March 1, 2023 • 32 mins
In possibly the biggest moment of the trial thus far, accused murderer George Wagner IV’s brother, Jake takes the stand and tells a stunned courtroom the details we’ve all been waiting for.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Billy said, well, now if you kill her, you're gonna
have to kill Chris and Frankie because they will know
you get it and they will come after you. Jake
testify George was in a firing position. Jake said he
told him to shoot, but he didn't. Jake Jake the
rifle from George, and then when Chris shows up in
the doorway, he shoots over. What really stood out to
(00:26):
me was just the way he talked about killing people
like it was no big deal. This is the Pike
Damasacer returned to Pike County season four, episode eighteen. Jake
Wagner on the stand. I'm Courtney Armstrong, a television producer
(00:49):
at Kat's Studios with Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff Shane. It's
important to note that George Wagner the fourth pleaded not
guilty to all charges. His father, Billy Wagner, whose trial
is upcoming, also pleaded not guilty to all charges. At
the beginning of the eighth week of testimony, I traveled
to Ohio to be in the courtroom when jurors heard
(01:11):
from the man who seems to be at the center
of this trial, Jake Wagner. In April of twenty twenty one,
on the five year anniversary of the murders, Jake pled
guilty to eight counts of aggravated murder and agreed to
testify against his own family, including his older brother George.
(01:33):
In exchange, the prosecution removed the death penalty as a
possible punishment for all. Wagner's judge, Randy Dearing, allowed Jake
Wagner to opt out from having his testimony recorded. That's
why we will not hear Jake Wagner's voice in this episode. Still,
his testimony is chilling, dramatic testimony in Pike County Today,
(01:56):
brother versus brother. Today, Jake Wagner took the stand against
George Wagner the fourth. When Jake Wagner entered the courtroom,
both his hands and feet were shackled with long chain manacles.
He wore thick black glasses and a prison issued tan jumpsuit.
His hair was slicked back and in a ponytail. I
was not surprised to see him in jail clothes. You know,
(02:16):
a lot of the reporters had been speculating that, oh,
maybe they'll put him in street clothes. And I just
thought to myself, I've never seen an inmate testify. Was
put in street clothes. I mean the prosecution wanted these
people to be seen or at least Jake and Angela
as criminals. Now twenty nine years old, Jake Wagner has
been in the Franklin County jail for nearly four years.
(02:38):
The only noticeable change in his appearance as he looked stronger.
He looked fitter than the thin, gangly man he was
before his arrest. He looks like a different person. Now
you see Jake as a teenager and suddenly you got
a cod sitting there at that big table there in
a courthouse. It's an understatement to say Jake Wagner's testimony
(02:59):
has been highly an dissipated. Unsurprisingly, the courtroom was packed.
This is me speaking with Stephanie from Ohio. Was anybody
on the Wagner side that you could identify or was
it still a total no show for George. There wasn't
a seat to be had completely filled, including extra seats
(03:21):
that were put into the aisles, so that was just
getting in. So it felt unlike any other day in
the trial so far. It was a real buzz. There
appeared to be no one there for George Wagner. A
lot of the people outside of the media and victims'
family members were family members of the attorneys on the
prosecution and defense sides. That's interesting because you never would
(03:44):
really think that that's who would come, but this is
their big moment, So for family members of the lawyers,
that does make sense. After Jake took the stand, he
looked directly at his brother George from across the room
and smiled. For a brief moment, they made eye contact
the first time in years before George looked away. Here's
(04:05):
reporter Anjeanette Levy, who was in the courtroom. I was
sitting right behind George, and George made eye contact with him,
but I don't think it was for very long. Was
pretty short lived. And Jake just kind of, you know,
he kept looking around a little bit like he was
very It was almost kind of like this alert look.
He kept like turning his head, looking back and forth,
(04:25):
and you know, then things started. The questioning started. Prosecutor
Anjiecineppa started by asking Jake if it was difficult to
testify against his own family. He said it was very difficult.
When he was asked, would you love nothing more for
your brother, your mother, and your father to be able
to go home, and he said yes. The only other
(04:46):
emotion Jake appeared to show that morning was when he
mouthed quote, I am sorry, in the direction of the
Rodent family sitting in the courtroom. Then he calmly and
with little emotion, walked jurors through the killings. During more
than six hours of detailed testimony, Jake Wagner explained why
he wanted to kill Hannah Rodin, the mother of his child.
(05:09):
With Jake Wagner, what's fascinating about him is that he's
kind of the doorway into what can be described only
as a horror show. It's not just the night of
the homicide, it's everything leading up to it. It's a
life that these people led in the year's preceding. Jake
Wagner detailed how his family's criminal activity began long before
(05:32):
they were arrested for the Rodent, Manly and Gilly murders.
Prosecutor and Jacineppa asked Jake Wagner about the various homes
and vehicles his family owned. We found out through Jake
Wagner's testimony today that he, his brother, and his father
would commit crimes together, including multiple our sins to collect
(05:53):
insurance money and stealing high priced item from businesses. Jake
admitted that his parents set fire to their own home
on Bethel Hill Road to collect the insurance benefits. He
also testified that the Wagners torched multiple vehicles for the
same reason. Jake said they would steal everything from fuel,
to building materials to livestock, also that he learned to
(06:15):
pick a lock at a very young age. Here again
is long crime reporter an Jeannette Levy. She's followed by
forensic investigator Joseph Scott Morgan. They were taught these things
so that they could get away with crimes, and not
necessarily so they could be like good human beings. I mean,
they were raised to be criminals. It's quite sad when
(06:37):
you listen to them talk about how their dad would
sit them down with like a lock pick set when
they were seven, nine years old something like that, and
teach them how to pick locks and weird games about oh,
if you were out and about and you spot a cop,
you get a dollar. When you hear about the way
that Jake grew up, where he was essentially the discipled
(07:00):
into a life of crime, Billy described it as he
was teaching his boy survival skills, you know, how to
essentially steal a car or hot wire car in case
he ever got quote unquote kidnapped. And I'm thinking, you know,
I don't know of any parent out there that sits
around and thinks, well, let me tell my child how
(07:21):
to steal a car in case they ever get kidnapped.
I wonder, I wonder where all changes, entire rotations came in.
You know, did you at least talk about that first,
you know, And he's saying this, he's saying this from
the stand, and you're really getting a peek behind the
curtain at this life that they led. Jake told the
courtroom his relationship with Hannah may Rodin began when she
(07:45):
was just thirteen years old. He said he met Hannah
at the Pike County Fair where she was showing off
her pet rabbits. Despite being four years older than Hannah,
Jake asked her parents, Dana and Chris Rodin, if he
could date her. At times, their relationship was violent. Prosecutor
Angie Kinneppa asked Jake if he ever choked his young girlfriend,
(08:05):
as hannahme had once claimed, and he said, I never
choked her. And he was very like adamant about it,
and he said she was having a fit, and you know,
I held her up against the wall and I put
my arm on her collarbone, but I didn't choke her.
I just held her there until she calmed down. And
(08:26):
after he gave that answer, he kind of, like Angiekineppa,
kind of made a sighing noise. But it was just
like he was talking about this, like, oh, I didn't
choke her. I was just you know, holding her there.
