PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — Lawyers for George Wagner IV claim that their client was not a shooter in the Rhoden Family Massacre. Wagner’s lawyers argued in recent court documents that he did not kill anyone so the death penalty cannot be applied.
Wagner is accused of killing eight members of the Rhoden family in 2016. He’s facing the death penalty, and was charged in the slayings along with his mother, father, and brother.
Richard Nash, Jr. and John Parker, Wagner’s lawyers, wrote that statements and recorded confessions from others show that “George Washington Wagner IV did not shoot and kill any of the victims.”
Nash said, “The State seeks to hold the death penalty over the head of George Wagner, who did not kill anybody while it has struck a remarkable plea bargain with the actual killer of at least five of the victims who also shot the sixth victim.”
Wagner family members were arrested in November 2018 after investigators said they killed eight members of the Rhoden family over what was described as a custody dispute.
Killed were Dana Manley Rhoden, 37; her ex-husband, Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; their sons, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; their daughter, Hanna Rhoden, 19, the mother of Jake Wagner’s daughter; Frankie’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20; Kenneth Rhoden, 44, a brother to Chris Sr; and Gary Rhoden, 38, a cousin to Kenneth and Chris Sr.
Wagner’s brother, Jake, who is thought to be the mastermind behind the slayings of his daughter’s family, pleaded guilty to all charges earlier this year in exchange for a plea deal.
George Wagner’s mother, Angela Wagner pleaded guilty to her role in the killings on September 10.
His father, Billy, remains in pre-trial proceedings.