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