It was like this minimization or justification or rationalization for
basically holding your ex girlfriend against a wall because she
(08:48):
was upset about something. And you know he's claiming he
didn't choke her. Well, hanname saying he choked her like
that his arm was on her throat. So some of
these things were pretty strange to me the way he
would describe them. By age fifteen, Hannah Mae Rodent was
pregnant and gave birth to her daughter she shared with
(09:09):
Jake Wagner. Her tumultuous relationship with Jake ended in February
of twenty fifteen, a little more than a year before
the murders. Jake Wagner described his family's motive and one
of the worst massacres in Ohio's history that led to
the death of eight members of the Rodan family. After
their relationship broke up, Jake testified that he and his mother,
(09:30):
Angela began to have concerns about the safety of his daughter,
who was living with the Rodents. This was true in
particular after Hannah May started dating Corey Holdron, who Jake
believed was dealing drugs. Jake said he was concerned his
daughter wouldn't be safe living with the Rodents, even going
as far as saying he was concerned would be molested,
since he said it happened in both his family and
(09:52):
Hannah's family, Jake testified that his mother, Angela Wagner, was
monitoring Hannah May's private Facebook conversations. Jake's concern for his
daughter only grew when he became aware of an online
conversation where Hannah said the only way she would give
up custody of their daughter is if the Wagners killed
(10:13):
her first. Wagner said that his father, Billy Wagner, first
mentioned a murder plot, but he would not let it happen.
Jake testified he told Hannah he was concerned that their
daughter could be molested, and he claims that Hannah was dismissive, saying, quote,
if that happens, we'll just have to deal with it.
That alleged response, Jake Wagner told the court was the
(10:36):
tipping point. Jake Wagner said, by the winter of twenty
fifteen and twenty sixteen, he was concerned that his daughter
with Hannah Rodin might be molested, so he decided his
only choice to protect his daughter was actually to kill Hannah.
The prosecution says basically that that was made up, this
(10:56):
fear that the little girl would be molested. The prosecution
basically says that was something they kind of whipped up
in their heads to justify what they wanted to do.
And we had earlier in the trial seeing text messages
or Facebook messages where Hana Ma and Jake were talking
(11:16):
about their child, and it was just amazing to me
that in some points he would say things like I'll
take her even if I have to do it by force,
just some really eerie foreshadowing. So it just seemed to
me that they, for whatever reason, and everybody wants their
(11:38):
children to be with them, but this seems to be
some type of demand, like, no, this child is going
to be with me. Once he made up his mind
that Hannah Mae had to be killed, Jake testified that
the Wagner family began to plan and plot. His first
(12:00):
idea was to frame Hannah's boyfriend, Corey Holdron. Here's James Pilcher,
longtime investigative reporter in Cincinnati, now with Local twelve. He's
followed by Long Crimes and Jeanette Levy. Jake was convinced
that something needed to be done, that they were going
to kill Hannah and Corey and make it look like
(12:22):
a murder suicide, and Billy said, no, you can't do
that either, because they'll figure out it was us and
they'll come after us. I don't want somebody up up
there on the hill with a sniper rifle killing us.
Billy said, well, now, if you kill her, you're gonna
have to kill Chris and Frankie because they will know
who you did it and they will come after you.
So it was just this insane like, oh yeah, I
(12:45):
mean you're gonna kill well, we're going to kill her.
We got to kill everybody else too. We're going to
take a break. We'll be back in a moment. Jake
said the Wagner spent three months preparing, buying everything from
(13:06):
ammunition to shoes from Walmart to a device to jam
phone calls. Jake even ordered a Captain America Winter Soldier mask,
specifically for his brother George to wear. Jake Wagner said
that his brother George, who's on trial, was with him
when he bought a pickup truck and a false truck
bed cover for those killings. On the afternoon of April
(13:28):
twenty first, Billy Wagner told his sons this would be
the night. Four days earlier, Hannah Rodin had given birth
to her second child, so they knew she would be home.
Billy Wagner also believed the cloudy weather would prevent surveillance
satellites from tracking their movements. Wagner said he dyed his
hair a dark brown, like a character in the movie Boondocks.
(13:50):
Saints Wagner said before heading out, he watched a clip
of the movie to quote psych myself into what I
was about to do next. Jake Wagner described how he
walked barefoot to the truck to avoid tracking any dirt
from his home. Here again, forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan.
