Speaker 1: The cheerleaders at a gym in Buffalo have been recording
Speaker 1: themselves to make a new documentary where the news reporters
Speaker 1: because one year ago a mass shooting changed their lives.
Speaker 1: He just walked around and shot all the black people.
Speaker 1: The cheer squad, most of whom are black, had to
Speaker 1: figure out how to go on and how to compete.
Speaker 1: I wanted to win for them more than anything this season.
Speaker 1: Listen to the embedded podcast from NPR within the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: app or wherever you get your podcasts. All the State
Speaker 1: of Ohio asked to show is that George was involved
Speaker 1: in the case at the beginning, and I think the evidence,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, showed that he was. You know, one
Speaker 1: thing that Kneppa did strongly was to show slideshow of
Speaker 1: each of the victims in the prime of their life
Speaker 1: and then show them dead in bed. But maybe no
Speaker 1: mistake about it. Those two children in that we're never
Speaker 1: going to be raised anything other than Blacker. That moment
Speaker 1: when you walk for the jury and you talked to
Speaker 1: you and you try to remind them what is at
Speaker 1: stake that these people have died. We're talking about eight
Speaker 1: people that were slaughtered. This is the Piked and Massacre
Speaker 1: returned to Pike County Season four, episode twenty four. The
Speaker 1: verdict is in. I'm Courtney Armstrong, a television producer at
Speaker 1: Katie Studios. With Stephanie Ladecker and Jeff Shane. We're at
Speaker 1: the closing arguments of George Wagner the Fourth's trial. It's
Speaker 1: important to note that George Wagner has pleaded not guilty
Speaker 1: and has maintained he did not kill anyone. His father,
Speaker 1: Billy Wagner, whose trial is upcoming, has also pleaded not
Speaker 1: guilty to all charges. We're in piked in for the
Speaker 1: final days of trial. We've heard testimony from Jake, Angela
Speaker 1: and George Wagner. But before we can hear closing arguments,
Speaker 1: Judge Daring has some news for the jury. The jury
Speaker 1: learned the death penalty against George Widener the Fourth has
Speaker 1: been taken off the table. That is the plea deal
Speaker 1: the prosecution struck with George's brother Jake and his mother
Speaker 1: Angela an exchange for their testimony. After the announcement, the
Speaker 1: judge addresses the court the jury, we have reached the
Speaker 1: point of which council for each side will be giving
Speaker 1: closing arguments prosecutor Angree Kneppa begins our closing arguments. I
Speaker 1: just want to first of all, start by thinking each
Speaker 1: and every one of you. You guys have probably served
Speaker 1: at least, as far as I know, the longest of
Speaker 1: any criminal jury, and each of you have paid strict attention.
Speaker 1: We are here because eight innocent victims were slaughtered, most
Speaker 1: of them in their sleep, all of them unarmed. These
Speaker 1: murders should never have happened. Forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan
Speaker 1: speaks to the significance of these closing arguments. I think
Speaker 1: they do matter. I think that it's like going to
Speaker 1: a beautiful concert where there's going to be this grand crescendo,
Speaker 1: that thing that moves people. You better bring it, and
Speaker 1: it needs to be that thing that is going to
Speaker 1: resonate with those people. And it's taken all this time,
Speaker 1: thousands of miles can you imagine that have been traveled
Speaker 1: all over the place, all way up to Alaska and
Speaker 1: back through Canada. All of that culminates in this moment.
Speaker 1: That moment, you know, when you walk to that jury
Speaker 1: and you talk to them and you try to remind
Speaker 1: them what is at stake that these people have died.
Speaker 1: We're talking about eight people that were slaughtered. Prosecutor Canepa
Speaker 1: shows photos of the victims on the large screen in
Speaker 1: the courtroom. She starts with Frankie Rodin and reminds the
Speaker 1: jury about who he was. She then speaks about Hannah
Speaker 1: Hazel Gilly and a Hazel Hilly very proud of her son,
Speaker 1: her six month old son. She was all of twenty
Speaker 1: years old as well at the very beginning of her
Speaker 1: life and especially her life as a mother. Her crime,
Speaker 1: you her testimony that her crime was solely being there,
Speaker 1: nothing else. If she had not been there, she would
Speaker 1: still be alive today. The defense of checks prosecutors stopped
Speaker 1: showing images on the large screen, but she continues speaking
Speaker 1: about the victims. Chris Senior, There's a lot to say
Speaker 1: about him. He was obviously a family man, provided for
Speaker 1: a family. But the reason that he was killed is
Speaker 1: because he was the patriarch of this family and they
Speaker 1: knew that he would again figure out who did it
Speaker 1: and potentially seek vengeance. Here's James Pilcher, longtime investigative reporter
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati now at Local twelve. You know one thing
Speaker 1: that Kennepa did strongly. She tried to do at the
Speaker 1: beginning was to show slideshow of each of the victims
Speaker 1: in the prime of their life, show pictures and then
Speaker 1: show them dead in bed. Well, that led to objections
Speaker 1: and then she basically threw that out the window. So
Speaker 1: she abandoned to slide show, but she still went on
Speaker 1: to go through here's this victim, here's this victim. I'll
Speaker 1: at them, bringing it back to them and bringing it
Speaker 1: back to the fact that they were asleep. Prosecutor Kneppa
Speaker 1: touches on all of the evidence presented in trial, laying
Speaker 1: out the timeline from the beginning and hitting on each
Speaker 1: piece of evidence tying George Wagner and his immediate family
Speaker 1: to the murder of the Rodent, Manly and Gilly families.
Speaker 1: Special Prosecutor Andrei Geneppa said there was plenty of direct
Speaker 1: and circumstantial evidence a tie George Wagener the four to
Speaker 1: the homicide. One example the false statements that Wagner's gave
Speaker 1: two investigators that everything was fine between Jake and Hannah
Speaker 1: Rodin when she was killed, but custody over their daughters
Speaker 1: was at a boiling. Then we see the Facebook message
Speaker 1: from Hannah May saying that she won't sign papers. Ever,
Speaker 1: they'll have to kill her first, and we know that
Speaker 1: in four short months later, she and seven members of
Speaker 1: her family are dead. But we know that in January
Speaker 1: of twenty sixteen, they had made the decision that they
Speaker 1: were going to kill them, and you start seeing the
Speaker 1: purchases corresponding to that timeline. It's hard to imagine that
Speaker 1: eight people would lose their lives over such a flimsy motive,
Speaker 1: but it's true. Prosecutor Caneppa reminds the jury of the
Speaker 1: evidence presented throughout the case, the shoe prints matching George
Speaker 1: Wagner's at the crime scene, as well as the bullet
Speaker 1: casings matching the weapons used in the murder. We know
Speaker 1: that George went into that room, and we know that
Speaker 1: he stepped into blood, and we see it on our
Speaker 1: diagrams exactly where that was. Prosecutor Caneppa reminds the jurors
Speaker 1: of George Wagner's testimony where he claimed he hadn't known
Speaker 1: that his brother Jake and father Billy were going to
Speaker 1: murder members of the Rodent, Manly and Gilly families. Did
Speaker 1: you know your family was going to kill these people? No?
Speaker 1: Going to happen. The prosecution then ties George to the
Speaker 1: crimes through Jake Wagner and Angela Wagner's testimony. George says
Speaker 1: to Jake, the family has spoken. There is nothing that
Speaker 1: happens in that household that is not a group decision.
