WAVERLY, Ohio — The fourth day in the death penalty trial of George W. Wagner IV in Pike County started to progress a little on Thursday.
The previous days were filled with testimony mostly from first responders and focused on the three first crime scenes on Union Hill Road. However, on Thursday, the state entered the fourth crime scene: the home of Kenneth Rhoden evidence. Rhoden was the eighth and final victim found dead in a camper on Left Fork Road.
PARAMEDIC DARRYL HART:
Pike County Paramedic Darryl Hart chose not to be on video. The man was a medic at the time of the homicides and was working for what was then known as Pike County EMS. He said he was called to the scene of the homicides early in the morning with another employee on a squad. Hart said he does not recall who was driving the ambulance but that he remembers the route they drove to get there.
The extent of his involvement in the case was limited mostly to Dana Rhoden’s house, where a young newborn baby was found alive. It was in this house trailer where Chris Jr. and Hanna May were also found dead, along with Dana. Hanna, as the Guardian has previously reported, was found to have been breastfeeding; the state has said Jake Wagner shot and killed her, and repositioned her body in a way that the baby could continue to nurse until the bodies were found.
Hart said deputies were still inside the trailer with their guns drawn “clearing the residence” when he arrived at the scene and was ushered in by another law enforcement officer to take the baby out of the home. Hart said the baby was “sluggish” and was a little pink so in a routine medical exam, the medic “flicked” the baby’s foot, who responded normally.
The baby, which Hart described as young and “new, new” was only a few days old. The medic testified that he transferred the infant to another EMS crew, who took the baby to Adams County hospital. After that, Hart staged in the area with other EMS teams until being released by the Sheriff’s office. Aside from being low on oxygen, Hart said the baby did not appear to be harmed.
Of note, though, Hart said he knew Dana Rhoden from working in the medical community for “several years” and found her to be a nice person.
The defense did not cross-examine.
WITNESS DONALD STONE:
Family cousin Donald Stone took the stand and chose to be filmed. It appears that there is a common theme among the Rhoden family that they want to have their stories told on camera, whereas law enforcement and other public officials have opted out of being shown or heard.
Rhoden was one of the first people to find Kenneth Rhoden’s body in a camper on Left Fork Road. Kenneth was the eighth and final victim to be found. Previous testimony by the state and their witnesses have said Kenneth was killed simply because he “would have known” it was the Wagners who carried out the homicides.
Stone became emotional when he was shown photos of the crime scene, including pictures of Kenneth’s body. He had been shot in his left eye and was found in his bed, with money and keys on the edge of it. The money was crumbled and appeared it had been removed from pants pockets or a wallet.
On cross, the defense asked little questions about the property’s floor plan and the witness was released.
FAMILY MEMBER LUKE RHODEN:
Luke Rhoden is the son of Kenneth Rhoden. He was with Donald Stone when Kenneth’s body was found. Luke was very stoic on the stand, but appeared to be very honest. Every witness who was not law enforcement has been asked about marijuana grow operations found on the properties. Each witness has said they did not know anything about them, despite many people believing that not to be true. Luke, however, told the state that he knew about the pot grow at his father’s and that he had even helped him tend to the plants at times. On the property inside of a shed was a “small” grow operation with venting and adult plants.
Luke, who is 30, saw his dad the night before the killing. Kenneth had given Luke money to enroll in the trucking academy at a nearby college to get his CDLs. The last time Luke spoke to his dad was when Kenneth called to make sure Luke had received the money and was enrolled in the program.
Luke testified that he was alerted to the murders by his mother, who came into his bedroom and told him “Chris and everyone” was “shot up on the hill.” Luke went to Union Hill Road first, and was stopped by police. After waiting at a nearby church, he went to his dad’s house to check on him and that’s when Kenneth was found.
Luke was shown pictures of his dad’s body and remained without emotion, though he did start to breathe heavily. He said that the photos depicted what he found except the blanket covering his dad’s body had been moved.