(14:11):
We have longed to hear about what happened that night,
what went into the planning. You know, I was particularly
interested in the care that Jake talked about with walking
barefoot when he went back to the vehicle. He wanted
to prevent any kind of prints being left behind. He
had enough sense about that, and he even knew about
(14:32):
soil types, which is fascinating to me, because you know,
there's an entire discipline. He's not a dummy. He was
aware of that. He had a sensitivity to it. I
think it's another kind of point along the continuum that
goes to kill, because that's a premeditative factor. Then Jake
described how they went from house to house, killing eight people.
(14:55):
Jake described how his father, Billy, as well as George
all took part in these murders. On that he went
into detail, describing that they modified the bet of their
truck in order to hide George and himself in the
back while his father drove them to the road and trailers.
Once at the Rodent's property on Union Hill Road, Billy
Wagner lured Chris Rodin outside. Jake said the plan was
(15:17):
to shoot Chris Senior as he and Billy walked back
towards the Rodents marijuana gross site, but the shot never came.
Prosecutors were asking if George was going to be involved
in the killings. Jake said yes. Jake testified that George
was actually supposed to kill Chris Roden SR. Jake testified
George was in a firing position. Jake said he told
him to shoot, but he didn't. After a few minutes outside,
(15:40):
Chris Senior and Billy Wagner went back into the trailer
where Chris's cousin, Gary Roden was. After a few minutes,
Billy was able to convince Chris to come to the
door one more time, and the killing spree began again.
Investigative reporters James Pilcher and an Jette Levy, Jake takes
(16:01):
the rifle from George and then when Chris shows up
in the doorway, he shoots him with the SCS and
he says he missed or couldn't get a shot. He
missed the first shot that went above him, and then
he'd lowered it close his eyes and just pulled off
a bunch of shots. And that's later corroborated by the
evidence where you see all of these other bullet holes
all around the door frame where he missed, but then
(16:24):
obviously in the line hit Chris in the shoulder and
the belly in the arm. I'll never forget seeing that
autopsy photo of the arm. What really stood out to
me was just the way he talked about killing people
like it was no big deal. You would think after
you maybe fired the first shot at somebody's head, you
(16:45):
might flinch, but it doesn't sound like there was any
flinching on Jake's part. Inside, Billy Wagner killed Gary Rodin
and fired several more shots into Chris Senior's body. Jake
Wagner said his father came running out of the house
in a quote nervous breakdown. Jake said that Billy came
out and was freaking out, and he was like, you
(17:06):
can't freak out now, it's too late. There's no turning back.
Jake went through Chris Roden Senior's pockets and grabbed the
keys to the marijuana shed so he could remove the
hard drive from the security system. When Jake returned to
the trailer, he said Chris and Gary Roden's bodies have
been moved into the back bedroom. Jake testified he threw
(17:27):
a blanket on top of them, but admitted to the
jury that he didn't know why. Throughout his testimony, Jake
appeared calm and responsive, and several times throughout it he
would even look at his brother George. However, I can
say that George would avert his gaze multiple times and
appeared to not even want to look at his brother. Next,
the Wagoners went to Frankie Rhoden's home. Jake said after
(17:48):
he crawled through a window, he let his brother and
father in through the front door. Frankie Roden's three year
old was lying on the couch. Jake said he walked
past the sleeping child to the back bedroom and shot
Frankie rod in his head as he slept. He further
testified that Frankie's fiance, Hannah Hazel Gilly, began to wake
and Jake said he shot her too. Then, for no
(18:11):
explained reason, Billy Wagner shot both Frankie and Hannah Hazel
Gilly in the head as well. Their six month old
son was sleeping between them. It was quite chilling in
a way, and I feel like that word is sometimes overused,
but just the matter of fact way in which he
(18:33):
described shooting people. It was just very nonchalant, according to Jake.
Then he his brother George and father Billy Wagner went
to Dana Roden's home. She had just arrived home from work.
The door was unlocked, and Jake said he just walked in.
He was surprised to see Dana awake in her bed.
(18:54):
Here again, investigative reporter an Jeannette Levy. He's literally standing
in the hallway, and he said he can see inside
Dana's bedroom from where he was standing, and then he
could also turn his head and see inside Handa Mae's bedroom.
He could see that Dana was on her cell phone.
He could see the light from her cell phone shining
on her face. And she made it. She looked at
(19:18):
him and made a gasp, and he said he took
a step and he shot her like I think twice,
and then he took and then he pivoted. He said
he was at a pivot point and he moved into
Hanna Mae's bedroom. She made a noise, she saw him,
and he shot her in the head. And then he
went back and he shot Dana again. There was no
hesitation on his part. It was just really disturbing. Before leaving,
(19:42):
Jake said he realized Hannah's fourty old newborn was in
the room and was concerned she might starve. He said,
you know, I know it doesn't really make sense, but
I didn't want to starve. I thought that if you know,
it took too long for them to find the bodies,
he might starve. So I moved Hannah so she could breastfeed.
I mean, it's a newborn baby. Newborn babies are helpless
(20:05):
as can be. And just that weird thought that you
thought a four or five day old baby is going
to nurse off her dead mother. It's just so crazy.
Jake Wagner then walked into Chris Roden Junior's bedroom and
shot him point blank. Jake said then that he, his
brother George, and father Billy drove to Kenneth Roden's home,
(20:29):
where his father Billy killed him. He was the final victim,
and he was murdered with one gunshot. According to Jake's testimony,
The Wagner's collected shellcasings, cell phones and returned to their
home on Peterson Road. Here's Jeff speaking with attorney and
legal analyst Mike Gallon on the impact of Jake Wagner's
chilling testimony. I'm just curious, like what your take on
(20:51):
those impactful moments are and how they kind of changed
the course of this trial moving forward. His testimony appeared
credible to me. It didn't sound like he was puffing
it up or exaggerating it to a great degree. And
I just think he was believable. And do you think
that level of gory detail, like Hannah Roden's last moments,
(21:13):
does that move the jury in a way that none
of the other stuff has probably up until this moment. Absolutely, absolutely.
I'm sure those jurors were riveted hearing that testimony, because,
I mean, you know, that's the guts of the whole thing. Again,
you know, that's why everyone is there, the judge, the jurors,
the prosecutor, the defense lawyer is because of what he did,
(21:36):
what Jake did at that time, and it's just a real,
real important part of the trial. In the aftermath of
Jake Wagner's first day of testimony, the media pol filed
emotion with Judge Randy Deering to allow cameras in the
courtroom for the rest of Jake's testimony. The media argued
that the public had a right to see and hear
(21:58):
all of the testimony in the most expense of murder
investigation in their state's history. Under Ohio law, witnesses can
object to being filmed or recorded. In early October, an
Ohio Court of Appeal sided with the media outlets who
challenged the law, striking down parts of it, but Judge
Deering continued to allow witnesses to opt out as is
(22:20):
his right. After Jake Wagner's first day of testimony, a
coalition of media groups hired a first Amendment rights lawyer
to visit the issue. Hearing was scheduled for the next day.
Here's James Pilcher. Another eventful day here in Waverley, as
Jake Wagner, the younger brother of defendant George Wagner, took
(22:40):
the stand for the second straight day to testify against
his brother. Inside the courtroom, prosecutor Angiecineppa asked Jake Wagner
to describe what he and his family did after arriving
at home immediately following the murders. Today's testimony were picked
up right where they left off Monday, where Jake, Billy,
and George had returned to home from the killings at
(23:01):
about four point thirty am on April twenty second. Now,
he says on that night they actually drove back to
their family barn and began burning their clothes to get
rid of any evidence on them. Jake also says he
took each of their guns and began cutting them in
half with power tools, and even went so far as
to try burning them with a torch. However, Jake said
(23:22):
he was unable to melt down the weapons, so instead
he burnt off the serial numbers and then hit them.
Then he admitted to burying pieces of the guns in
the barn underneath a support beam, which he dug up
with help from George. Once they were done cleaning up,
they went inside to change clothes. Jake said he saw
his mother, Angelo Agner in the kitchen, but did not
speak with her. Later in the morning, friend Andrew Carson
(23:46):
called Jake and asked if he'd heard what happened. Jake
said he had seen it on the news. Once news
of the rodent's death began to spread, Jake says he
refused to speak about it with his family while in private,
and even tried to forget about it completely out of guilt.
Let's stop here for another break Several weeks after the murderers,
(24:14):
Jake said BCI agents came to the Wagner's home. It
was after this visit that the Wagners began to worry
they were under surveillance. Billy Wagner decided they should dig
up the weapons and place them into a concrete bucket
and drop them into a lake on his parents' property.
The weapons remained underwater until the Wagners were arrested in
twenty eighteen. The best plea bargain in the state of Ohio,
(24:38):
it is how the defense described the deal that Jake
Wagner made to avoid the death penalty. On the third
day of Jake Wagner's testimony, the defense took over questioning immediately.
George Wagner's attorney, John Parker, tried to paint Jake as
a liar who turned on his own brother to avoid
the death penalty. Many of the jury were poisoned in
their seats as defense attorney John Parker said, you got
(24:59):
off the hook the death penalty for killing the Rodents,
yet your brother, who you admit did not kill any
of them, is still facing death. Parker quickly asked him
question after question to poke holes in Jake's account of
the massacre. The defense argued during its cross examination that
Jake Wagner murdered everyone and that George tried to stop
the murders. The defense read quotes from Jake's statements to
(25:22):
investigators that said, George didn't like the idea whatsoever. He
thought of Hannah as a sister. He said, he didn't
want to do it, don't trust Dad. He decided to
go because he was thinking Dad was trying to set
me up. Then the defense led Jake through each step
of the massacre as he smiled at the strangest times.
(25:43):
After the second day of Jake Wagner's testimony, I spoke
with Jeff and Stephanie. Something that really struck me from
Jake's first day of testimony was his attempt at interaction
with the Rodent family. Nothing I'm sorry, or trying to
make eye contact with George. Did you see any of
that and what was that like in person if you did. No,
there really wasn't any of that. Upon cross examination, I
(26:05):
believe the attorney mentioned it three or four times because
it was so pronounced. Was Jake's smiling slash smirking the
same thing that we all noticed and commented on when
he pled guilty, specifically when he was asked about killing
Hannah Rodin and he kind of smirked. And what Jake
(26:26):
did was acknowledge. He said, I know this is a
very serious matter. It's not funny. It's just something happened.
Anyone who knows me knows that I smile at the
worst moments, right like when they're watching the Booddock Saints
clip in court, He's smiling. At least that's what I
read the defense attorney. He had an interesting way of
(26:48):
getting Jake to say stuff, And what it appeared to
be was that the defense attorney was kind of doing
everything he could to get Jake to contradict himself, even
in small ways from what he has laid out. So
as an example, he said, oh, so you shot Hannah
rode In, the mother of your child, in the back
(27:08):
of the head. He said, no, I shot her in
the front of the head and was smiling. So is
he just a sociopath or just as horrible social skills?
I mean, what's your You obviously can't diagnose him, but
I hadn't realized the extent of just how long everything took.
For example, and here are a couple of things that
came to light today. They actually stopped, they being Billy, Jake,
(27:31):
and George. They made a stop on the way to
Chris Roden's house. What and Billy was driving. Jake was
under he had constructed in the back bed of the car.
He had constructed a wooden platform and put bales of
hay under it and was underneath that to hide so
(27:52):
he could lie and wait to then sniper under the car.
On the drive there, Billy pulled over and said, are
you sure you want to go through at this? You know,
now's the times turnaround if not, And the answer was
to just continue on. It's shocking. Later the courtroom was
shown some of the graphic crime scene photos. Jake admitted
(28:14):
that he had tried to block the gruesome images from
his mind. Can you imagine having to look at those
photos now with distance, knowing that you were the perpetrator.
