Speaker 1: Welcome to the Pike to Massacre Season two returned to
Speaker 1: Pike County, a production of iHeartRadio and Katie Studios. Heavenly Father,
Speaker 1: we are gathered here today. Let us now our heads.
Speaker 1: It was a really good wedding. She had a camouflage
Speaker 1: dress and Fata Camo tugs. Eight bodies have been discovered
Speaker 1: in all members of the Rodent family, the largest case
Speaker 1: Ohio's state investigators have ever seen. I told her, I said, listen,
Speaker 1: you don't want to marry him, and she said, well,
Speaker 1: whying on? I said, because his mom is very control waying.
Speaker 1: Please join hands. From what we hear, the relationship was intense.
Speaker 1: It sounded like the half fields of numbercois taken to
Speaker 1: the nth degree. So long as you both shouted. Four
Speaker 1: members of the Wagner family have been charged with eight
Speaker 1: counts of aggravated murder. I have never encountered queer an
Speaker 1: entire family is accused of the mass murder of another family.
Speaker 1: Is something so horrific has occurred, and it's almost beyond explanation.
Speaker 1: When I look at one particular picture from the wedding day,
Speaker 1: it's impossible to believe that nearly half of the people
Speaker 1: are dead and half are accused of their murders. This
Speaker 1: is the piked in Massacre. Season two returned to Pike County.
Speaker 1: Episode one, Ties That Bind. I'm Courtney Armstrong, a television
Speaker 1: producer at Katie Studios with Stephanie Lydecker and Jeff Shane.
Speaker 1: On the morning of April twenty second, twenty sixteen, authorities
Speaker 1: found eight members of the Rodent family brutally gunned down
Speaker 1: across four different crime scenes in Pike County, Ohio. Two
Speaker 1: years later, in November of twenty eighteen, four members of
Speaker 1: the Wagner family were arrested for murders. It was a
Speaker 1: gruesome crime that shocked the nation. We've been following the
Speaker 1: Roden family murder case since we made a documentary about
Speaker 1: it a few years ago. We were in the middle
Speaker 1: of producing season two of this podcast when we suddenly
Speaker 1: learned of a shocking development that none of us were expecting.
Speaker 1: The fifth anniversary of the murders, our social media folks
Speaker 1: started hearing people posting, Hey, there's a hearing fan. You
Speaker 1: got to be there. There might be something big going down.
Speaker 1: BCI has told the Roden family to be at the
Speaker 1: Pike County Courthouse at one thirty for a hearing breaking
Speaker 1: news to night shocking new developments from Pike County. On
Speaker 1: April twenty second, of two and sixteen, eight members of
Speaker 1: the Roden family were found dead at four different properties.
Speaker 1: Investigation lasted nearly two years before authorities arrested Jane Wagner
Speaker 1: along with several members of his fan A lot of
Speaker 1: people care about it, a lot of people know about it,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people are talking about it. Today,
Speaker 1: on Thursday, April twenty second, twenty twenty one, the five
Speaker 1: year anniversary of the murders, we sat at our computers
Speaker 1: watching a live stream from the Pike County Courthouse, and
Speaker 1: there he was, Jake Wagner, flanked by his two attorneys,
Speaker 1: as Judge Randy Deering entered the courtroom. Thank you for
Speaker 1: the record. Identify myself with Rob Pike Canty, crossecutor. I'm
Speaker 1: here on behalf of the State of Ohio. On State
Speaker 1: of Ohio versus Edward J. Wager, and that would be
Speaker 1: Pike County Common Police School's case twenty eighteen CR. I
Speaker 1: wanted to be four if you want. The court ra
Speaker 1: noted Dave marks the fifth anniversary of the homicides of
Speaker 1: eight members of the roots manilies and Gilly families, and
Speaker 1: as it is the fifth anniversary, this is a periory
Speaker 1: ton of horse that we have preached an agreement with
Speaker 1: this defendant, Edward D. Wagner, to resolve this case. Prosecutor
Speaker 1: Rob Junk listed off the names of each Slane member
Speaker 1: of the Ruden family, Christopher Rudden, Scene, Gary Ruden, Clarence
Speaker 1: Frankie Ruden, Kenneth Ruden, Hannah Gilly, Dana Manley, Hannah Rud
Speaker 1: and Christopher ridden Junior. When Judge Deering asked Jake how
Speaker 1: he pled to each aggravated murder charge, he replied with
Speaker 1: one simple phrase, I am jilt. We've realized that this
Speaker 1: whole case had blown open and we'd be following in
Speaker 1: real time. We immediately got on the phone with some
Speaker 1: of the journalists and experts that have been covering the case.
