WAVERLY, Ohio — The mother of a man accused of killing eight people in Pike County in 2016 will continue testifying Wednesday, but opted out of being recorded by the media, so her testimony won't be broadcast.
This story will be updated with her testimony during breaks in court.
You can watch live in the player below:
NOTE: Angela Wagner has opted out of being recorded, so her testimony will not be filmed or broadcast. You can watch parts of the trial that are allowed for streaming below.
George Wagner IV — along with his mother Angela, father George "Billy" Wagner and brother Edward "Jake" Wagner — is accused of shooting and killing the Rhoden family members "execution-style." The family's bodies were found on April 22, 2016. He faces eight charges of aggravated murder, along with other charges associated with tampering with evidence, conspiracy and forgery.
Found dead that day were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah "Hazel" Gilley, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 20-year-old Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 37-year-old Gary Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden, and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden.
The trial is the first time a person has faced a jury for the deaths of the Rhoden family six years ago.
On Wednesday, Angela testified that Billy wanted to build a goose house for his father, bringing materials down and teaching George and Jake how to construct it. She said she didn't know what was in the concrete buckets and was taking care of Bulvine and Sophia, Jake and George's children, while the goose house was being put into the pond at the Flying W Farm.
Billy told his sister no one but him was to touch the goose house, Angela said.
By this point, agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations had begun trying to speak with Angela and her family, she said; Billy told her he spoke with officers in their car in a parking lot. She said he told her he'd told them "the truth" and if agents spoke with her, she should do the same.
"We were trying to not tell anybody," said Angela, explaining she hadn't understood what Billy meant by "the truth."
Angela Canepa, special prosecutor, asked Angela whether she'd believed at any point the Wagners would get away with the murders.
"My belief is even if we hadn't ended up in jail or arrested," the family would never "get away with it," because they had to live with what they'd done regardless.
In April 2017, the family decided to move to Alaska after selling their farm on Peterson Road, but not after discussing it thoroughly, Angela told the jury. Billy was on the fence about leaving, particularly because his father was very sick, and his mother, Fredericka, didn't want him to leave either, Angela said.
Billy's mother "had a very big crying episode" over the idea of Billy moving with the family, Angela said. Fredericka offered to pay Angela $1,000 a month if the family stayed in Ohio, but Angela declined, she said.
Angela said she wouldn't have made the move at all if she'd known how sick her own father was at the time.
She described feeling nervous, worried and upset when the family learned, from Alaska, that BCI agents were searching the Peterson Road farm. She echoed Jake's testimony, telling the jury she was upset in general that agents waited until the Wagners were gone to search, when agents had been to the farm when they were packing.
She also conceded that "when you're trying to hide something," anxiety and worry are heightened. She worried about "anything being found that shouldn't be found" at the Peterson Road home, she said.
Canepa asked whether the family came up with a story they were all to tell law enforcement in case they were questioned about the murders; the story would be that Billy came over to Peterson Road for family night and they all watched a movie, Angela said. However, neither she nor Jake could remember which movie they'd agreed on, she said.
When agents detained and questioned the family at the U.S. and Canadian border on their way back from Alaska, Angela admitted she was caught off guard by questions about the Walmart shoes she'd purchased. She said she didn't remember that she'd left the receipt for the shoes behind; Fredericka later offered to lie and tell investigators the shoes were bought for Billy's dad, but Angela said she declined because she'd already lied to officers about them.
During that interview, Bulvine and Sophia were supposed to be in the hall outside coloring "and then I didn't know where they went," said Angela. When she was released, she found Billy standing at the family's vehicle in the parking lot and the two waited together for their sons and grandchildren to come out.
"I remember just looking at the door and hoping and praying they would come out," said Angela, adding she was concerned her sons would be arrested for the murders that very day.
She fretted over the agents' questions about the shoes, she said, but Billy instructed everyone that their vehicle was likely bugged and told the family not to say anything.
On the road once more, Angela said Bulvine was acting disoriented, so the Wagners took the children to an emergency room in Montana to have them checked out; ultimately, nothing was wrong with the children, she said.
The family stayed in Ohio for just a week, collected their belongings, and traveled back to Alaska. When they got there, they rented a home and put it in George's name, she said.
Eventually, then-Attorney General Mike DeWine issued a press release asking the public for information on Angela, Billy, George and Jake.
"It was devastating," said Angela, telling the jury it made her crazy and stressed out.
This story will be updated as testimony unfolds throughout the day.
More about Angela Wagner's plea deal:
Angela Wagner, Jake and George's mother and Billy's wife, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to charges of:
- conspiracy
- aggravated burglary
- tampering with evidence
- forgery
- unauthorized use of property
- unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance.
In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop eight charges of aggravated murder and recommended 30 years in prison with no chance of early release. Like Jake's, her plea deal stipulates she will have to testify in the trials of her family members.
She has not yet officially been sentenced.
You can read recaps of each day of the trial in our coverage below:
- Angela Wagner called to stand, opted out of recording
- Investigators describe recovering, testing murder weapons
- Jake Wagner finishes testimony as seventh week of trial wrapped up
- 'I felt I had no other choice than to kill Hanna,' Jake Wagner told jury
- 'I was afraid they were going to kill me,' Jake's ex-wife testifies
- Texts between Hanna Rhoden and Jake Wagner detail ongoing custody argument
- Witnesses describe intertwined Wagner finances and a device found inside a well
- Clandestine recordings made by Jake, Wagner family finances presented
- Wire taps played for jury as court enters sixth week of testimony
- George Wagner IV's grandmother testifies
- Interview with Angela played for jury, Angela's half brother takes stand
- Texts highlight Wagner family dynamic, purchases for possible silencer
- Dozens of guns collected in search of Flying W Farm, but no murder weapons
- Jury shown evidence collected from Wagner belongings
- Evidence collected on Wagner property presented
- BCI agents testified to evidence
- Ex-wife of George Wagner IV describes 'strange and controlling' Wagner home
- Jury hears from George Wagner IV's ex-wife as fourth week of testimony begins
- Family members tearfully describe the day of the homicides
- Bloody shoe prints, cell phone records are focus
- Experts testify about ballistics, shoeprint evidence
- Third week of trial moves on to Kenneth Rhoden's home
- Evidence presented from third crime scene
- Scene where Dana, Chris. Jr and Hanna May Rhoden were killed is focus
- Testimony focuses on second of four crime scenes
- Coroner describes two of eight victims autopsied
- Forensic testimony continues into Monday
- Forensic evidence takes center stage
- Testimony centers on Kenneth Rhoden, final victim discovered
- Emergency responders testify about chaotic scenes
- Witnesses describe discovering their family members' bodies
- Opening statements detail grisly moments in the six-year-old murder case
- Read a full timeline of the Pike County murder investigation
Watch opening statements below:
