DAY 23: Angela Wagner’s mother, co-defendant testifies against family to spare her own freedom

WAVERLY, Ohio — In the final day of the fourth week of trial for George Wagner IV, his grandmother took the stand against him.

Jurors heard from several witnesses on Friday as the state continues to present their case against Wagner for more than two dozen charges, including eight counts of murder. Prosecutors allege Wagner and his mother, father, and brother killed the Rhoden family in 2016 over a child custody dispute.

Angela Wagner’s mother, Rita Newcomb was the prosecutor’s key witness for the day. Newcomb was charged in connection with the massacre for lying to investigators and a grand jury. Newcomb, who is a notary public told prosecutors and the grand jury, along with agents from BCI that she witnessed victim Hannah Rhoden sign custody documents giving sole custody to Newcomb’s grandson, and co-defendant Jake Wagner. The issue, though, is that Newcomb testified on Friday that she did not actually see Rhoden sign the paperwork and that her daughter, Angela, stole the notary stamp, used it, and asked her mother to lie. The paperwork was found during a search warrant executed on the Wagner’s storage trailers that housed their belongings. Not only were the documents fraudulently forged with Newcomb’s stamp and Rhoden’s signature, but the paperwork was also illegally post-dated to reflect the signing occurring two years before the murders, when in reality, the fake papers were created just three weeks before the killings.

Friday was the first time George Wagner saw and heard from his maternal grandmother in four years. As co-defendants, the two have been barred from contacting each other as a condition of the court. Newcomb’s testimony was part of her plea deal with her charge to avoid prison time. By testifying, she would only receive probation.

Also on Friday, the state brought back a BCI agent named Bryan White who talked about a new barn on the Wagner property. The state did not go into detail about what significance the barn played in the trial or the killings but went over in great detail the building of the barn.

Another witness the jury heard from was familiar to them: Julia Everslage, who is an expert with BCI’s crime lab. She went over the Facebook accounts and tattoos of the Wagner family. The jury learned that the Wagners and Rhodens had each other blocked; everyone except Jake Wagner, who was friends with all the victims on the popular social media platform.

In addition, Angela Wagner’s common-law sister-in-law spoke in the morning about how Angela was controlling, deceitful, and was a proclaimed “criminal mastermind.”

The jury was dismissed just after 4 p.m. and will resume on Monday.