Speaker 1: The closest across the board. There was one pretty consistent reaction,
Speaker 1: absolutely stunned. I mean, honestly, you could have knocked me
Speaker 1: over with a feather. I didn't see it coming. When
Speaker 1: we heard the judge say, I understand you're here to
Speaker 1: make it agree me, and we're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: this is huge. I was really surprised, especially as long
Speaker 1: and hard as they fought it. It was a total shock.
Speaker 1: I was sitting in a restaurant when I got the call,
Speaker 1: and I almost fell out of the booth. After all
Speaker 1: of these years, that somebody is going to suddenly say, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I know. We've you know, several times over
Speaker 1: the last five years, we've vehemently denied any involvement in
Speaker 1: this and acted offended, and then all of a sudden, like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, well, one of them changed their minds. It
Speaker 1: was a little bit stunning, but it was Jake, because
Speaker 1: everybody who's really covered this piece closely thought if anybody wavered,
Speaker 1: it would have been George. Our first question, why did
Speaker 1: Jake Wagner finally break I don't know that any of
Speaker 1: us would know. Is he going to tell us? Why?
Speaker 1: Why would you make this deal? Was he doing this
Speaker 1: to save their lives or was he just turning on them?
Speaker 1: I can't say for sure. Is there a likelihood that
Speaker 1: the other family members will plead out, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: entirely possible. Just weeks before the hearing, we had received
Speaker 1: a photo from Pike County native Christina, her sister Tabitha
Speaker 1: was once married to the eldest accus son, George Wagner.
Speaker 1: In light of Jake's please deal, the image is nothing
Speaker 1: short of chilling. We posted on our Instagram at Katie
Speaker 1: Underscore Studios. It's a picture of both the Roden and
Speaker 1: Wagner families gathered together to celebrate George and Tabitha's wedding
Speaker 1: back in twenty twelve. Looking at it, it's impossible to
Speaker 1: imagine that, aside from the bride, half the people pictured
Speaker 1: would be dead, the other half accused of their murders.
Speaker 1: Yet here they are embracing in happier times. At the
Speaker 1: left of the photo is Jake Wagner, the youngest accused
Speaker 1: son who we just heard plead guilty. He's smiling, his
Speaker 1: right hand resting on his accused mother, Angela Wagner's arm.
Speaker 1: Standing behind them at six foot six is Jake's accused father,
Speaker 1: Billy Wagner, noticeably emotionless. Standing next to Billy Wagner in
Speaker 1: the photo is father and victim Chris Roden. Senior family friends.
Speaker 1: Stefan remembers Chris's expert craftsmanship and genuine kindness. He as
Speaker 1: an amazing carpenter. His imagination. If they said money's no object,
Speaker 1: you would be amazed at the things that he could
Speaker 1: do and you couldn't ask for a better person. Coroner,
Speaker 1: distinguished Professor and criminal forensic expert Joseph Morgan tried to
Speaker 1: make sense of the Rodent murders, starting with father and
Speaker 1: family patriarch Chris Senior. Some of this will be hard
Speaker 1: to hear, particularly if you're personally connected to the tragedy,
Speaker 1: but it's important to understand the magnitude of what happened
Speaker 1: that night. He was shot nine times. Now, for me,
Speaker 1: as a forensic investigator, I would look at that and
Speaker 1: I would deem that as overkill. And you know, why
Speaker 1: would somebody need to be shot nine times. They're saying
Speaker 1: that there's evidence that he attempted or reacted at least
Speaker 1: to the point where he raised his arm his right
Speaker 1: form and it shattered one of the bones. When you've
Speaker 1: got an individual that has gotten defensive, that person has
Speaker 1: an awareness, so that goes to a level of callousness
Speaker 1: that that's Roses too. Standing just in front of Chris
Speaker 1: Senior in the wedding photo with his father's arm draped
Speaker 1: around his shoulder is the youngest Roden victim sixteen year
Speaker 1: old Chris Junior, affectionately called Little Chris. Brittany was Chris
Speaker 1: Junior's best friend. Well, Chris, he taught me how to
Speaker 1: love life. You know, look at life differently. I can't
Speaker 1: explain that like it makes you will to cry. Roden
Speaker 1: family members spoke to reporters about Chris Junior soon after
Speaker 1: the murders. Christopher get to go to prom. You just
Speaker 1: kind of driver, super so he's sixteen years old. He
Speaker 1: had a whole life. Sixteen year old Chris Junior was
Speaker 1: shot four toms, including twice in the time off of
Speaker 1: his head. He was sound wished behind his bed, implying
Speaker 1: that he was trying to hide from the killer. Killers.
