Woman pleads guilty over plot that led to deaths of eight family members

11 September 2021, 08:14

Angela Wagner sits next to her lawyers in the Pike County Common Pleas Court (Brooke LaValley/AP)
Ohio Family Killed. Picture: PA

Angela Wagner, 50, admitted conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, along with burglary, evidence tampering and other charges.

A woman pleaded guilty to helping plan the killings of eight members of a family, becoming the second member of her own family to admit to a role in a shocking crime prosecutors in the US state of Ohio say stemmed from a dispute over custody of her granddaughter.

Angela Wagner, 50, pleaded guilty in southern Ohio’s Pike County to conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, along with burglary, evidence tampering and other charges.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped aggravated murder charges against her and recommended that she serve a 30-year prison sentence.

Her agreement to give evidence against other remaining defendants was also part of the deal, they said.

She did not make any statements during the hearing.

Her husband and their two adult sons also were charged in the 2016 killings of seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family.

Wagner’s plea comes nearly five months after her son Edward “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and agreed to give evidence against the other three in a deal that would help all four avoid potential death sentences.

George “Billy” Wagner III and George Wagner IV have pleaded not guilty.

Eight people were killed in the attack (Peter Byrne/PA)
Eight people were killed in the attack (Peter Byrne/PA)

The fatal shootings at three trailers and a camper near Piketon in April 2016 terrified residents in a stretch of rural Ohio and launched one of the state’s most extensive criminal investigations, which led to the Wagners’ arrest more than two years later.

The Wagners spent months planning the killings and targeted some of the victims, but “some sadly were killed because they happened to be there”, said special prosecutor Angela Canepa.

Most of the victims were repeatedly shot in the head, and some showed signs of bruising.

Three young children at the scenes were unharmed.

The victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden; their three children, 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 16-year-old Christopher Jr, and 19-year-old Hanna; Clarence Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley; Christopher Rhoden Sr’s brother, 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden; and a cousin, 38-year-old Gary Rhoden.

Prosecutors say the Wagner family planned the killings for months, motivated by a dispute over custody of the daughter Jake Wagner had with Hanna Rhoden.

The Wagners used guns with homemade silencers, allowing them to kill their victims as they slept, according to the prosecutors.

Angela Wagner was fully aware of the plans and bought several items used to carry out the killings, including “phone jammers” that would have prevented the victims from calling for help, Ms Canepa said.

She also forged custody documents and monitored some of the victims’ social media accounts before the killings, Ms Canepa said.

Wagner approached prosecutors about a deal and gave them new information after her son pleaded guilty, Ms Canepa said.

Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in April on the fifth anniversary of the killings and said in court that he was “deeply and very sorry”.

He has not been sentenced, but his lawyer said he understood that he would spend his life in prison.

Christopher Rhoden Sr’s brother, Tony Rhoden Sr, has said the family was grateful for the first plea as “some semblance of justice”.

He also has sued the Wagners.

That case is pending.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Video footage shows the convoy had emergency lights flashing when it was hit

Israel admits ‘mistakenly’ killing 15 aid workers after video leak contradicted official version of events

Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US in the wake of 'Liberation Day' tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover halts shipments to US in wake of tariffs as Trump insists he'll win 'economic revolution'

Flowers and toys left on a swing seat to commemorate victims killed in Russia's missile attack on Friday

Death toll from Russian strike on Zelenskyy's home town rises as 18 confirmed dead - including nine children

Donald Trump's 10% tariff on UK products has officially come into force

Trump tariffs come into force as global stock markets plunge deeper into the red

Tom Howard

British tourist killed after being struck by boulder on trek through Himalayas

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a car burns following a Russian missile attack that killed more than a dozen people, including children, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia kills 16 people including three children in missile strike on Zelenskyy's home town, with dozens wounded

Travel influencer Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made an illegal visit to North Sentinel Island

Tourist who left Coke for world's most isolated tribe 'could have wiped them all out' - and police 'can't go collect can'

White House weighs in to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

White House looking to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

This image provided by NASA shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. (NASA via AP)

Stranded NASA astronauts reveal they were almost trapped in space 'forever' after horror malfunction

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen'

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen' after far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement in 'witch hunt'

China will impose a 34% retaliatory tariff on imports from the US

China announces additional 34% tariffs on US imports in retaliation over Trump's 'Liberation Day' levies

Friends of Prince Andrew say he's "unsurprised" Giuffre made the post

Prince Andrew 'not surprised' his accuser shared shock post saying she had 'four days to live'

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office as impeachment upheld over martial law declaration

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’