CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The jury selection in Ohio’s worst homicide case will continue into a second day.
The trial of George Wagner IV has a preliminary jury panel of nine women and three men seated. Approximately 35 jurors remain in the pool and will return on Tuesday. Judge Randy Deering told the room that he was hopeful Tuesday would be the final day of jury selection in the 2017 murders of Rhoden family. 
Opening arguments in the case are expected to begin sometime this week, the Court said, but the exact day and time is not for certain. It’s possible, Court staff said, that opening statements could be pushed to after the Labor Day weekend. The Judge will decide — most likely — Tuesday afternoon on when they will begin.
It has been 6 years since the slaughter of 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.
Two Wagner family members have already admitted to being involved in the massacre. The mother, Angela Wagner, accepted a plea deal in September of last year. Jake Wagner, her son, who is thought to have planned the killings, also pleaded guilty. Both will have to testify against their family members as part of the deal.
Richard Nash, Jr., and John Parker, two of Wagner’s lawyers, said in his defense that “statements and recorded confessions from others show that George Washington Wagner IV did not shoot and kill any of the victims.” 
The Guardian will live stream the trial once it begins.