But it's a different perspective you're seeing it in a photograph.
Has he seen crime photos yet? Yes? On cross examination,
the attorney was reminding Jake, he said, you have seen
(28:39):
pictures of Kenneth Roden, who was shot one time in
the eye. The similarity of just as Hannah Gilly was
shot straight through the eye, and Jake said, oh, when
I look at the photos, I try I don't want
to look at any of the wounds. I try not
to time. He said why, and he said, because I
don't want that to be in my memory. Attorney said, well,
(29:01):
that must be really nice. Hannah Mae Rodent's final moment
was him smiling at her. Can you imagine she's waking up,
maybe allegedly in her bed, nursing her child, and you
see your ex smiling at you. Those are her final moments.
(29:23):
At the end of Jake Wagner's testimony, George Wagner's defense
attorney John Parker once again asked Jake if he was
a stone cold killer. Jake said yes. Parker accused Jake
Wagner of selling his testimony to the state of Ohio
and implicating George to save his own life. Jake insisted
he had provided truthful testimony. Parker then said, while waving
(29:45):
his hand, dismissively take him away, Judge, no further questions here. Again.
Legal analyst Mike Allen on the impact of George Wagner's
three days of testimony, nobody was contending not the defense certainly,
and not the prosecution that George shot anyone. That was
never the case. I mean, the closest he got, according
(30:06):
to the testimony, was he was supposed to pull the
trigger on one of them, but he couldn't, and then
Jake had to do it. What the State of Ohio
had to show, and I watched this closely, they had
to show that George was a part of the preparation
for the murder murders, He was a part of the execution,
(30:29):
although somewhat a small part in the execution of the murders,
but he was a really big part in the aftermath
with respect to disposing of evidence and things like that,
and the state showed that. More on that next time.
For more information on the case and relevant photos, follow
(30:51):
us on Instagram at kat Underscore Studios. The Piketon Masker
is produced by Stephanie Leidecker, Jeff Shane, Connor Powell, Andrew Arnow,
Gabriel Castillo and me Courtney Armstrong. Editing and sound designed
by Jeff Ti Music by Jared Aston. The Pike Did
Maasacar is a production of iHeart Radio and Katie's Studios.
(31:14):
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Please welcome Markite County Dogwin Festival. Queen Lord, I just
thank you for bringing us all together as a community. Okay,
(31:38):
there's blood all over the house. Who could have killed
eight family members in one mite? I lost my best
friends and I will never be the same because of
that day. Four crime scenes, no DNA, no witnesses. The
killer left those children laying in their mother's blood. That
(32:00):
comes to mind is overkill. Who was the master mind,
I'm telling you, is a framer. I'm not sitting in prison.
One thing I learned, the smaller the town, the bigger
the sacreds. Be sure to watch our upcoming documentary, The
Pike County Murders of Family Massacre, premiering on NBC Universal's
(32:24):
Oxygen Network and also streaming on Peacock this Thanksgiving Day
weekend November twenty fourth and November twenty fifth. Please check
your local listings and our hearts are with the Rodents
and the Gilly families.
Billy said, well, now if you kill her, you're gonna
have to kill Chris and Frankie because they will know
you get it and they will come after you. Jake
testify George was in a firing position. Jake said he
told him to shoot, but he didn't. Jake Jake the
rifle from George, and then when Chris shows up in
the doorway, he shoots over. What really stood out to
(00:26):
me was just the way he talked about killing people
like it was no big deal. This is the Pike
Damasacer returned to Pike County season four, episode eighteen. Jake
Wagner on the stand. I'm Courtney Armstrong, a television producer
(00:49):
at Kat's Studios with Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff Shane. It's
important to note that George Wagner the fourth pleaded not
guilty to all charges. His father, Billy Wagner, whose trial
is upcoming, also pleaded not guilty to all charges. At
the beginning of the eighth week of testimony, I traveled
to Ohio to be in the courtroom when jurors heard
(01:11):
from the man who seems to be at the center
of this trial, Jake Wagner. In April of twenty twenty one,
on the five year anniversary of the murders, Jake pled
guilty to eight counts of aggravated murder and agreed to
testify against his own family, including his older brother George.
