WAVERLY, Ohio — The person prosecutors have long-called the mastermind behind the killing of eight people in Pike County back in 2016 has pleaded guilty.
Jake Wagner, 28, pled to the eight murder charges he was facing on Thursday, which happened to be the fifth anniversary of the deaths. Wagner, according to prosecutors, has agreed to testify against his co-defendants, who are his mother, father, and brother, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Prosecutors shocked the public on Thursday when they announced to the court that Wagner had been working with them for sometime as a cooperating witness and that he even led them to the murder weapons and vehicles used during the killings.
Wagner will be faced with the maximum of 8 consecutive life sentences. In November 2018, an investigation lead by Mike DeWine linked the killings to the four members of the Wagner family. All of them had entered not guilty pleas; prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty against the three remaining defendants: the father, Billy Wagner, and his wife, Angela, along with their son, George.
The four had been planning the killings for months and watching the habits of the Rhodens, said DeWine. The motive may be connected to a previous relationship involving Jake Wagner and Hannah Rhoden. A week after the murders Wagner sought custody of the child he had with Hannah. The child is now in the care of child protective services.