Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:09 AM Pike County massacre suspects attended the funeral of one of the eight victims ... trends now

Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:09 AM Pike County massacre suspects attended the funeral of one of the eight victims ... trends now
Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:09 AM Pike County massacre suspects attended the funeral of one of the eight victims ... trends now

Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:09 AM Pike County massacre suspects attended the funeral of one of the eight victims ... trends now

An Ohio man and his two grown sons who are accused of killing eight members of a rival family in 2016 over a custody dispute attended their victims' funerals, recent testimony revealed.

George Wagner IV, 30, is the first of his family to stand trial for the Pike County massacre of the Rhoden family that he allegedly carried out with his father, George 'Billy' Wagner III, his brother, Edward 'Jake' Wagner and his mother, Angela Wagner.

Testimony on Friday revealed that at least three members of the Wagner family attended the funerals of the Rhoden family less than a week after they were slaughtered while they slept. 

Eight members of the Rhoden family were found shot to death on April 22, 2016, at different residences in Pike, County, Ohio, but the Wagner family was not implicated in the murders until 2018. 

George Wagner IV, 30, is the first of his family to stand trial for the Pike County massacre of the Rhoden family that he allegedly carried out with his father, his brother and his mother

George Wagner IV, 30, is the first of his family to stand trial for the Pike County massacre of the Rhoden family that he allegedly carried out with his father, his brother and his mother

James 'Cody' Manley, the cousin of one of the victims, testified Friday that he saw the Wagners at the funerals for the Rhoden family back in 2016 less than a week after allegedly killing them

James 'Cody' Manley, the cousin of one of the victims, testified Friday that he saw the Wagners at the funerals for the Rhoden family back in 2016 less than a week after allegedly killing them

James 'Cody' Manley, a family member of the Rhoden's, took the stand on Friday, and testified that he discovered his Rhoden and fiancé Hannah 'Hazel' Gilley, both 20, shot to death in their room. 

Their six-month-old baby, found covered in blood on Gilley's chest, had been nursing when her mother was shot in the head and face. 

'I just froze,' he said on the stand on Friday. 'I saw things I didn't want to see.'

Less than a week after the horrific mass murder, Manley attended the funeral of 38-year-old Gary Rhoden, another cousin who had been killed in the shootings, and said he remembers seeing the Wagner family. 

Archived photos recently published by the Cincinnati Enquirer show George Wagner, his brother Jake and his father Billy walking into the Greenup, Kentucky, funeral home on April 27, 2016.

Gary Rhoden's funeral was the first of eight funerals held for the family. Manley testified that he saw the Wagners at the other victims' funerals as well.  

Manley is the son of James and April Manley, the brother and sister-in-law of Dana Manley-Rhoden, who was killed in the shootings. He was best friends with his cousin Frankie Rhoden who was also shot dead. 

When the trial began last month, special prosecutor Angela Canepa relayed the bloody saga and argued that the Wagners spent months planning the killings and targeted some of the victims, but 'some sadly were killed because they happened to be there.'

Prosecutors have alleged the murders were committed by four members of the Wagner family, and while George Wagner IV is not believed to have killed anyone, he allegedly participated by voting in favor of the murders.

His brother, Edward 'Jake' Wagner and their mother, have both pleaded guilty to the murders, a plot that was allegedly planned so they could have full custody of Jake's daughter, who is shared with Hanna Rhoden.

Hanna, 19, was shot multiple times as she slept next to her newborn baby, after Jake Wagner tried to convince her to agree to share custody of their child.

'I won't sign papers ever,' Rhoden wrote in a private Facebook message in 2015, months before the killings. 'They will have to kill me first.'

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George Wagner IV arrived at the courthouse on Monday for opening statements

George Wagner IV arrived at the courthouse on Monday for opening statements

Hanna Rhoden, 19, was killed as she slept after Jake Wagner tried to convince her to agree to share custody. Jake's brother George Wagner IV is the first person on trial

Hanna Rhoden, 19, was killed as she slept after Jake Wagner tried to convince her to agree to share custody. Jake's brother George Wagner IV is the first person on trial

All of the victims were shot in the head multiple times while they slept with Jake saying he was 'personally responsible' for five of the deaths.

Hanna's father Christopher Rhoden Sr, 40, mother Dana Rhoden, 37, and brothers Clarence, 20, and Christopher Jr, 16, were also killed in the massacre.

Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden's fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20, Christopher Sr.'s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44, and cousin Gary Rhoden, 38, were also shot dead across four different homes across rural Ohio.

Three children that were at the scene of the slaying were spared, Clarence's sons Brentley, 4, and Ruger Lee, six months, and Hanna's daughter Kyle who was five days old at the time.

The brutal executions shook the rural Ohio county and launched one of the state's most extensive criminal investigations, which led to the Wagners' arrest more than two years later.

Four people in the Wagner family have been accused of taking part in the brutal murders.

Defense attorneys for George IV insist that he had nothing to do

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