Speaker 1: Just in back of Chris Junior and the photo stands
Speaker 1: his older brother, twenty year old victim Frankie Roden. Christina
Speaker 1: knew Frankie growing up. Frankie he was the kind of
Speaker 1: guy like he did a first sure hunting fisher and
Speaker 1: all that. But he did like Derby's bad working on
Speaker 1: carters and stuff. That was his passion. Frankie Rodin was
Speaker 1: engaged to victim Hannah Gilly, not pictured just before the murders.
Speaker 1: The couple had had their first child together. They're six
Speaker 1: month old, and Frankie's three year old son were left
Speaker 1: alive at the scene. Frankie and Hannah they did want
Speaker 1: more children than you know, they had a bright future
Speaker 1: and just oh it just it just hurts my heart
Speaker 1: to think that, you know, they'll never get to go
Speaker 1: on with their future plans. You know, twenty year old
Speaker 1: Frankie Rodin was shot Thoms in the head miss He
Speaker 1: lay in bed next to his fiance and they're six
Speaker 1: month old. We talked about Hannah and Gillie Hayes shot
Speaker 1: five Toms. She catches one in the eye. It poses
Speaker 1: this idea, why are you shooting these people in the face.
Speaker 1: What's the purpose of it? Because not only shoe him
Speaker 1: in the flacier, shoe him multiple times? What thread did
Speaker 1: she pos she's laying there was her child in the bed.
Speaker 1: To the right of the group photograph, we see the
Speaker 1: two newlyweds, the accused eldest son, George Wagner, and his
Speaker 1: new bride smiling excitedly. We believe that Dana, victim and
Speaker 1: matriarch of the road and family, was behind the camera
Speaker 1: taking the photo. Christina remembered Dana Road in that day
Speaker 1: in twenty twelve. She seemed pretty bubbly. You know, she's
Speaker 1: get along with her family. I've seen her laugh and
Speaker 1: with the most ways. She's going around taking pictures of everything.
Speaker 1: Dana Roden and Chris Roden Senior were married for thirteen years.
Speaker 1: Even though they divorced, they remained friends. In fact, Dana
Speaker 1: lived just down the road in a home that Chris
Speaker 1: Senior had purchased for her. Two weeks before their murders.
Speaker 1: She had just returned home from a double shift at
Speaker 1: her job as a nurse that fateful night. Here is Stefanne,
Speaker 1: one of Dana Roden's closest friends. She was such a
Speaker 1: good person, but you know, she would fight for her family.
Speaker 1: She would literally fight for her family. And goodhearted, a
Speaker 1: lot of fun, you know, always laughing, cracking up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: from why we hear she was like really strong willed
Speaker 1: and really smart. Yeah, she sure was. She she was
Speaker 1: a very very good person. She's very smart. She again,
Speaker 1: like Chris Senior, was shot multiple toms. And not only
Speaker 1: was she shot multiple tims, but specifically reports have her
Speaker 1: having been shot five tims four times cool tims in
Speaker 1: the head. Now, why the hell, would you shoot somebody
Speaker 1: four times in the head, because you know one should suffice.
Speaker 1: But the shooter took the top to take that muzzle
Speaker 1: of that weapon. Stick it beneath Dana's chin. Stick it
Speaker 1: beneath her chin. Now, this is a common location for suicide,
Speaker 1: all right, this is atypical for homicide. Victim Gary Rodin,
Speaker 1: Chris Senior's cousin, also not pictured, was a beloved member
Speaker 1: of the family. By all accounts, Gary and Chrissior were
Speaker 1: very close. Here's Angeanette Levy. She's an Emmy nominated Ohio
Speaker 1: reporter who has been covering the case since the beginning.
Speaker 1: Gary just happened to be at Chris's home that night.
Speaker 1: He was actually from Kentucky, so you know, he didn't
Speaker 1: even live in the area or the neighborhood, but you know,
Speaker 1: lived close enough to where he was staying with Chris
Speaker 1: that evening. We do know that the shooter was very
Speaker 1: close to Gary when they fired, because they talk about
Speaker 1: what is referred to as a press contact bench at
Speaker 1: one and if our listeners will essentially take your index finger, okay,
Speaker 1: and point it towards the palm of your hand and
Speaker 1: extend the tip of your finger maybe I don't know,
Speaker 1: probably about half an inch away from the surface of
Speaker 1: your palm. That's kind of what we would refer to
Speaker 1: as a contact moon. And what that means is that
Speaker 1: you're going to have, you know, the bullet's not the
Speaker 1: only thing coming out of the end of the weapon.