Luke was asked about trail cams on the property that his dad had up for security purposes; those cameras were missing, according to the state.
At around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, the state handed Luke off to the defense to cross-examine, but the judge recessed for lunch instead.
On cross, Luke said he knew of George Wagner and Frankie Rhoden, but that he never hunted with them, as some have alleged. He said he knew about the pot operation and that he helped clean rocks for the indoor grow operation. He said the plants would grow at Kenneth’s for about 90 days and then they were harvested and taken to Chris Rhoden Sr.’s house to be sold. The average deal was $2,600-3,000 per pound, Luke said, of pot.
Luke said his dad was fixing to get out of the pot business altogether, and that he was going to hand the operation over to Gary Rhoden. Gary would often play “middle man” for drug deals, Luke said, or more commonly referred to on the street as a “dope boy.”
On redirect, the state clarified the comment made by Billy Wagner with regard to “shooting” Kenneth Rhoden if they ever got into a fight, and that is was a compliment, not a threat.
During the end of the redirect, the state asked for Luke Rhoden to point and identify the defendant, George Wagner IV., and he did just that.
A brief re-cross happened where the defense asked Luke if George Wagner looked the same as he did six years ago. At first, Luke said yes, but then changed his answer and said George had lost weight.
FAMILY FRIEND BRETT HATFIELD:
Brett Hatfield was called to the stand. He chose not to be on camera or audio. He knew the Rhodens his entire life, he said, and he worked with Kenneth at a company in Columbus. He would ride with Kenneth to work, or vice-versa. On the day Kenneth’s body was found, Brett said he drove to Kenneth’s to pick him up, but when he pulled into the driveway at around 4 a.m., “no light came on” and Kenneth did not go to the door. He said it was not uncommon for Kenneth to not show up for work if he was having issues with his blood pressure, so Brett testified he took it as another “one of those days” and he left without making contact with Kenneth or getting out of the vehicle.
Brett said he knew there was a grow operation between Kenneth and Chris, and he said that there was a big drug deal going down “out west” that was supposed to happen but got canceled. The deal was with Billy Wagner and Chris Sr., who ran drugs together. According to Brett, it was for several hundred thousand dollars and involved pounds of marijuana. Billy and Chris started the trek out west in a truck but Chris got cold feet in Cincinnatti and bailed, Brett said. Chris called someone to pick him up and he assumes that Billy continued on, but did not know. Brett testified that after the murders, Billy said to people that a local man, Skid Montgomery was running drugs with Chris and Billy and that the two latter were cutting out Skid, so Skid had the Rhodens killed. The state said this was never found to be true.
Brett testified that Chris Sr., always had a lot of cash on him and that Brett saw Chris Sr. have $400,000 in a black bag on him at home one day. Another time, Brett said he knew Chris was into cockfighting and won $30,000 in a battle.
On cross, Brett said he saw cocaine in Chris Sr.’s safe and that it was likely for Gary Rhoden to use because Gary was a cocaine abuser, according to the testimony. Again, he was asked about the pot grow operation and he said that it would take 2-3 weeks for Chris to sell out of the pot he harvested every three months. Brett spoke of an unknown “business partner” Chris had in Cincinnati, but did not know the person’s name. The defense alluded it was a drug business partner.
After about an hour, he was let off the stand.
DEPUTY BEAU ROMINE:
Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Beau Romine was the last witness of the day. He did not choose to have his testimony recorded. His testimony lasted less than 20 minutes because his involvement in the case was minor, he said. He was off-duty when the murders came into dispatch, but was called into work for “extra manpower” at the Union Hill scenes. Once there, he was put on “routine patrol” before getting dispatched in the afternoon to Left Fork Road; the camper of Kenneth Rhoden.
Romine said he was first on the scene in terms of law enforcement, along with then-deputy Bill Stansberry. They met Luke Rhoden and Donald Stone and secured the property.
The court recessed at around 3:30 p.m. and will resume on Friday at 9 a.m.