{"id":812386,"date":"2024-12-16T22:22:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T04:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/16\/trial-for-man-accused-of-killing-eight-family-members-to-move\/"},"modified":"2024-12-16T22:22:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T04:22:52","slug":"trial-for-man-accused-of-killing-eight-family-members-to-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/16\/trial-for-man-accused-of-killing-eight-family-members-to-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial for man accused of killing eight family members to move"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Posted at 4:50 PM, November 25, 2024 <\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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WAVERLY, Ohio (Scripps News Cincinnati) \u2014 George \u201cBilly\u201d Wagner III won\u2019t go before a jury of his peers in Pike County when he faces trial for his alleged part in the murder of eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judge Jonathan P. Hein ruled Monday in favor of the defense\u2019s request to move the trial out of Pike County, citing there has been too much public and media interest in the case to seat an impartial jury.<\/p>\n

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\"Billy<\/p>\n

The trial of George \u201cBilly\u201d Wagner III is scheduled to begin May 6, 2024. He\u2019s accused in the brutal massacre of members of the Rhoden family. Wagner\u2019s son, George Wagner IV, was previously convicted on all charges related to the case, including eight counts of aggravated murder. (Paul Weeden\/WCPO)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to Hein\u2019s ruling, the new venue for Billy\u2019s trial has not been identified yet. The trial was scheduled to begin on January 6, though it\u2019s unclear whether the change of venue will impact that timeline.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe court finds that the intense scope of media coverage in this case \u2014 and other closely related cases \u2014 was so pervasive that prejudice is presumed,\u201d reads Hein\u2019s decision. \u201cThe small population of Pike County and the intense media coverage leads the court to conclude that no jury could truthfully answer that they have no prior knowledge of the horrendous factors of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

RELATED |\u00a0<\/strong>Man convicted in Ohio family massacre wants new trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Billy Wagner, like his wife, Angela<\/a>, and two sons, Jake<\/a> and George<\/a>, is accused of taking part in what\u2019s been called\u00a0one of the biggest murder cases in Ohio\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s accused of shooting and killing eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families \u201cexecution-style.\u201d The family\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Found dead that day were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah \u201cHazel\u201d Gilley, 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr., 20-year-old Clarence \u201cFrankie\u201d Rhoden, 37-year-old Gary Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden, and 44-year-old Kenneth Rhoden.<\/p>\n

Changing the trial location is yet another blow to the prosecution \u2014 who was opposed to change of venue requests made in both Billy\u2019s case and during the trial of his son, George, which took place in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"George<\/p>\n

George Wagner IV, takes the stand in his, Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022 in Pike County Common Pleas Court in Waverly, Ohio. His attorney, John P. Parker, started the questioning with Wagner\u2019s upbringing. Judge Randy Deering presides. Eight members of the Rhoden family were found shot to death at four different locations on April 21-22, 2016. Wagner\u2019s brother Jake Wagner and mom, Angela Wagner, have already pleaded guilty. George\u2019s dad, George \u201cBilly\u201d Wagner III will go on trial in 2023. (Liz Dufour\/Cincinnati Enquirer\/POOL)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Just Wednesday, Hein also announced that, unless prosecutors and defense attorneys could file an official agreement by Nov. 25,\u00a0he plans to dismiss the death penalty specifications Billy faces\u00a0\u2014 and schedule sentencing for Jake and Angela Wagner.<\/p>\n

Those sentencing hearings\u00a0are officially on the court\u2019s docket for December 17.<\/p>\n

READ MORE |\u00a0<\/strong>George Wagner testifies in his defense, denies knowledge of plot to kill Rhoden family<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, here are the orders coming out of today\u2019s hearing,\u201d said Hein Wednesday. \u201cOn representation by the State of Ohio, the death penalty specification is dismissed. The case proceeds without that specification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, as both Canepa and Billy\u2019s defense attorneys attempted to speak, Hein lobbed a second bombshell.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI understand, Ms. Canepa, your dilemma \u2014 only to compound the dilemma,\u201d said Hein. \u201cWill I now tell you that I\u2019m going to proceed to sentencing in advance of trial? On the other cases. So I\u2019m proceeding to sentencing. I\u2019m going to ask the court staff to have Angela Wagner, the other Wagner case, set for sentencing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If Angela or Jake were to be sentenced, they would no longer be obligated to testify at Billy\u2019s trial, especially if the death penalty was already taken off the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you trying to sabotage this case?\u201d Canepa said in court Wednesday.<\/p>\n

This story was originally written<\/a> by Felicia Jordan<\/a> at Scripps News Cincinnati, an E.W. Scripps company.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted at 4:50 PM, November 25, 2024 WAVERLY, Ohio (Scripps News Cincinnati) \u2014 George \u201cBilly\u201d Wagner III won\u2019t go before a jury of his peers in Pike County when he faces trial for his alleged part in the murder of eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families in 2016. Judge Jonathan P. Hein ruled<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":812387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,23838],"tags":[6247,6875],"class_list":{"0":"post-812386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accused","8":"category-trial","9":"tag-accused","10":"tag-trial"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}