Speaker 1: Jake and Angela have told you everything that this defendant
Speaker 1: did that night. I'm not here to say that Jake
Speaker 1: Wagner is a hero by any stretch of imagination. He
Speaker 1: is a despicable, vile human being. But the difference between
Speaker 1: him and his brother is that he at least came
Speaker 1: full kinetic acknowledges that when George took the stand and
Speaker 1: he disputed what his brother and mother testified about him.
Speaker 1: You've heard Jake and your mother both say that that
Speaker 1: was the motive, and my mom and brother are lying
Speaker 1: to you. They have been like everybody else. Angela Wagner,
Speaker 1: this is her son. Ask yourself, what motive would she
Speaker 1: have to say that George was involved. If George wasn't involved,
Speaker 1: why would you do that to your son? You would say, Jake,
Speaker 1: Billy and I didn't. Despite all the evidence presented by prosecutors,
Speaker 1: it could come down to who the jury believes Jake
Speaker 1: and Angela or defendant George. Prosecutor Kneppa addresses Jake and
Speaker 1: Angela Wagner's testimony head on. So let's talk about Jake
Speaker 1: and Angela's testimony. Jake Wagner gave us a lot of information.
Speaker 1: His testimony was corroborated by physical evidence. He led us
Speaker 1: to the murder weapons. So again, what Jake had to
Speaker 1: tell us was corroborated with physical evidence that we didn't
Speaker 1: know about. It was also corroborated with physical evidence we
Speaker 1: did know about. Then we talked to Angela Wagner, and
Speaker 1: she corroborates what Jake Wagner told us. They basically corroborate
Speaker 1: each other. And the magical and mystical thing about that is,
Speaker 1: as you heard, she was not provided with her son's statement.
Speaker 1: She had no idea what he said to us when
Speaker 1: he sat down with us. Again, James Pilcher, one of
Speaker 1: the points she made very clearly was Jake and Angela
Speaker 1: had no chance to corroborate none. They couldn't see each
Speaker 1: other's statements. They're in separate jails. They couldn't talk, they
Speaker 1: couldn't watch each other's testimony. Nothing. How come their stories
Speaker 1: line up so well versus what George had to say,
Speaker 1: and they're both saying the same thing, are close enough
Speaker 1: to the same thing, whereas Georgie is saying something completely different.
Speaker 1: Who are you going to believe? And then on top
Speaker 1: of that, she makes a point it's one thing for
Speaker 1: a brother to testify against her brother, but it's another
Speaker 1: thing for a mother to testify against her hunt even
Speaker 1: as she says she loved that came across is very compelling.
Speaker 1: Prosecutor Krneppa argues that Jake and Angela Wagner's testimony matches,
Speaker 1: especially on one key point. Both Jake and Angela tell
Speaker 1: you they are guilty. Jake is guilty, Angela is guilty.
Speaker 1: They don't deny that, they don't lie about that. The
Speaker 1: reason the story's match is because they both finally decided
Speaker 1: to tell the truth. He's attorney and legal analyst Mike Allen.
Speaker 1: I think the credibility goes with Angela because George any
Speaker 1: number of times just said I don't recall, I don't remember,
Speaker 1: I didn't count him up. But there are a lot
Speaker 1: of times that he said that I don't recall hearing
Speaker 1: that in Angela or Jake's testimony. For that matter. It
Speaker 1: was just pretty straightforward. So I think if you didn't
Speaker 1: have the physical evidence and it's George against those two,
Speaker 1: I think they win and George doesn't because a lot
Speaker 1: of things he didn't remember, and he contradicted himself on
Speaker 1: a number of occasions. Well, George Wagner appeared calm during
Speaker 1: his testimony on the stand. Prosecutor Canneppa reminds the jury
Speaker 1: of the wire tapp recording of George. I would strongly
Speaker 1: invite you to listen to that recording again and ask
Speaker 1: yourselves if that is the voice, or the demeanor, or
Speaker 1: the attitude or the approach of somebody who would ever
Speaker 1: sit one out again. James Pilcher, I will say Kneppa
Speaker 1: did kind of bring it home early on when she
Speaker 1: said you saw George up on the stand, but then
Speaker 1: you also heard George on these recordings. Well, the real
Speaker 1: George Wagner, please stand up. Those are my words, not hers,
Speaker 1: But basically she's saying, the real George Wagner is not
Speaker 1: the one that was able to help on the stand.
Speaker 1: He was coached, there was whatever he was. The real
Speaker 1: George Wagner is the one year in those recordings. For
Speaker 1: all intensive purpose as a madman. He indicated to you
Speaker 1: that a few days before the homicides that Billy told
Speaker 1: George that he wanted George to shoot Chris in the head.
Speaker 1: He went up there to Union Hill Road on April
Speaker 1: twenty first, twenty sixteen, knowing full well what was going
Speaker 1: to happen. Well, George may not have pulled the trigger
Speaker 1: during the murders. The prosecution contends that doesn't matter. To
Speaker 1: prove conspiracy to murder, he doesn't have to be the
Speaker 1: person that actually pulled the trigger. Right. You heard that
Speaker 1: Jake Wagner pled to eight counts of aggravated murder because
Speaker 1: he pulled the trigger as to five according to him,
Speaker 1: but he was compliciting three. You heard Angela Wagner say
Speaker 1: that she also was guilty of accounts of aggravated murder
Speaker 1: because she was complicit in it because she knew what
Speaker 1: they were going to do. She aided and embedded them.
Speaker 1: You were complicit because you knew what was going to happen.
Speaker 1: You knew what they were going to go do, and
Speaker 1: you aid it and ebedted them. Here's Jeff speaking with
Speaker 1: Mike Allen. So I think she really hammered home, which
Speaker 1: I think is important to remind the listeners is that
Speaker 1: George could still be found guilty of murder even if
Speaker 1: he didn't pull the trigger under Ohio law, Like, as
Speaker 1: long as he's involved in the planning and the cover up,
Speaker 1: that's enough to find him guilty. All the State of
Speaker 1: Ohio asked to show is that George was involved in
Speaker 1: the case at the beginning, and I think the evidence,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, showed that he was in the beginning
Speaker 1: and then he was part of the execution of the crime.
Speaker 1: And I think that's clear that he was a part
Speaker 1: of it and a part of the cover up, and
Speaker 1: that gets you into the complicity part of it. And
Speaker 1: that's all you need for a murder conviction. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't have to show, and they couldn't show, and
Speaker 1: they didn't show that George pulled the trigger because he didn't,
Speaker 1: but he was in it up to his neck, and
Speaker 1: I think that was clear at the end of all
Speaker 1: the testimony and evidence, and Miss Kinnappot really kind of
Speaker 1: just hit on all of those points in her closing.
Speaker 1: The prosecution also spoke to the plea deal given to
Speaker 1: Jake in exchange for his testimony. Mister Parker has called
Speaker 1: this the deal of the century for Jake Wagner, the
Speaker 1: deal of the century. But let's just talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about that. First of all, he played guilty to
Speaker 1: every county indictment except for the death timing specifications, which
Speaker 1: we dismissed in exchange for him telling us what happened.