Speaker 1: You're going to have the fire that actually the ignition
Speaker 1: of the bullet and the round. You'll have this burning
Speaker 1: the powder that's coming out. You'll have unburned powder that's
Speaker 1: coming out. So this is a very intimate event. Kenneth Roden,
Speaker 1: Christina's brother, who was also missing from the photo, was
Speaker 1: not with the family that day. He was, you know,
Speaker 1: a great father and he would do anything for anybody.
Speaker 1: You've got Kenneth who was actually again shot in face,
Speaker 1: and not only was he shot and facing, was shot
Speaker 1: in the eye. You know, what does it say that
Speaker 1: they would take the time and put themselves in a
Speaker 1: position where they could be face to face with Kenneth.
Speaker 1: He was found covered with dollar bills that were streamed
Speaker 1: about his body. He's just god, I mean, he can't
Speaker 1: he can't make this. Up Standing front and center in
Speaker 1: the picture is then fifteen year old victim Hannah Rodin.
Speaker 1: She's in a black bridesmaid's dress and leans in close
Speaker 1: to her boyfriend accused younger son, Jake Wagner. Their child
Speaker 1: together would eventually become the alleged center point of this crime.
Speaker 1: They had been dating for a few years when the
Speaker 1: photo was taken, and appeared very happy. Jake Wagner was
Speaker 1: Hannah Roden's first love. Christina told us things between them,
Speaker 1: we're getting serious. I heard Hannah Jake like talking about
Speaker 1: how good then pretty Tabby and George's wedding was that
Speaker 1: they hoped whenever they get married that it'll be pretty
Speaker 1: like that and all that good stuff. Brittany was also
Speaker 1: friends with Hannah. She was great, She was funny. She
Speaker 1: was really funny. She was really really nice. She knew everyone,
Speaker 1: Everyone knew her, and she just like talked to everyone.
Speaker 1: She wasn't stuck up or anything like that. And she
Speaker 1: lived life to the fullest. Prior to the murder, Hannah
Speaker 1: Rodin had broken up with Jake Wagner. She had started
Speaker 1: dating someone new, and the pair had a baby together
Speaker 1: that she gave birth to four days before the murders.
Speaker 1: Hannah rod She was shot twice in the head as
Speaker 1: her four day old newborn laid beside her, maybe there
Speaker 1: curled in a fetal posture, along with her baby, just
Speaker 1: curled in a fetal posture. Mama was slowly stroking the
Speaker 1: head of the baby, try to, you know, calm suit
Speaker 1: the baby during the night. Maybe she awakes, some breastfeeds
Speaker 1: the baby during the night while she's sleeping. It's a
Speaker 1: position people will slept in for thousands and thousands of years.
Speaker 1: It's a position of comfort. Imagine you're laying there, you're
Speaker 1: there to protect your baby, and you're curled up on
Speaker 1: your side. There's an awareness. The only people left alive
Speaker 1: were three children, Hannah's forty old infant, Frankie's five year
Speaker 1: old son from a previous relationship, and the six month
Speaker 1: old baby he shared with his fiancee, Hannah Gilly. The
Speaker 1: choice to spare the children lived investigators perplexed. Here's James Pilcher.
Speaker 1: He's an on air reporter for Local twelve News in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Speaker 1: and a longtime investigative journalist in the area. Usually when
Speaker 1: you have a mass shooting or a mass murder, everybody's killed.
Speaker 1: So to see that three kids, all under the age
Speaker 1: of three years old, some infants were left unharmed next
Speaker 1: to their parents who were shot dead, very very unusual.
Speaker 1: Soon after the murders, members of the Rodent family the
Speaker 1: statement to the local media pleading for help and finding
Speaker 1: their family's killers. We know what follows is difficult listening,
Speaker 1: but we want to acknowledge the pain. The entire surviving
Speaker 1: Rodent family has gone through a lots of people. They
Speaker 1: lose one family member, and when you lose eight, nobody
Speaker 1: has any idea what we've been through our lives as
Speaker 1: right now. They'll never be safe. They stole so much
Speaker 1: from us. The killers stole so much. They stole their
Speaker 1: lives that they stole ours to because we live with
Speaker 1: it every day. Met my brothers, who are good people.
Speaker 1: They would do anything to help you. Dana was a
Speaker 1: wonderful person. She always try to help do stuff. From
Speaker 1: my mom, from Frankie, his fiance Hannah. They we're taken
Speaker 1: away from their kids. They were taken away from us.
