Pike County Murders: George Wagner IV is asking for a new trial, citing errors at trial level

PIKE COUNTY — George W. Wagner IV, serving a life sentence in the 2016 Pike County murders, is asking for a new trial.

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Attorney Louis Grube, in papers filed with the Ohio 4th District Court of Appeals, argues that the trial court committed 33 errors, some of which include:

* Failing to dismiss charges from activities in Scioto and Adams counties

* Abusing its discretion by failing to transfer the case to another county because of pretrial publicity in Pike County

* Failing to suppress statements acquired through a wiretap

* Denying additional opportunities to bump prospective trial jurors, according to the Ohio Revised Code

* Sentencing George Wagner to prison without parole eligibility even though he had not shot any of the victims

Grube said all the errors raised from the three-month-long trial should get a full hearing because of the “credibility battle between defendant Wagner, who denied his involvement in a murder plot, and the Wagner family members who implicated him.”

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The Pike County killings is the state’s largest and most expensive homicide case the state has ever had. Those who were found dead in their four homes or nearby on April 22, 2016, include Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40, Dana Rhoden, 37, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20, Gary Rhoden, 37, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, and Kenneth Rhoden, 44.

Wagner was sentenced to life without parole on eight counts of aggravated murder. A Pike County jury convicted him on 22 counts, including the multiple counts of aggravated murder, for his role in the murder of eight family members.

George Billy Wagner, the last suspect in the case, is to be tried in 2025. His attorneys have said medical reasons interrupted their trial preparation.

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Six members of the Wagner family were arrested in 2018, more than two-and-a-half years after the killings.

In 2021, Jake and Angela Wagner accepted plea deals. They testified against George Wagner at his 2022 trial as part of their plea agreements. Jake and Angela are to testify at George Billy Wagner’s trial.

Prosecutors dismissed charges against one of the defendants, Fredericka Wagner.

Another defendants, Rita Newcomb, accepted a plea deal.

Fredericka Wagner and Newcomb were the mother and grandmother of the other four people involved.

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