Speaker 1: Not just telling us what happened. But you heard from
Speaker 1: Special Agent Scheider that the victim's family was consulted in
Speaker 1: this and as you might imagine, if this was somebody
Speaker 1: that you loved, you would want to know what happened
Speaker 1: more than and some of them got the peace of
Speaker 1: minding we're looking for because their loved one wesleeping. Some
Speaker 1: of them did not, but they wanted to know, and
Speaker 1: they wanted us to do the deal again, Mike Allen.
Speaker 1: Obviously from their conduct in the courtroom, there's a close
Speaker 1: relationship between the prosecutor and the Road and family. I
Speaker 1: don't think they have any problem at all with the
Speaker 1: deals that were made in this case. But in any
Speaker 1: homicide case, you have to get buy in from the
Speaker 1: victim's family, and I think that's what she did here.
Speaker 1: I see a lot of cooperation and a lot of
Speaker 1: admiration too. So I don't have any doubt that Angie
Speaker 1: Kaneppa consulted probably at length with the Road and family
Speaker 1: before they cut the deal with Jake and Angela. After
Speaker 1: nearly five hours, Prosecutor Kannappa finishes her closing argument. I
Speaker 1: know this is very, very long. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: kind of try my best to kind of lay a
Speaker 1: foundation of the evidence that we believe supports a conviction
Speaker 1: of George Wagner the fourth of each and every count
Speaker 1: in this indictment, whether he is a principal offender or
Speaker 1: whether he is equicit in it. He knew what was
Speaker 1: going to happen. He participated in what happened. Jake and
Speaker 1: Angela have told you everything that this defendant did that night,
Speaker 1: and his participation in the aggravated murders and all the
Speaker 1: other crimes listed in the indictment. Respectfully, the class that
Speaker 1: you return verdicts of guilty as to each count into
Speaker 1: each specification. Thank you. The day of the trial ends
Speaker 1: with Prosecutor Kneppa's closing argument. Here's Mike Allen, followed by
Speaker 1: investigative reporter A Jeanette Levy of the Lawn Crime Network.
Speaker 1: The defense has to make the points that they want
Speaker 1: to make, and they also apt to counter what the
Speaker 1: prosecutor says in closing argument. I think that Jake and
Speaker 1: Angelis's testimony, coupled with the wire taps that do not
Speaker 1: bode well for George. He still sounds like he's in
Speaker 1: the thick of this and he knows exactly what's going on.
Speaker 1: You would think that that would just be very difficult
Speaker 1: for the defense to overcome, for them to come into
Speaker 1: court and feel confident that they were going to somehow
Speaker 1: poke enough holes in Jake and Angelis's testimony to make
Speaker 1: George not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We're going to
Speaker 1: take a break. We'll be back in a moment. Oh.
Speaker 1: I'm Carol Fisher, and I'm hosting a podcast called Girlfriends.
Speaker 1: Back in the nineteen nineties in Las Vegas, a few
Speaker 1: of us dated the most eligible bachelor in town, Bob.
Speaker 1: He spoke several languages, he did medical missionary work, and
Speaker 1: he was Jewish. He was perfect on paper, but he wasn't.
Speaker 1: He really wasn't. He shouted into the point she went unconscious.
Speaker 1: Bob could lie about anything, but only takes the one
Speaker 1: time when somebody ends up dead. Unfortunately for bob Us
Speaker 1: girlfriends know how to fight back. I wanted him to
Speaker 1: pay for his crime. He needed to be put to justice.
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with your FIS saw him right now,
Speaker 1: I'd spit on him. I would call him and I
Speaker 1: would say, I know you killed my sister. I will
Speaker 1: always hound you and haunt you. You can listen to
Speaker 1: the girlfriends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. The next day, the defense delivers
Speaker 1: their closing remarks. John Parker opens with a joke about
Speaker 1: how he's not going to go as long as the
Speaker 1: state did. In his closing remarks, Parker then goes after
Speaker 1: the state's key witnesses, Jake and Angela Wagner. Angela and Jake,
Speaker 1: he's a mama's boy who heard testimony about that. They're liars,
Speaker 1: they're connorst they're thieves. Defense attorney Parker brings up Jake's character,
Speaker 1: laughing and smiling and smirking as he's talking about these murders.
Speaker 1: He's called waterfall. I think he's like, God, he didn't
Speaker 1: see that care in the world. It's like it's like
Speaker 1: sitting around talking about a football game on Monday morning.
Speaker 1: Is the way he's talking about killing these people. It's disgusting.
Speaker 1: He's a sick man. You can't believe what that guy says.
Speaker 1: The defense hits again on an argument that they've used
Speaker 1: repeatedly throughout the trial, that the evidence tying George w
Speaker 1: Agners of the murderers is at best circumstantial. There's not
Speaker 1: proof here beyond the usual doubt that George's even up there,
Speaker 1: and we could offer him nothing for his testimony. He
Speaker 1: was vigorously cross examined. You saw his demeanor. Compare that
Speaker 1: to Jinks and his mother testimony. George is the shooter.
Speaker 1: There's no reliable testimony that he was even there. This
Speaker 1: has to be proven beyond a reasonable There's all kinds
Speaker 1: of reasons to doubt. Parker then tries to dismantle the
Speaker 1: state's argument that the Wagners are a walking criminal conspiracy.
Speaker 1: The state in this case that you have seen with
Speaker 1: respect to George, paints with a very very broad brush.
Speaker 1: All right, how many times have we heard they them,
Speaker 1: you guys, the Wagners. All right, George's wants about trial here,
Speaker 1: all right. We are not here to defend Billy, are
Speaker 1: not here to defend Angela we're certainly not here to
Speaker 1: defend Jakes, all right, And basically, I mean there were
Speaker 1: days and days that went by when you didn't hear
Speaker 1: Georgie's name, and that's significant. Parker asked the jury to
Speaker 1: return a verdict of not guilty on all charges. You
Speaker 1: folks stand between the power of the government man with
Speaker 1: George White. So you've seen the power of the government
Speaker 1: and in this particular case, they've overreached when it comes
Speaker 1: to Georgia. Mike Allen offers his thoughts to how the
Speaker 1: defense did on closing arguments. Well, I think he did
Speaker 1: as well as he could. And his closing argument did
Speaker 1: not take five hours. But he did as well as
Speaker 1: he could with what he had, which wasn't a heck
Speaker 1: of a lot. He just didn't, you know. He called
Speaker 1: the state's witnesses liars, con artists, mainly Jake and Angela,
Speaker 1: really hit Jay Carr and really, I mean that's pretty
Speaker 1: much all he had. When you're a defense counsel, you
Speaker 1: get the case that you get and you're not going
Speaker 1: to be able to change things factually. So the short
Speaker 1: answer is, I think they did as well as they could.
Speaker 1: After the defense rests Andrew Wilson delivers the prosecution's rebuttal.
Speaker 1: The concept of complicity works in Ohio is that if
Speaker 1: two or more people set out to achieve a criminal purpose,
Speaker 1: a criminal goal, when one doing one part of others
Speaker 1: doing the other part, then each one of them is
Speaker 1: individually guilty as if they were the principal offender Festival.
Speaker 1: That's how it works. There's been no direct testimony that
Speaker 1: he actually pulled the trigger and any one of those murders,
Speaker 1: would you better believe he's up to his eyeball as
Speaker 1: they plot, they prepare, as they execute, If they cover
Speaker 1: up those murders, he's in it up to his highlands.