Speaker 1: My niece Hannah May, she had a baby that I
Speaker 1: haven't even got to meet. The Gillies, Gary's mom and dad.
Speaker 1: They only know what we are all going through, and
Speaker 1: I know that in their hearts, in their minds, they're
Speaker 1: hoping and praying every day just like we are, that
Speaker 1: whoever did this will be brought to justice. Looking back
Speaker 1: at the wedding photo, what's hard to wrap our heads
Speaker 1: around is that all the players are in this one
Speaker 1: picture Christina gave us. There. They are the Wagners and
Speaker 1: the road and smiling together. And just years later, in
Speaker 1: November twenty eighteen, the Wagner family would be arrested for
Speaker 1: the murders of the Rodents. We promised that the day
Speaker 1: would come when the arrest would be made in the
Speaker 1: Pike County massacres today or that day. Billy Wagner, his
Speaker 1: wife Angela, and their two sons, George and Jake, are
Speaker 1: accused of multiple counts of murder. Billy, Angela, George, and
Speaker 1: Jake Wagner were all charged with eight counts of aggravated murder. Additionally,
Speaker 1: Angela Wagner's mother, Rita Newcombe, and Billy's mother Frederica Wagner
Speaker 1: were accused of perjury and obstructing justice for allegedly misleading investigators.
Speaker 1: Angela's mother, Rita Newcombe, was also charged with forge and
Speaker 1: custody documents to cover up the crimes. What was surprising
Speaker 1: was that you had these two grandmothers arrested, Frederico Wagner
Speaker 1: and then Angela Wagner's mother, Rina Newcomb. You had two
Speaker 1: grandmothers being charged with helping to cover up these crimes.
Speaker 1: Because then it your mind kind of goes wild. You
Speaker 1: naturally think, well, did they know before it happened? You know,
Speaker 1: if you're alleging they were part of a cover up.
Speaker 1: What happened, though, Rita Joe Nukam reached a plea deal
Speaker 1: in which the bulk of the charges were dismissed and
Speaker 1: the charges against Frederica Wagner were eventually dropped. The suspicion
Speaker 1: around the family grew, and the ties that bound the
Speaker 1: Wagners and the Rodents came into focus. We're going to
Speaker 1: take a quick break here. We'll be back in a moment.
Speaker 1: We talked earlier about the baby Hannah Rodin and Jake
Speaker 1: Wagner had together in twenty thirteen. The couple and their
Speaker 1: daughter split time between the rod and the Wagner households.
Speaker 1: For everyone involved, the situation worked well. However, when the
Speaker 1: couple broke up in twenty fifteen, the families became bitter rivals.
Speaker 1: But when that news broke that they were were actually
Speaker 1: being indicted and charged. I felt like this must have
Speaker 1: been something personal. The animosity let authorities to pinpoint one
Speaker 1: salient motive in the case. They say that the Wagners
Speaker 1: were obsessed with custody and really obsessed with their bloodline,
Speaker 1: custody of the daughter that Hannah Rodin shared with Jake Wagner.
Speaker 1: The prosecution says that was the heart of the motive
Speaker 1: in this case. They wanted soul custody and they weren't
Speaker 1: going to stop until they got it. Investigative reporter Jodi
Speaker 1: Barr was shocked by these allegations. I have never encountered
Speaker 1: this in my fifteen years of journalism, where an entire
Speaker 1: family is accused of the mass murder of another family
Speaker 1: over what's presumably, if we're to believe the prosecution and
Speaker 1: the investigation, over custody of children. I think that was
Speaker 1: the toughest part for me personally, was dealing with what
Speaker 1: happens to those kids, and then it comes out later
Speaker 1: this was all about the kids and there was a
Speaker 1: fight over the kids. That was that was troubling to
Speaker 1: me personally, Like who would do that to have custody
Speaker 1: and to be able to love and nurture or child
Speaker 1: and yet have that act of violence within themselves to
Speaker 1: do that on their behalf. Those are two things that
Speaker 1: I just can't rectify in my mind. It's human nature
Speaker 1: to ask why why would someone perpetrate something so horrific?
