On April 22, 2016, seven adults and one teenager, all members of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio, were shot in their sleep, “execution-style,” according to prosecutors. The perpetrators had broken into the family’s trailer complex and left a small child and two newborns alive. When the family’s bodies were discovered, the children were found covered in blood and one of the newborns was trying to nurse her dead mother. Exactly five years after the murders, a man admitted before a judge that he was guilty of the murders. His name was Edward “Jake” Wagner and one of the victims, Hanna Rhoden, 19, was the mother of his 2-year-old child. Story continues below ad Emotions ran high in the Pike County Courthouse as members of the Rhoden family gathered to listen to Edward “Jake” Wagner during his hearing in Pike County Court Thursday, April 22, 2021 in Pike County, Ohio. Edward “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty Thursday to the 2016 murders of the mother of his child and seven members of her family. Robert McGraw/The Chillicothe Gazette via AP To avoid the death penalty, Jake pleaded guilty to 23 counts in connection with the Rhodes massacre. Not only did he implicate himself, but he agreed to testify against his entire family. Jake’s mother, Angela Wagner, also ended up pleading guilty to conspiracy, tampering with evidence and other charges related to the murders. But Jake’s father and brother, George Wagner III and George Wagner IV, respectively, maintained their innocence. Even Jake’s grandmother was wrapped up in the plot, with Rita Newcomb pleading guilty to a charge of misdemeanor obstruction. Jake’s other grandmother, Frederica Wagner, originally had charges filed against her, but they have since been dropped.

		Read more: Stabbing in Saskatchewan: Here are the names of all the victims of the tragedy 		
		read more 		


			Saskatchewan stabbing: Here are the names of all the victims of the tragedy

In a small community in Appalachia where everyone knows everyone and family ties run deep, the Wagners seemingly took things a step further. According to the Washington Post, they are an insular, close-knit family who homeschooled their children. Story continues below ad “There was definitely an obsession with custody, an obsession with controlling children,” then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a press conference at the time. Prosecutors will argue before a 12-person jury that the Wagners planned the massacre of the Rhoden family for months in order to gain custody of the daughter Jake had with Hanna when she was a minor.

		Read more: American tourist killed by shark attack while snorkeling in Bahamas

DeWine, now the state’s governor, called the case the largest criminal investigation in Ohio history “by far.” “This was calculated, planned. It just makes you shudder to think about it,” DeWine said last year, adding that the killers acted in “cold, cold, cold blood.” Special prosecutor Angela Canepa said of the case, “It’s very much a family matter,” during a hearing in May. “All for one and one for all.” The incident was called the “Pike County Massacre.”

		Read more: OnlyFans model lawsuit: Judge rejects Courtney Clenney’s ‘sexual language’ claim

The murders

Bobby Jo Manley was on her way to visit her ex-brother-in-law when she walked into a bloodbath. Story continues below ad She had gone to the trailer park in Rhoden to visit Chris Rhoden Sr., 40, when she discovered him dead and covered in blood along with the bodies of his cousin Gary, 38, and ex-wife Dana, 37. Chris’ children and Dana, Hanna, Chris Jr., 16, and Clarence, 20, were also dead. Clarence’s fiancee, Hannah Gilley, 20, had also been murdered. According to prosecutors’ account of events, some of the victims were collateral damage, “killed because they happened to be there,” Canepa said.

		Read more: Patients lay for hours on Misericordia hospital floor: ‘It was disgusting’

The only survivors were Clarence’s three-year-old son, Clarence and Hannah Gilley’s infant, and Hanna Rhoden’s new baby (her child with Jake was not living at the compound when the murders occurred). That same day, Chris Sr.’s brother, Kenneth, 44, was also found murdered in his home, 15 minutes away from the trailer park. When investigators arrived at Roden’s compound they found a horrific and chaotic scene. Law enforcement ended up removing entire trailers to preserve the evidence. Trending Stories

			Saskatchewan mass-murder suspect carried out similar attack in 2015, court records show 	   				1 dead, 2 injured in north Edmonton stabbing.  suspect arrested after manhunt 	  


				In this May 3, 2016 file photo, mourners gather around caskets for six of the eight members of the Rhoden family who were found shot to death on April 22, 2016. John Minchillo/AP

Motivation

Investigators found evidence of cockfighting and commercial marijuana cultivation at Roden’s compound, fueling wild speculation that the family had crossed paths with a Mexican drug cartel. Story continues below ad Law enforcement and prosecutors eventually began to build a case around the Wagner family, painting Jake as an intimidating man and his family as a cultish tribe capable of extreme violence. Jake Wagner began a relationship with Hannah Roden when she was 13, prosecutors say. When Hannah was 15, Jake, then 20, impregnated her. Along with the manslaughter charges, Jake was charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. When Hannah ended the relationship, Jake began threatening her for custody of their daughter, prosecutors say. Hannah ended up having a second child with another man, and Wagner allegedly pressured her to falsely list him as the father on her new child’s birth certificate.

		Read more: Anne Heche death: Horrifying details revealed in firefighter’s radio recordings

Prosecutors say Jake was enraged that his daughter was being exposed to Hannah’s new boyfriend and his family. He pushed Hannah to give him custody of their child, but she refused. Hannah wrote that she “would never sign papers. They should kill me first,” in a December 2015 Facebook message. Jake’s mother Angela reportedly hacked Hannah’s Facebook account and read the message. That’s when prosecutors said the Wagners began planning to kill her and kill any Rhoden they believed would prevent them from claiming custody of her child. Story continues below ad According to prosecutors, the Wagners planned the massacre together and put the decision to a family vote.

		Read more: News anchor Julie Chin suffers ‘beginnings of stroke’ on live TV

The Wagners allegedly made homemade silencers for their guns, which police found after executing a search warrant in 2018, and bought “brass collectors” to avoid leaving bullet casings at crime scenes. Prosecutors believe they also bought a truck and shoes specifically for the massacre and used “phone jamming” to prevent victims from calling for help. According to an indictment, the Wagners stalked the Rhodens to study their habits and learn where they sleep. Prosecutors have described the family as a “criminal enterprise,” but Wagner’s attorney has tried to push back against that characterization. “A big part of the state’s argument that we expect is, ‘It’s Wagner, and that’s how Wagners work,’” said an attorney for George Wagner IV. “The jury must understand the basic premise of our criminal justice system is this: our law punishes people for what they do, not [for] who are they.”

		Read more: Saskatchewan stabbing: Parole board to consider release of suspect, minister says

Story continues below ad But according to other women who have dealt with the Wagners, this behavior is perfectly reasonable. George IV’s ex-wife Tabitha Claytor, with whom he has a son, is set to testify at the trial. She told police the family pressured her to sign documents granting custody of her son because they promised the deal would be temporary. The family then stopped allowing her to see her son, she says. Jake is also accused of stalking his ex-wife, who is expected to testify that the Wagners made her fear for her life.

The trial

The four Wagners were arrested in 2018 after police found parts for a makeshift silencer and bullet casing and shoes that matched what was found at the crime scene in the family’s home. In this Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, file photo, Edward “Jake” Wagner is escorted by police into the holding area at Pike County Common Pleas Court in Waverly, Ohio. Brooke LaValley/The Columbus Dispatch via AP Shockingly, in 2021, Jake Wagner broke the family unit and confessed to the murders. Part of the plea deal he secured means he and his family will not face the death penalty if convicted. The story continues below…