Speaker 1: The prosecution has a huge advantage, and boy, I tell you,
Speaker 1: I think they utilized it in this case to where
Speaker 1: they get the final word. They get to address the
Speaker 1: jury after the defense does their closing argument. It's done
Speaker 1: because the state has the burden of proof. That's why
Speaker 1: they get the last fight at the apple. You know,
Speaker 1: having been a defense counsel and having been a prosecutor
Speaker 1: that I can tell you that's a huge advantage for
Speaker 1: the state prosecutor. Wilson addresses Jake and Angelo Wagner's testimony.
Speaker 1: They match. The only way that happens without burd knowing
Speaker 1: what he said is that they're telling the truth about
Speaker 1: what they observed, what they knew. Well goes on to
Speaker 1: address Jake and his testimony. He's not our star witness.
Speaker 1: He's a terrible, terrible human being. He's evil, and he's
Speaker 1: going to spend the rest of his miserable existence locked
Speaker 1: in a cage. He's going to spend the rest of
Speaker 1: his life separated from what means most of him, his
Speaker 1: fam He will never be free again. And as incredibly
Speaker 1: distasteful as it was, the state entered into an agreement
Speaker 1: with Jake. For one we need him one thing, Toms.
Speaker 1: That's that's what we need from him. Him leading us
Speaker 1: to those guns was incredibly important. Wilson also reveals while
Speaker 1: the prosecution didn't play the tape of George Wagner's interview
Speaker 1: at the Canadian border again James Pilcher, and that was
Speaker 1: because they didn't want that tape to service his own
Speaker 1: testimony and his own denial. If he was going to
Speaker 1: deny it, he was going to have to deny it
Speaker 1: from the stand, and they didn't want to give him
Speaker 1: the opportunity to tailor his testimony to what he said
Speaker 1: at that point, which was key too, because he did
Speaker 1: have a major inconsistency between what he said at the
Speaker 1: border versus what he said on the stand. At the
Speaker 1: border he said he went to bed about some time
Speaker 1: after midnight after watching the Ferry movie whatever. But then
Speaker 1: on the stand he said he went to bed before
Speaker 1: ten with the kids, and yeah, he should have heard
Speaker 1: them leave, but he didn't. He usually stays up an
Speaker 1: hour after he goes to bed, and somehow he didn't
Speaker 1: hear Jake and Billy Leaves didn't even know they had gone.
Speaker 1: So that was a major inconsistency, and Wilson brought that
Speaker 1: home in his clothing. Andrew Wilson then shows a photo
Speaker 1: of the Wagner family with all the kids. Or don't
Speaker 1: you look at this picture, man, This picture speaks volumes.
Speaker 1: It speaks volumes. They don't want you to believe that
Speaker 1: this case is about custom, that these murders had anything
Speaker 1: to do about custom, but made no mistake about it.
Speaker 1: Those two children in that picture were never going to
Speaker 1: be raised anything other than Blacker. They want to control
Speaker 1: of those kids, and that's what this was all about.
Speaker 1: It started with George's son with Tabitha and getting control
Speaker 1: over that little boy. And it was the same thing
Speaker 1: about Jake's daughter with Hannah, but Hannah had a support system,
Speaker 1: Hannah had a family, and they were going to fight back.
Speaker 1: Wilson closes out the prosecution's rebuttal with one final thought.
Speaker 1: He is guilty. He's guilty. And when you make that
Speaker 1: final when you look at all that others, he's guilty.
Speaker 1: At that point, by law, you're are defined him guilt
Speaker 1: and that's what he'll do because that's what he is.
Speaker 1: Andy Wilson's rebuttal closing, I mean, everybody who watched it
Speaker 1: was like, I think that just sealed the deal. He
Speaker 1: answered every outstanding question defense had raised to a t.
Speaker 1: He was enthusiastic, he was forceful. Forensic expert Joseph Scott
Speaker 1: Morgan agrees, when that bailiff causes that jury to rise,
Speaker 1: and you better leave an impressional when I get back there,
Speaker 1: and you know that that big crescendo is what you want.
Speaker 1: It's one of the oldest cliches of prosecutors used, and
Speaker 1: they'll say things like do not let their desks be
Speaker 1: in vain, hold those people accountable for what they have done.
Speaker 1: Snuffing out these lives in the most horrific way possible,
Speaker 1: These people who have scarred our county forever and ever
Speaker 1: and ever for generations to come, hold them accountable, and
Speaker 1: they might even throw in God. They'll say, you know,
Speaker 1: someday they'll be judged by God. But right now, as
Speaker 1: you're tom to judge them upon what they have done.
Speaker 1: Before the day ends, Judge during gives instructions to the jury.
Speaker 1: The next morning, at eight thirty am, the jury begins deliberations.
Speaker 1: After a two and a half year investigation, after a
Speaker 1: three and a half month trial, the longest criminal trial
Speaker 1: in the history of Ohio, the most expensive trial in
Speaker 1: the history of Ohio, it is now in the hands
Speaker 1: of nine women and three men, the twelve jurors. Generally speaking,
Speaker 1: if they're out for a short period of time, if
Speaker 1: they're not out long, that's good for the state, the prosecution.
Speaker 1: If the longer they go, it's better for the defense
Speaker 1: because you know they're thinking about it. Then the other
Speaker 1: thing too, The longer they go, the better chance that
Speaker 1: they will have a hung jury, which is a victory
Speaker 1: for the defense. Attorney. With the fate of George Wagner
Speaker 1: in the jury's hands. All the defense and prosecution can
Speaker 1: do is wait, what are those hours like? It would
Speaker 1: be so tense. Let me tell you something. They are
Speaker 1: the slowest hours in a trial lawyer's life. From when
Speaker 1: a jury begins to deliberate until when they come up
Speaker 1: with a verdict. You stay around your office and then
Speaker 1: just kind of like dwell on it and it's just
Speaker 1: hard to concentrate on anything else. It's kind of brutal.
Speaker 1: But on the other hand, it's exciting too, because you know,
Speaker 1: then you get back in the courtroom and the jury
Speaker 1: walks in and you know you're looking at whether they
Speaker 1: look in the eye, and you know then they'll give
Speaker 1: their verdict. So it's tough, but it's also exciting. I
Speaker 1: guess it's the best way to put it. Two and
Speaker 1: a half hours into deliberation the jury as to see
Speaker 1: Judge deering. There were some rumblings when that note came
Speaker 1: out with the question. There was a couple of people
Speaker 1: who thought it might have been a verdict and we're like, no,
Speaker 1: one wasn't the case. So some false information got put
Speaker 1: out there initially, and at about eleven they sent down
Speaker 1: a question and apparently went on the record and they'd
Speaker 1: asked the transcript of Jake's testimony, or at least just
Speaker 1: a part of it, and Judge Jarring said, no, you
Speaker 1: have to get all of it, and I'm gonna want
Speaker 1: you to read all of it because it's not fair
Speaker 1: to exact certain excerpts, especially if you're just going to
Speaker 1: look at one part from the direct examination and not
Speaker 1: look at what the cross examination was. That wouldn't be fair.
Speaker 1: Takes it out of context. And he said, to be honest,
Speaker 1: it's not fair. And if you're going to do this,
Speaker 1: really I should make you read the transcripts of all
Speaker 1: of the witnesses. But even if it's just Shake, it's
Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty, seven hundred and sixty pages. Jerry
Speaker 1: goes back to deliberating. Then about four o'clock on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: we were notified that they had a verdict, and we're like, wow,
Speaker 1: that was very very quick. So that's like seven hours
Speaker 1: just you know, less than seven hours of deliberation if
Speaker 1: you count their breaks. And I took them at least
Speaker 1: thirty minutes to an hour to sign all the forms
Speaker 1: because there are twenty two forms that all twelve had
Speaker 1: to sign for all twenty two charges. The bailiff came upstairs,
Speaker 1: and he went back into the judge's chambers, and then
Speaker 1: he came out and he looked over at a couple
Speaker 1: of us sitting in the gallery and said, be ready
Speaker 1: in twenty five minutes. I said, what a verdict in
Speaker 1: twenty five minutes? And he said, there's a verdict in
Speaker 1: twenty five minutes, and I just tweeted it out immediately.
Speaker 1: The jury enters the courtroom, a lot of people will say, Oh,
Speaker 1: if the jurors come in and they don't look at
Speaker 1: the defendant, that means it's a guilty verdict, And if
Speaker 1: they come in and they look at the defendant, it's
Speaker 1: a not guilty verdict. The clerk hands the verdict forms
Speaker 1: to judge during he reads the jury's verdict. Verdict does
Speaker 1: to count one. It says, way the jury find beyond
Speaker 1: the reasonable doubt that the defendant, George Washington Whacker the
Speaker 1: fourth is guilty of aggravated murder as charged in account
Speaker 1: one of the indictment, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
Speaker 1: is that true verdict? Again, Antonette Levy. When the first
Speaker 1: guilty verdict was read, you've heard kind of a noise
Speaker 1: of gasp, but almost like a cry of sorts, and
Speaker 1: that came from the road and family, and I feel
Speaker 1: like that was just some type of big, you know,
Speaker 1: a sense of relief on their part. There were a
Speaker 1: lot of tears. I think these were tears of relief.
Speaker 1: It's like an emotional release. You know, you're sitting there,
Speaker 1: waiting and waiting. You've been sitting there for all of
Speaker 1: these weeks, looking at horrible things, hearing are horrible things,
Speaker 1: seeing horrible things, and I think they knew collectively when
Speaker 1: that first guilty verdict was read, they were all going
Speaker 1: to be guilty. Judge during continues reading the verdict. George
Speaker 1: Wagner has found guilty on all eight murder charges. He
Speaker 1: has also found guilty of aggravated burglary, conspiracy, gun charges,
Speaker 1: and tampering with evidence for a total of twenty two charges.
Speaker 1: George Wagner's reaction to the verdict was similar to his
Speaker 1: demeanor throughout the trial. George Wagner showed no emotion. No
Speaker 1: lawyer John Parker kind of he shook his hair, kind
Speaker 1: of nodded and you know, seeing a little upset, but no,
Speaker 1: George showed absolutely no emotion. He just kept his eyes down.
Speaker 1: I think George Wagner when they brought him in and
Speaker 1: just looking at his face, he knew, he knew that
Speaker 1: he was going to be convicted, and I felt like
Speaker 1: I just saw his eyes kind of blank, just, you know,
Speaker 1: briefly and kind of quickly. Once the first guilty verdict
Speaker 1: was read Judge Darings. That's George Wagner, sentencing for December nineteenth.
Speaker 1: After the verdict, the Roden family gives a press conference
Speaker 1: speaking on their behalf is Tony Roden Chris Roden, Senior's brother.
Speaker 1: I would like to thank the citizens of the state
Speaker 1: of ble Hia for barn this burden that should have
Speaker 1: never happened to this family and southern not a little
Speaker 1: bit of peace. We still have a long route to go,
Speaker 1: We'll get there because we are a family. Where's the party.
Speaker 1: We're gonna go home, and we've a little easier tonight
Speaker 1: that we don't take for granted anymore, as we love
Speaker 1: the ones we got and never let go if you
Speaker 1: never A reporter asked the Roden family their thoughts on
Speaker 1: George Wagner. Here's Tony Roden's response. I feel sorry for him.
Speaker 1: Why why? As human, how do you find the humanity
Speaker 1: time like this, when he did so much to your family.
Speaker 1: I think we all have human in us. There's just
Speaker 1: a difference in us. The prosecution also gives a statement
Speaker 1: to the press and the Road and Wagner and Gilly families.
Speaker 1: Here's Andrew Kneppa, followed by Rob junk from the State.
Speaker 1: You guys have trusted us with your lives and the
Speaker 1: lives of your loved ones. And I know today's verdict
Speaker 1: does not bring your loved ones back. I know that,
Speaker 1: but I do hope that it gives you some some
Speaker 1: linse of peace that yet another one of the evil
Speaker 1: monsters that did this to your family have been held accountable.
Speaker 1: Justice was done, and again they heard the voices of
Speaker 1: our eight victims a day the jury listened. They understood,
Speaker 1: we can never ever ever bring them back. But I
Speaker 1: can tell you that good Lord Willing George Wagner the
Speaker 1: fourth will never be in a position to hurt any
Speaker 1: woman ever again. Journalists and legal experts who have been
Speaker 1: following the case for years weighing on the verdict and
Speaker 1: Jeanette Levy, I wasn't completely surprised when they came back
Speaker 1: with guilty verdicts because it was so fast the way
Speaker 1: that I read the indictment. If you're guilty of one murder,
Speaker 1: you've got to be guilty of all of them. You
Speaker 1: know that it's a conspiracy case, and all of these
Speaker 1: homicides happened on the same night. So if the theory
Speaker 1: is that all three of the guys were there, Billy, Jake,
Speaker 1: and George, and these homicides were committed carried out that night.
Speaker 1: Under the law, if he's complicit with the complicity instruction
Speaker 1: that was given to the jury, then he's guilty of
Speaker 1: everything unless there's a compromise. After the guilty verdict, George
Speaker 1: Wagner is taken back to jail where he will wait
Speaker 1: until he is sentenced. Let's stop here for another break.
Speaker 1: December nineteenth is the day George Wagner is to be
Speaker 1: sentenced for the murders of the Rodent, Manly and Gilly
Speaker 1: family members. Even if George Randy Deering does stack a
Speaker 1: minimum possible sentence of thirty years, concurrently, Wagner still faces
Speaker 1: significant time for sixteen other charges. Are sentencing YEA so true, yeah,
Speaker 1: Prosecutor Angie Kanepa begins her sentencing remarks, it isn't such
Speaker 1: far often, but this is one of the most serious
Speaker 1: attributing murders as a statable hire. Not that a murder,
Speaker 1: of course comes without pain and horror, that is killed
Speaker 1: and those leccupied, but the killing of eighteen one such
Speaker 1: a thing of accated fashion for literally no reason in
Speaker 1: all in one night, I suggest, does make this one
Speaker 1: of the most serious aggating murder cases Ohio has seen today.
Speaker 1: I urged the courts and focus specifically a meaning on
Speaker 1: that hand hatched to the families and fashion mum sentence
Speaker 1: in this case, and this is the unjustified, unprovoked, horrible
Speaker 1: senses killing them innocent people. We urged the court to
Speaker 1: impose eight consecutive life without parole sentences regarding the murder
Speaker 1: of each of these lives, and Jim post maximum and
Speaker 1: consecutive sentences to each of the remaining counts as well.