Speaker 1: Think about what that means. We're going to eradicate you
Speaker 1: off the face of the planet. That's that's well, that's
Speaker 1: that's so on a biblical scale, when you begin to
Speaker 1: think of, by God, we're going to make sure that
Speaker 1: they're not just dead there Julius Caesar dead. After their arrest,
Speaker 1: the Wagners continue to maintain their innocence and their family
Speaker 1: was with them every step of the way. Here's grandmother,
Speaker 1: Frederica Wagner, responded to reporters when asked if she thought
Speaker 1: her family was involved in the Roden murders. Absolutely, not
Speaker 1: anywhere near that. Like said, in the two years since
Speaker 1: the arrest, most have considered the Wagners as the most
Speaker 1: likely suspects in the Roden murders. It appeared that they
Speaker 1: were a very close group who discreetly planned this massacre
Speaker 1: for months. But at the same time, it's just beyond
Speaker 1: the pail to kill an entire family over custody. And
Speaker 1: now after Jake Wagner's bombshell plea deal, we wondered was
Speaker 1: the Wagner bond breaking the Waggoners were a cult like family,
Speaker 1: and if what the Waggoners are accused of doing to
Speaker 1: the Rodents, I mean they're accused of doing this together.
Speaker 1: They're accused of trying to cover it up together as
Speaker 1: a family. And the old cliche blood is thicker than water. Well,
Speaker 1: cult like I don't know what the problem ability of
Speaker 1: in a cult one telling on another, especially with the
Speaker 1: consequences that would come down if one Wagoner told on
Speaker 1: another and you know, one went to prison. You know,
Speaker 1: if the state had to depend on one Waggoner telling
Speaker 1: on another, the chances of that happening are likely not
Speaker 1: very good. Now, finally, there may be some answers, you know,
Speaker 1: who went into what home, who died first, why they died,
Speaker 1: you know, why they chose to spare the children. So
Speaker 1: I would just hope we get to hear finally from someone,
Speaker 1: at least in Jake Wagner's case, I mean, where's the remorse?
Speaker 1: You know, is there remorse from what happened? And if not,
Speaker 1: man this is again, if there's a level beyond cold
Speaker 1: blooded evil, If there is a level beyond that, I
Speaker 1: think we have seen it. I don't know that we
Speaker 1: know what to call it. In all, Jake Wagner pled
Speaker 1: guilty to all eight aggravated murder charges as well as
Speaker 1: to fifteen other criminal accounts that included conspiracy, aggravated burglary,
Speaker 1: and tampering with evidence. He also named his father Billy,
Speaker 1: his mother Angela, and brother George Wagner as co conspirators.
Speaker 1: In exchange for his plea, the death sentence was taken
Speaker 1: off the table for him and the rest of his family.
Speaker 1: But perhaps what's most shocking is that Jake is actually
Speaker 1: going to testify against all of his family members. It seems,
Speaker 1: at the bare minimum, there's not a Wagner that's stepping
Speaker 1: out of prison anytime soon. The following is real time
Speaker 1: audio from the courtroom when the prosecution laid out the
Speaker 1: charges against Shake Wagner. The information that Jake provided clearly
Speaker 1: intreated he and each members of his family, to include Billy,
Speaker 1: Angeli and enjoyed Wagner as being guilty of all accounts
Speaker 1: contained lean ditements filed in this manner based on the
Speaker 1: frutality of the information now known about the state, including
Speaker 1: the fourth right statements of the We have overwhelming evidence
Speaker 1: that the defendant and the three co defendant members of
Speaker 1: his family are in fact responsible for planning and carrying
Speaker 1: out the homicides. Jake admitted that in the lake evening
Speaker 1: hours of April twenty first, two thousand and sixteen into
Speaker 1: the early morning hours of Abel twenty second, two sixteen,
Speaker 1: is when they committed these homicides. We know that they
Speaker 1: trespassed into each of the four residents where the victims
Speaker 1: were found with the intent to kill them, and that
Speaker 1: they were armed for firearms, at least two of which
Speaker 1: had homing silencers fixed to them when they did so.
Speaker 1: We know that they inspired together and planned these homicides
Speaker 1: for the months that led up to the offenses, and
Speaker 1: that if all four co defendants took part of that,
Speaker 1: as well as making various purchases to accomplish their goal.
Speaker 1: We know that they removed the phones of all the
Speaker 1: two of the victims and cameras and other surveillance equipment
Speaker 1: of the victims in order to avoid detection. Jake also
Speaker 1: admitted to personally killing five members of the rodents himself
Speaker 1: though the victims were unnamed at this point. As noted,
Speaker 1: Driver the defendant had in essence confess and apologize for
Speaker 1: committing these offenses with his family and numbers, and admits
Speaker 1: to personally causing the death by the aid victims and
Speaker 1: either committing all of the other offenses contained in the
Speaker 1: indictment directly or by being complicit in them. It was
Speaker 1: also noted that Wagner provided investigators with information that led
Speaker 1: to the recovery of the weapons and vehicles used in
Speaker 1: the murders. Most recently, Your Honor, the State set down
Speaker 1: with Jake Wagner, who has provided the State with many
Speaker 1: more details of regarding these offenses, some of which were
Speaker 1: very consistent with what the State are wed to view
Speaker 1: and with the evidence that had already been collected. Some
Speaker 1: of the information information, however, that was provided by Jake,
Speaker 1: who was new. In addition to the information that Jake
Speaker 1: provided us, what he told us led us to discover
Speaker 1: some evidence that had yet to been recovered, specifically the
Speaker 1: weapons that were used in these offenses, along with vehicles
Speaker 1: that were used during these offenses, including one that the
Speaker 1: Box specifically to use. The Knight of the Homicides only
Speaker 1: though Jake was spared the death penalty. Prosecutors pulled no
Speaker 1: punches with his sentence, saying, as part of this plea,
Speaker 1: the state is agreed to dismiss the death specif occasion
Speaker 1: in exchange the defendant in the state making joint recommendation
Speaker 1: to the court with the defendive receeve eight consecutive life
Speaker 1: without coal sentences for his pleas and guilty to counsel
Speaker 1: one proving in the indictment. Jake's lawyers responded, We're fully
Speaker 1: satisfied and gone eyes wide open into disagreement. He knows
Speaker 1: he's going to die in prison without any judicial release,
Speaker 1: and as he just said it, and I appreciate it's
Speaker 1: kinda of mentioning it, and as I'm sure he'll say
Speaker 1: more when the day's sentencing arrives. As horrifying as this
Speaker 1: is for all, he is as sorry as he One
Speaker 1: moment from the court proceedings stood out to us. When
Speaker 1: the judge was running through each victim and got to
Speaker 1: Hannah Rodin, it was impossible not to notice when Jake
Speaker 1: Wagner had an audible pause and a noticeable what do
Speaker 1: you make of the smirk when he is cleaning guilty
Speaker 1: he kind of smiled. I don't know if you noticed that.
Speaker 1: Oh I sure did. That's Mike Allen. He's a former
Speaker 1: prosecutor and now a criminal defense attorney in Ohio. He's
Speaker 1: been covering the case for years. I don't know how
Speaker 1: you could work up a smile. I don't care what
Speaker 1: you're thinking for something like that. What does that say
Speaker 1: about Jay Quackback. I mean, he's got a depraved mind.
Speaker 1: Anybody that could do that, it would not meet obviously
Speaker 1: the legal definition of sanity. But you know there's something
Speaker 1: wrong with him that you can be that cold to
Speaker 1: go about doing that. I mean, really, that's all I
Speaker 1: can say. I've been at this stuff for a long
Speaker 1: time and I've never seen one, just as I guess
Speaker 1: the word it comes in my mind as hardcore as this.
Speaker 1: Whenever I've seen a little part where he was like
Speaker 1: confessing to Hannah and he was trying to hold back
Speaker 1: a laugh or so, I'm like, Okay, I don't know
Speaker 1: if your horns are showering or if you're just kind
Speaker 1: of like one of those awkward laugh There was a
Speaker 1: different reaction when Hannah's name came up. Maybe his reaction
Speaker 1: was like that, because like he personally killed her or something.
Speaker 1: Ohio Governor Mike Dwine, who presided over the investigation as
Speaker 1: Attorney General, was at the Pike County Courthouse as Jake's
Speaker 1: hearing unfolded. Well, we've all read or heard of the
Speaker 1: book in cold Blood. This was cold, cold, cold blood.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was calculated, planned out, and then it
Speaker 1: just you know, I mean, it just chills you to
Speaker 1: think about the calculation that goes into something like this.
Speaker 1: Five years ago today I was here and we met
Speaker 1: with family members in the church. I committed to them
Speaker 1: that we would find who did this and that we
Speaker 1: would bring them to justice. There was a lot of
Speaker 1: justice done today, and there was a collective sigh of
Speaker 1: relief from locals in southern Ohio. Pike County resident Barbe
Speaker 1: explained her initial shock. I can't imagine that he would
Speaker 1: admit to murdering eight people, and if he didn't really
Speaker 1: do it, he said guilty. I thought, are you lying?
Speaker 1: What are you? What are you doing? You know? But
Speaker 1: then I thought, oh my god, I just it blew
Speaker 1: my mind. Brittany tried to come to terms with the news.
Speaker 1: I'm just focusing on the good and a good thing
Speaker 1: happened today, and I know that there in heaven looking
Speaker 1: down and just thinking how stupid the wageners are thinking
Speaker 1: they would get away with it. Christina put the day's
Speaker 1: events and perhaps the most poetic way possible. Justice to
Speaker 1: me and karma is a bit turn. It catches up
Speaker 1: with everybody. Eventually. You can run all you want, but
Speaker 1: you'll never outrun. We're going to take a quick break here.
