digging up and searching the Wagners’ farm and dismantled a trailer, locating a hidden compartment where the killers built a false wall to hide their murder setup.
BCI and FBI agents intercepted the Wagner family at Anchorage International Airport where they seized their electronic devices and took DNA samples.
By early 2018, under the scope of a law enforcement investigation and in deep financial stress, the Wagner family relocated back to Ohio, where they were arrested in November of that year.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(995x491:997x493):format(webp)/marshals-luke-grimes-052226-286c2446d42749afad4ad0d468018c79.jpg)