Speaker 1: The defendant in his sentencing memorandum begs for mercy. He
Speaker 1: showed no mercy for the victims who just wanted to live.
Speaker 1: They have no one to beg for their lives or
Speaker 1: demand due process. He judgury and executioner in their lives.
Speaker 1: He deserves no mercy in presentence motions Wagner's lawyers asked
Speaker 1: for her a sentence which would give him the possibility
Speaker 1: of a parole. The prosecution asked for the maximum possible
Speaker 1: life without parole and for the eight murder counts to
Speaker 1: be served consecutively. With presentencing motion is over, Prosecutor Karneppa
Speaker 1: tells the court that members of the Rodent, Manly, and
Speaker 1: Gilly families are going to deliver their victim impact statements.
Speaker 1: James Pilcher, a jury of nine women and three men,
Speaker 1: took less than eight hours to find George Wagner the
Speaker 1: Fourth guilty on all twenty two charges for his role
Speaker 1: in the twenty sixteen Pike County massacre. Now Wagner must
Speaker 1: not only face his punishment, but the survivors from the Rodent, Gilly,
Speaker 1: and Manly families. They get their first opportunity to address
Speaker 1: a Wagner directly about the crimes. Ten family members give
Speaker 1: statements in person or through victims advocates. Here's Andrea's Shoemaker,
Speaker 1: mother of Hannah Hazel Gilly, George Wagner or the fourth
Speaker 1: Lear introduce myself. You see you said enough? Did you
Speaker 1: never met my mom? Hannah Hazel Gilling? I'm a mom Andrewsmaker.
Speaker 1: I'll stand here today to be her voice, since you,
Speaker 1: George Wide and the fourth and your evil family took her.
Speaker 1: Frankie Road, I shout to be son in law, the
Speaker 1: young man who gave me my first grandson. The love
Speaker 1: you have for my beautiful baby girl, Hanna Hayes was
Speaker 1: what was your two sons? A heart ache for you son.
Speaker 1: My grandson was made an orphan in one night. I
Speaker 1: see the pain in his eyes. He mourned for a
Speaker 1: dadd shit and it was something he won't do for
Speaker 1: the record, life is one of his daddy. And Hannah
Speaker 1: Hazel Gilly, my basic girl only the age of three,
Speaker 1: gone mad, who fell on the way to love with
Speaker 1: a young man drinking rode the love of Hannah Hanzel
Speaker 1: Billy's life. Hannah Hazel was the first of my children
Speaker 1: to give me the blessing of becoming a man all
Speaker 1: Hannah Hannah Hazel Billy was her first time mom to
Speaker 1: her beautiful son, and what a mommy she was. She
Speaker 1: loved her son with her whole heart and for her
Speaker 1: to Hendy have six months six months of his life,
Speaker 1: that is the one thing she wanted to see in
Speaker 1: her whole young life as to watch him grow up.
Speaker 1: My baby girl, I miss you, but on worse, another
Speaker 1: life taken wake too soon, but will never be forgotten.
Speaker 1: Hannah Man was such an innocent young lady, a great
Speaker 1: mother to two beautiful girls. I watch your baby girl mourn,
Speaker 1: mourn to know who her mommy was. I answer questions
Speaker 1: that should have never had to be asked in the
Speaker 1: first place. My heart is forever broken that she and
Speaker 1: her sister will never knew the mommy. The list of
Speaker 1: victims gets longer. The eight lives are just the ones
Speaker 1: no longer on this earth are we has a new family.
Speaker 1: The Gillie Manlies and the Rogues have all suffered. We
Speaker 1: are all suffering, hurting, always heartbroken, forever without our children,
Speaker 1: all because the devils, like the dark Devil's hunt at night,
Speaker 1: just like you, George Wagner the Fourth and your evil
Speaker 1: family did on Friday April at twenty first and twenty
Speaker 1: seconds of two thousand and sixteen. All I want is
Speaker 1: my baby girl, Hannah Hazel, and that I will never had.
Speaker 1: I only agree to the state because I want all
Speaker 1: these older families to get justice on earth while they're
Speaker 1: still here. Because of the fact that Gary's dad, Dannah's dad,
Speaker 1: and my dad didn't get their justice while on this earth.
Speaker 1: And I pray to God that's your son learns what
Speaker 1: kind of a monster you really are and never wants
Speaker 1: anything to do with you. And I pray Judge, deary
Speaker 1: that used turned out with the George wrightner the forts
Speaker 1: really is, and make him suffer with life and princes.
Speaker 1: Here's Kendra Roden, daughter of Kenny Rowden. As I said
Speaker 1: here today, I know I should I should have peace
Speaker 1: because you never been found guilty. Anermals Ranks accounts. I
Speaker 1: should feel relief that justice is being served, but there
Speaker 1: is no real justice, and peace is not a feeling
Speaker 1: I have. Anime was my piece, and because of you
Speaker 1: and your family, she was gone eight life, sinking in
Speaker 1: so many more, traumatized by the horrendous acts committed by
Speaker 1: the like her family. For months, I was riddled with
Speaker 1: questions of human why. I tried to find souls in
Speaker 1: the belief that most of my family numbers died instantly
Speaker 1: from being shot in my head. Unfortunately that was not true.
Speaker 1: When SIGNED thought my father's life the spot and the
Speaker 1: corner seat, and my father died within minutes of being
Speaker 1: shot minutes, not seconds. So now I'm like wondering for
Speaker 1: how long did he remain conscious? Did he feel the pain?
Speaker 1: How long was he conscious for knowing his death was
Speaker 1: imminent and there was nothing he could do? What went
Speaker 1: through his mind in those moments that I imagined felt
Speaker 1: like hours as he died alone? What about hannime and
Speaker 1: she liked next to her nursing infant? Did she die
Speaker 1: of fear? Not knowing what would happen to her child?
Speaker 1: How long did she like there helplessly knowing she could
Speaker 1: do nothing to protect her infant from the evil The
Speaker 1: storm thron stormed through her home that night. The questions
Speaker 1: were accompanied by nightmares night after night, black asleep, really crazy.
Speaker 1: I thought I could not escape it. Every time it
Speaker 1: was my eyes I was taking back to the horrific
Speaker 1: moments I found out that my family was murdered. I'd
Speaker 1: like for anything to stop and never in new pain
Speaker 1: and grief to the point I nearly ended my own
Speaker 1: life and December of twenties of eighteen. In twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: I had my daughter. It should have been a moment
Speaker 1: filled with nothing but joy. Instead, it was filled with heartache,
Speaker 1: knowing my father would never hold my daughter. Now. As
Speaker 1: I planned for my wedding, I dread walking down the
Speaker 1: aisle because my father will not be walking with me
Speaker 1: or handing me over as a father should. I won't
Speaker 1: look over to the bride's names and see handed me
Speaker 1: as my maid of honor. I won't see Frankie and
Speaker 1: the crowd making some sort of promotion to make me
Speaker 1: laugh and call my nurse. Christopher won't be there as
Speaker 1: a life of the party making a scene as as usual, Giffy.
Speaker 1: So you see, eight lines were taken in the most
Speaker 1: brutal ways, but many more lines were stolen. You took
Speaker 1: moments that were no more yours to take than the
Speaker 1: life you and your family took. I am sorry you
Speaker 1: never got to know the unconditional love of a mother
Speaker 1: and father, but it does not excuse your participation in
Speaker 1: the grim murders your family committed every whole. My family
Speaker 1: and I are not asking for your demise, but I
Speaker 1: do ask that you receive the maximenalty. It is not
Speaker 1: justice that I believe in my heart. It is the
Speaker 1: closest we can get. Here's Frankie Rodin's former girlfriend and
Speaker 1: mother of their son. My first little segment is actually
Speaker 1: one that my son, who has written himself a victim
Speaker 1: of the ninth. It was now since hermy dear George,
Speaker 1: I find myself wondering why you killed my daddy. There
Speaker 1: are things that make me sad because I can't learn
Speaker 1: from him. He could have taught me stuff like working
Speaker 1: on Derby cars in kim County. My mommy tried, but
Speaker 1: it's not as good as daddy was. I've been scared
Speaker 1: since that night, knowing bad guys came into my house
Speaker 1: I was sleeping. I am always scared now that I
Speaker 1: will lose my mommy. You did that to me. I
Speaker 1: just want to reg that I hate with your family,
Speaker 1: thinks are the words of a ten boy. For him
Speaker 1: to tell me he watched his daddy's team fall while
Speaker 1: he tried to wake him up because his baby brother
Speaker 1: scream is traumatic itself, but knowing that he has seen
Speaker 1: stuff hurts my heart so much. The sleepless nights, the
Speaker 1: panic attacks, and constant worry is so exhausting. You and
Speaker 1: your family did that. This is his story and I'm
Speaker 1: just living in We may have been friends in the past,
Speaker 1: but for you to get up her on that stand
Speaker 1: and take an oath and still lie on me, excuse
Speaker 1: me on her, but I hope you burned Hill George.
Speaker 1: I will say, there's one thing I have learned is
Speaker 1: that God wants us to forgive, and maybe one day
Speaker 1: I will forgive you. But at this time I just
Speaker 1: can't think. Here are Here's April Manley, Danna Rodin's sister
Speaker 1: in law. As I stand here today, I realized I'm
Speaker 1: standing here for my father in law. Ward. See, Leonard
Speaker 1: brought a short fight with liver cancer. All he wanted
Speaker 1: to do was be with these baby girl, Dana Rodin
Speaker 1: and make sure she was okay. For that reason, he
Speaker 1: wouldn't fight for his life. Leonard would tell us time
Speaker 1: and time again that he was sorry for leaving us,
Speaker 1: but he just couldn't walk this world without Dana any longer.
Speaker 1: He made me promise that I would see these childs through,
Speaker 1: that I would be at every court day. So here
Speaker 1: I stand today, at the end of one of them.
Speaker 1: I don't only stand here for winter, but myself as well.
Speaker 1: You see, James Manley and I would be married twenty
Speaker 1: eight years in this ship week. The Rogans are also
Speaker 1: in my family, but in heart as well. I was
Speaker 1: the maiden maid of honor at Dana Chris's wedding. I
Speaker 1: did be set Raking Hannah a little Chris from the
Speaker 1: time I was born until they was open up to
Speaker 1: stay by themselves. Even after they was old enough to
Speaker 1: look after themselves, I would still see them daily. That's
Speaker 1: why I referred to them as my babies. Then go
Speaker 1: to the morning April twenty seconds Sey sixteen, where all
Speaker 1: of our lives changed forever and will never be the
Speaker 1: same again. Not one, not too but eight family members
Speaker 1: were taken away from us. It was like the bottom
Speaker 1: fill on my soul. Hundreds of people around me, but
Speaker 1: I felt like I watched the scord the life so
Speaker 1: this day and my husband stepped screaming sis and he
Speaker 1: sleep so the only thing he called the You know,
Speaker 1: my stepson was never afraid of the dark. He was
Speaker 1: now fifteen years old and still't gonna go outside by
Speaker 1: himself after he says, they came in the dark took
Speaker 1: them all away before that night, he was never free.
Speaker 1: I hope George Waggener spends the rest of his life
Speaker 1: in prison without seeing your loved ones. For the rest
Speaker 1: of your life, just like you made sure we went
Speaker 1: and see ours. I hope you feel the loneliness and
Speaker 1: the emptiness that we feel for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: And I have one last whish wish for you, George,
Speaker 1: see you and your family made sure you were the
Speaker 1: last ones to see our family a lie. I hope
Speaker 1: every night, when you close your eyes you see them
Speaker 1: eight faces, and I hope they hatch you for the
Speaker 1: rest of your life. Lisa, niece to Chris and kind
Speaker 1: of Throwden goes next. Growing up, our parents tell us
Speaker 1: fosters do not exist, but I had come to know
Speaker 1: about have a lie in my adult life. There are
Speaker 1: so many moments that he made an impact for me
Speaker 1: greatly over the last eight years six years. Sorry, but
Speaker 1: a few of us moments are very handful moments that
Speaker 1: I will forever remember, vividly going into a funeral home
Speaker 1: and seeing eight caskets light along the wall of our
Speaker 1: loved ones. Walking into that room with my family, hearing
Speaker 1: the streams from my mothers, my aunt and my uncles
Speaker 1: while trying to hold them up because the lakes gave away.
Speaker 1: Six years and eight months later, we still have these
Speaker 1: invariable moments where we feel like we could just break,
Speaker 1: knowing the callous way they were taken from us. You
Speaker 1: would not only lose her mommy on April twenty seconds,
Speaker 1: but she loves all of her immediate family. And then
Speaker 1: one November thirteenth, twenty eighteen, she lost her dad's side
Speaker 1: of her immediate family. Regardless of the monsters they are
Speaker 1: who still had a bond, the devastation it impact will
Speaker 1: forever way having owned her for the rest of Hawaii.
Speaker 1: I've tried to wrap my head around why my family
Speaker 1: was given a death sentence, but nothing will justify the why.
Speaker 1: My cousin Hannah May was given a death sentence because
Speaker 1: she was a strong old mother who wanted to raise
Speaker 1: her daughter and continue to grow her family outside the
Speaker 1: Wagner's control. My cousin Gary, Hannah Hazel, little Chris to
Speaker 1: my hand Nata was given a death sentence for just
Speaker 1: simply being there. My cousin Frankie, my uncle Chris, and
Speaker 1: Michael Kenneth were given a sentence for being the protectors
Speaker 1: of our family. No amount justice given in this court
Speaker 1: will come close to what is deserved, but this man
Speaker 1: deserves nothing less. That has been the rest of his
Speaker 1: life in prison. Tony Rowden, brother of Chris Senior, and
Speaker 1: Kenneth Roden speaks last by reading a statement from his mother,
Speaker 1: Geneva Roden. George Wagoner, you are hell breathing on two signs,
Speaker 1: are not reading. My grandchildren are not breathing. They are
Speaker 1: all children left behind. I'd just like to see some
Speaker 1: guests with all of the impact statements heard. Judge Randy
Speaker 1: Deering addresses the court, mister Wagoners, or any reason that
Speaker 1: you want to states like sentence should not be pronounced
Speaker 1: and in possed commedia. Is there anything that you wish
Speaker 1: to say on your own behalf or any information you
Speaker 1: wish to provide a mitigation? The judge then prepares to
Speaker 1: hand down the sentence. First of all, no sentence that
Speaker 1: the court manposed in this case would right the wrong
Speaker 1: that has been inflicted upon the victuals and their families.