Speaker 1: We'll be back in a moment. The question remains, why
Speaker 1: did you do this? Now? He was doing it to
Speaker 1: keep himself from getting the death sentence and pretty much
Speaker 1: powing on the rest of his family like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna drive you guys down, but I'm gonna save my
Speaker 1: butt from yeah again the best friend. Was he pleading
Speaker 1: guilty to save himself or his family? The family has
Speaker 1: done nothing but fight, fight, fight, and profess their innocence
Speaker 1: in this whole time. And you know, I thought that
Speaker 1: they would fight this to the bitter end and ticket
Speaker 1: to trial and see what they could do a trial.
Speaker 1: So now you know, if Billy the controlling figure or
Speaker 1: Mom the controlling figure and doesn't around, Jake's there to
Speaker 1: think for himself. He apparently, you know, has information on
Speaker 1: a lot of them, and yes he did throw them
Speaker 1: under the bus, but perhaps he saved their lives. What's
Speaker 1: in store for Jake's co conspirators. None of the other
Speaker 1: Wagners have pleaded guilty, so what could we see if
Speaker 1: they go to trial. I just think for a family
Speaker 1: that was so united and you know, did things like
Speaker 1: take votes on finances and wild nights and children, I
Speaker 1: mean they were they lived, you know, as one unit,
Speaker 1: the prosecution has said in court papers. And these people
Speaker 1: did nothing without consulting the other. This is a massive break,
Speaker 1: a massive shift. It's like a like a huge creator
Speaker 1: in the middle of the Wagner family kind of the
Speaker 1: united side. He is going to testify against his family members. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know of I don't know of
Speaker 1: anybody in Hollywood that could write a better script than that.
Speaker 1: You know, how compelling is that? Something that has this
Speaker 1: kind of gothic undertone to it? You know, in rural America,
Speaker 1: where these individuals are going to, you know, come forward
Speaker 1: and and stand and stare at him. You think about
Speaker 1: staring into the eyes of your kin folks across the
Speaker 1: room as you're sitting in the dock there and you're
Speaker 1: looking at them straight in the eyes, and people that
Speaker 1: you've spent Thanksgivings with Christmases, you know these moments throughout
Speaker 1: your life, and you're looking at them, and you're potentially
Speaker 1: sending them to the proverbial gallows by virtue of what
Speaker 1: you're going to say. But what happens if the other
Speaker 1: three Wagners reached plea deals as well, if any other
Speaker 1: guilty plea in this case ends the way Jake Wagner's ended,
Speaker 1: we still may not know exactly why this happened. It
Speaker 1: seemed like the impossible murder. And you go back to
Speaker 1: April twenty sixteen and a month after I mean, everyone
Speaker 1: had assumed that this was a drug cartel hit. It fit.
Speaker 1: It made sense. The only way this could happen is
Speaker 1: a highly skilled, trained assassin would come in and pull
Speaker 1: this off and get away with it. I want to
Speaker 1: know exactly what happened that night, you know, how did
Speaker 1: they get in the homes? We know the end, We've
Speaker 1: got some idea what happened in the middle, But I
Speaker 1: think I want to know about the beginning. You know,
Speaker 1: was this truly about custody? You know, I would just
Speaker 1: like to know, you know, exactly why from Jake Wagner,
Speaker 1: When did the switch flip to where the only resolution
Speaker 1: to whatever was going on between him and the Rodents
Speaker 1: at that point was to go and kill them all
Speaker 1: makes absolutely no sense. One thing is certain. There's only
Speaker 1: more bombshells to come. We will be tracking the case
Speaker 1: in real time as they develop, and it proves that
Speaker 1: the investigators and the prosecutors did their job. It was
Speaker 1: the biggest murder case in the history of the state,
Speaker 1: and they got their man. The relationship fractured, however you
Speaker 1: want to describe it. You know, there's no turning back
Speaker 1: to this family now. The prosecution now holds all the cards,
Speaker 1: and it seems justice has begun to be served now
Speaker 1: three more Wagners to The piked In Massacre Returned to
Speaker 1: Pike County is executive produced by Stephanie Lydecker and me
Speaker 1: Courtney Armstrong, editing and sound designed by executive producer Jared Aston.
Speaker 1: Additional producing by Jeff Shane, Andrew Becker and Chris Graves.
Speaker 1: The piked In Massacre Returned to Pike County is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio and Katie Studios. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.