WAVERLEE, Ohio (AP) — A woman who helped plan the 2016 murders of eight members of another family rocked rural southern Ohio and haunted investigators for more than two years. Although it is a crime, she says that this massacre was her husband’s idea.
Angela Wagner said she could face the death penalty if convicted while testifying Tuesday in the murder trial of her 31-year-old son, George Wagner IV. was expected.
the cause of the murder childcustodydispute Another son of Angela Wagner and one of the victims are implicated, officials said.
Angela Wagner said her second son, Jake, tried to kill the child’s mother, but her husband, George “Billy” Wagner III, objected because he believed the woman’s family would seek revenge.
“They’ll know and then they’ll come for Jake. Angela Wagner said her husband told her. He also said the rest of the woman’s family “had to be murdered. ”, she testified.
Angela Wagner pleaded guilty to 14 charges in September 2021 and agreed to testify against her eldest son and husband. In return, prosecutors dismissed eight counts of aggravated murder and agreed not to seek the death penalty for her.
Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in April 2021 He shot and killed five of his victims, saying he had no choice but to kill the mother of his then-infant daughter.
George Wagner IV, who is accused of helping plan the murder, is the first person to be tried for murder. His father has pleaded not guilty and will likely not be tried until next year.His four members of the Wagner family were not arrested until more than two years after his murder.
The man killed was 40-year-old Christopher Roden Sr. his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; Their three children, Clarence “Frankie” Roden, 20, Christopher Jr., 16, Hannah Roden, 19, and mother of her Wagner daughter Jake. Clarence Rhoden’s fiancée, 20-year-old Hannah Gilly. Kenneth Rhoden, 44, brother of Christopher Rhoden Sr. cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden;