Rhoden family massacre

17 Stories

Jury Returns Guilty Verdict in Slayings of 8 Family Members
Wagner Gets Life in
Slaying of 8 Family Members
UPDATED
Dec 19, 2022 3:02 PM CST

Wagner Gets Life in Slaying of 8 Family Members

'I hope your life is long and miserable,' victim's sister tells Ohio man

(Newser) - George Wagner IV has been sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for his role in the murders of eight people in southern Ohio in 2016. The 31-year-old showed no emotion as he was ordered to serve eight life sentences plus 121 years at a hearing Monday,...

Defendant: I Had No Idea About Plan to Massacre Rhoden Family

George Wagner IV testified he didn't know his parents, brother were planning slayings

(Newser) - A man on trial in the 2016 slayings of eight current and prospective members of another family in southern Ohio testified Wednesday that he had no idea his relatives planned to kill the victims and that he would have taken action to prevent the slayings had he known about such...

Woman Says It Was Husband's Idea to Kill Ohio Family of 8

Angela Wagner testified Tuesday in her son's murder trial

(Newser) - A woman who helped plan the 2016 slayings of eight members of another family, a crime that shook rural southern Ohio and stymied investigators for more than two years, says the massacre was her husband’s idea. Angela Wagner made the claim while testifying Tuesday at the murder trial of...

Prosecutor: Killers of 8 Wanted No Witnesses Left

Defense says defendant isn't like others in accused Ohio family

(Newser) - A custody dispute between two families that erupted into the massacre of eight people in rural southern Ohio started with a plan to kill just one of them, a young mother refusing to give up her daughter, a prosecutor said Monday. But months before the killings in 2016, the family...

Rhoden Family Massacre: The Allegations Are Stacking Up

Jake Wagner's brother is set to go on trial in late August

(Newser) - The 2016 murders of eight members of the Rhoden family sent shock waves through their rural southwest Ohio community. In late August, the first member of the Wagner family will go on trial for their deaths. In a lengthy piece for the Washington Post , Chris Graves writes that it's...

Rhoden Family Massacre: Pets Carried Surveillance Devices

The latest on the arrest of the Wagners in connection with the Rhoden family deaths

(Newser) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Tuesday called it "the most bizarre story I've ever seen": the arrests of four members of the Wagner family in the April 2016 execution-style slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family in Ohio. Authorities allege a custody dispute was at the...

2 Years Later, Arrests in Rhoden Family Massacre

Authorities say custody dispute played role in Ohio slaying of 8

(Newser) - Two and a half years after the execution-style slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family in Ohio, another family has been arrested. Four members of the Wagner family were arrested Tuesday, and authorities say a custody dispute played a role in the murders, the AP reports. Edward "Jake"...

Here's What Rhoden Family Massacre Autopsy Reports Say

Journalists were allowed to view the preliminary reports

(Newser) - It's been two years since the Rhoden family massacre in Pike County, Ohio, and while the killings remain stubbornly unsolved, more details of the crime itself have now emerged. That's thanks to a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court, which allowed journalists to see the preliminary autopsy reports...

Odd Development in Ohio Massacre Case

Cops say victim's brother destroyed GPS device

(Newser) - Ohio state authorities have charged the brother of one of the eight relatives slain in an unsolved massacre with tampering with evidence and vandalism over the destruction of a GPS tracking device they placed on his truck. The state attorney general's office accused James Manley of destroying the device...

Cops Say Fear Is Holding Back Witnesses in Ohio Massacre

No one has been arrested nearly a year later

(Newser) - Fear in the community is holding back information about the unsolved massacre of eight family members in southern Ohio nearly a year ago, investigators said Thursday. Some of that fear is of retaliation by the killers, and some is fear of witnesses incriminating themselves over their own criminal activity—likely...

Man Pulls $25K Reward in Ohio Slayings Over 'Developments'

Jeff Ruby cites 'complex criminal developments'

(Newser) - An odd and mostly unexplained development in the murder of eight Ohio family members : A local business leader has yanked his $25,000 reward in the case. In a tweet , restaurant owner Jeff Ruby said that "with recent complex criminal developments in Pike Co case, we are withdrawing our...

Ohio Murder Victims May Have Put Up a Fight

Autopsies show some had soft tissue bruising

(Newser) - While authorities say some of the victims of Ohio's "execution-style" killings died in their sleep, others may have put up a fight. Autopsies show some members of the Rhoden family had soft tissue bruising, suggesting they resisted their killer or killers, the Pike County Medical Examiner said Tuesday,...

Father of One Ohio Victim Thinks Killers Knew House

They were able to get around the dogs

(Newser) - The methodical executions of eight members of one family in Ohio continues to baffle, with rumors outpacing facts. Here's a roundup of developments:
  • The Cincinnati Enquirer interviews Leonard Manley, whose daughter and her three children were among the victims in Pike County. He notes that the killer or killers
...

Ohio Murder Victim Was Threatened on Facebook

Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, received the threat

(Newser) - A new development in Ohio: One of the eight family members killed in a horrific mass slaying had already been threatened on Facebook, CBS News reports. The threat was directed at Christopher Rhoden Jr., who at 16 was the youngest of the victims. "I'm aware of the Facebook...

911 Call in Ohio Horror: 'Blood All Over the House'

As businessman offers up $25K to find unknown suspect

(Newser) - The 911 calls came Friday, from two of the four Ohio homes where eight members of the Rhoden family lay dead in grisly execution-style murders: "There's blood all over the house! My brother-in-law's in the bedroom. It looks like someone has beat the hell out of him,...

One Ohio Victim: Mom Next to 4-Day-Old Baby

Cops say killer or killers is still at large

(Newser) - Police in Ohio say they are still hunting the suspect—or suspects—who slaughtered eight members of the same family in four rural residences on Friday. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says more than 30 people have been interviewed in connection with the "horrible tragedy" in Pike County, the...

8 Dead in 'Execution Style' Shootings in Ohio

The shooter or shooters are possibly still out there and 'extremely dangerous'

(Newser) - Eight people are dead after "execution-style" shootings in rural southern Ohio on Friday, reports WBNS . According to WCPO , the victims in the rampage in Peebles are all members of the Rhoden family. One of the dead is a 16-year-old boy, the AP reports. Multiple homes were involved in what...

17 Stories