Speaker 1: Murder is an irreversible act. The court does find that
Speaker 1: these murders do constitute the worst form of the offense,
Speaker 1: and the court quite frankly finds the contentive has showed
Speaker 1: no remorse, just denial to the courts considered all of
Speaker 1: these factors that the course required to consider, and again
Speaker 1: is ready to impose sentence. So mister Wagner run asked
Speaker 1: me to stay. George Wagner stands. Won't count one of
Speaker 1: the indictment for the offensive aggervation murdered in violation Section
Speaker 1: two nine three point one eighth of the Revised Code,
Speaker 1: the victim of that offense being Kenneth Rod accorded by
Speaker 1: sentences you to serve a mandatory term of life imprisonment
Speaker 1: without parole. George Wagner is sentenced to life in prison
Speaker 1: without parole for all eight aggravated murder charges. Judge during
Speaker 1: then hands down sentences for fourteen additional counts. The aggregate
Speaker 1: of the sentence is eight consecutive terms of life imprisonment
Speaker 1: without parole plus one hundred twenty one years, eighty one
Speaker 1: years of which are mandatory anything. If not, then we
Speaker 1: are journey. The final few charges can be served concurrently,
Speaker 1: but in the end the full sentence is for eight
Speaker 1: consecutive life sentences in prison plus one hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: one years in prison, to be served consecutively. The prosecution
Speaker 1: agrees with the sentence. We're satisfied with it. The most
Speaker 1: important thing was getting those eight life without paroles. George Wagner,
Speaker 1: the fourth will never be in a position to hurt
Speaker 1: anyone ever again. I'm just happy for a family that
Speaker 1: they got to see this, They actually got some justice.
Speaker 1: At this point, George Wagner could file an appeal. Jake
Speaker 1: Wagner is serving life without parole. Angela Wagner is sentenced
Speaker 1: to be in prison until she is eighty years old.
Speaker 1: Billy Wagner is next to go to trial for the murders.
Speaker 1: Now all eyes are on Billy Wagner, the dad who
Speaker 1: faces the same charges that George faced. Billy's trial is
Speaker 1: still expected to happen at some point next Year's been
Speaker 1: such a long, awful I've rode for you all. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you're feeling a lot of emotions, but can you
Speaker 1: give us any sense of what you're feeling just right now?
Speaker 1: A little bit of peace. We still have a long
Speaker 1: road to go. We'll get there. It's we are. Family
Speaker 1: is now put brusher on Billy to complete guilty. We
Speaker 1: can only hope as the season comes to a close,
Speaker 1: we felt it was important to have one of the
Speaker 1: Roden family members have the last word. On December nineteenth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, Chris Senior and Kenneth's brother Tony Roden
Speaker 1: made a statement in court. His words remind us of
Speaker 1: the strength, love and loyalty that encompasses not just the victims,
Speaker 1: but those they left behind. I lost two brothers, Chris
Speaker 1: Roden Senior Kenneth Roden. I also lost a niece, Andy Roden.
Speaker 1: Also lost two nephews, Frankie Roden Chris Roden. I also
Speaker 1: lost a cousin, Gary Roden. I also lost a sister
Speaker 1: in law, the Roden Manly. I also lost my nephew,
Speaker 1: Frankie's fiance, Adam Hazel Guilty. I have so many memories
Speaker 1: of my brother Chris that I wish I could put
Speaker 1: them all down on paper, so whoever hears this today
Speaker 1: could see through my memories how my brother Chris really
Speaker 1: was carried gracious, loving family man and kind. My brother Kenneth,
Speaker 1: my mom's son as a young Bloyd, he would always
Speaker 1: hang out with me and my other brothers, Chris, Stephen,
Speaker 1: and Brady. Loved old cars and old trucks, even at
Speaker 1: a head. He loved his family and he always showed it.
Speaker 1: When he married, he adopted two kids, loved them as
Speaker 1: his own. My cousin Gary, my mom's nephew. He would
Speaker 1: always help people. I would be working with him. We
Speaker 1: would stop at store to get something to drink. I'd say, Gary,
Speaker 1: go in and get us something to drink, and he would.
Speaker 1: But he also bought lottery tickets out my money. Loved
Speaker 1: his family. His life cut short by selfish ACKs of other.
Speaker 1: My sister in law, Damn, my mom's dog in law,
Speaker 1: always spoke her mind. She would come to my house
Speaker 1: and tell me what I needed to do at my
Speaker 1: own house. When she walked in a room with other
Speaker 1: people in it, she would always have people laughing. She
Speaker 1: loved people and it showed she loved her family, would
Speaker 1: do anything for them. Her life cut short by selfish
Speaker 1: acts of other. On November the thirteenth, two and eighteen,
Speaker 1: there was an arrest and the murders of my family.
Speaker 1: The same year, around Christmas time, my sister woman played
Speaker 1: phone pad back and forth trying to get the authorities
Speaker 1: to let and spend Christmas dinner at our family. So
Speaker 1: it happened, and all the kids just loved him. And
Speaker 1: at this Christmas dinner, our mom was handing out presents
Speaker 1: to her younger grandchildren and her great grandchildren. Pictures were
Speaker 1: being taken and then his name is called. He walks
Speaker 1: up to mom. She puts him on her lap, she
Speaker 1: has him to present, pictures are taking. She puts him
Speaker 1: down and gives him a hub. I am sitting in
Speaker 1: the kids Jane crying as I walk. There's no relation
Speaker 1: to our family, but he is the defendant son. True love.
Speaker 1: That's what Will showed that Christmas dinner. It was embedded
Speaker 1: by our mom to all of her kids. We all
Speaker 1: have it in us. Chris thought it through his gigs,
Speaker 1: it showed Kenneth thought it through his and it still
Speaker 1: showed true love. For more information on the case and
Speaker 1: relevant photos, follow us on Instagram at Katie Underscore Studios.
Speaker 1: Now that the Pigton massacre has come to an end
Speaker 1: this season, Katie Studios invite you to experience our new podcast,
Speaker 1: Death Island. Just a few miles off the Thailand coast,
Speaker 1: The island of Kotau looks like a postcard. It's almost
Speaker 1: like if you were going to imagine a paradise island,
Speaker 1: they'll draw a picture of one. That's what Katao looks like.
Speaker 1: Young tourists from all over the world visit the pristine
Speaker 1: beaches and crystal clear water, but underneath the surface lies
Speaker 1: something sinister. In the last two decades, dozens of tourists
Speaker 1: have died mysteriously on the island. A dark cloud has
Speaker 1: come over the island and cast its shadow death, mystery,
Speaker 1: and danger. I'm journalist Connor Powell. Even while making this podcast,
Speaker 1: another death on the island just happened. One thing is
Speaker 1: certain in this beautiful place, no coast is clear. This
Speaker 1: is Death Island. That's like murdering someone in flame, squeat
Speaker 1: and saying there's no witnesses. A production of Katie Studios
Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Listen to Death Island every Wednesday on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: The Piked and Masaker is produced by Stephanie Lydecker, Jeff Shane,
Speaker 1: Chris Cacaro, Andrew Arnow, Gabriel Castillo and me Courtney Armstrong.
Speaker 1: Editing and sound designed by Jeff Tua. Music by Jared Aston.
Speaker 1: The Piked and Masaker is a production of iHeartRadio and
Speaker 1: Katie Studios. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.