(01:33):
In exchange, the prosecution removed the death penalty as a
possible punishment for all. Wagner's judge, Randy Dearing, allowed Jake
Wagner to opt out from having his testimony recorded. That's
why we will not hear Jake Wagner's voice in this episode. Still,
his testimony is chilling, dramatic testimony in Pike County Today,
(01:56):
brother versus brother. Today, Jake Wagner took the stand against
George Wagner the fourth. When Jake Wagner entered the courtroom,
both his hands and feet were shackled with long chain manacles.
He wore thick black glasses and a prison issued tan jumpsuit.
His hair was slicked back and in a ponytail. I
was not surprised to see him in jail clothes. You know,
(02:16):
a lot of the reporters had been speculating that, oh,
maybe they'll put him in street clothes. And I just
thought to myself, I've never seen an inmate testify. Was
put in street clothes. I mean the prosecution wanted these
people to be seen or at least Jake and Angela
as criminals. Now twenty nine years old, Jake Wagner has
been in the Franklin County jail for nearly four years.
(02:38):
The only noticeable change in his appearance as he looked stronger.
He looked fitter than the thin, gangly man he was
before his arrest. He looks like a different person. Now
you see Jake as a teenager and suddenly you got
a cod sitting there at that big table there in
a courthouse. It's an understatement to say Jake Wagner's testimony
(02:59):
has been highly an dissipated. Unsurprisingly, the courtroom was packed.
This is me speaking with Stephanie from Ohio. Was anybody
on the Wagner side that you could identify or was
it still a total no show for George. There wasn't
a seat to be had completely filled, including extra seats
(03:21):
that were put into the aisles, so that was just
getting in. So it felt unlike any other day in
the trial so far. It was a real buzz. There
appeared to be no one there for George Wagner. A
lot of the people outside of the media and victims'
family members were family members of the attorneys on the
prosecution and defense sides. That's interesting because you never would
(03:44):
really think that that's who would come, but this is
their big moment, So for family members of the lawyers,
that does make sense. After Jake took the stand, he
looked directly at his brother George from across the room
and smiled. For a brief moment, they made eye contact
the first time in years before George looked away. Here's
(04:05):
reporter Anjeanette Levy, who was in the courtroom. I was
sitting right behind George, and George made eye contact with him,
but I don't think it was for very long. Was
pretty short lived. And Jake just kind of, you know,
he kept looking around a little bit like he was
very It was almost kind of like this alert look.
He kept like turning his head, looking back and forth,
(04:25):
and you know, then things started. The questioning started. Prosecutor
Anjiecineppa started by asking Jake if it was difficult to
testify against his own family. He said it was very difficult.
When he was asked, would you love nothing more for
your brother, your mother, and your father to be able
to go home, and he said yes. The only other
(04:46):
emotion Jake appeared to show that morning was when he
mouthed quote, I am sorry, in the direction of the
Rodent family sitting in the courtroom. Then he calmly and
with little emotion, walked jurors through the killings. During more
than six hours of detailed testimony, Jake Wagner explained why
he wanted to kill Hannah Rodin, the mother of his child.
(05:09):
With Jake Wagner, what's fascinating about him is that he's
kind of the doorway into what can be described only
as a horror show. It's not just the night of
the homicide, it's everything leading up to it. It's a
life that these people led in the year's preceding. Jake
Wagner detailed how his family's criminal activity began long before
(05:32):
they were arrested for the Rodent, Manly and Gilly murders.
Prosecutor and Jacineppa asked Jake Wagner about the various homes
and vehicles his family owned. We found out through Jake
Wagner's testimony today that he, his brother, and his father
would commit crimes together, including multiple our sins to collect
(05:53):
insurance money and stealing high priced item from businesses. Jake
admitted that his parents set fire to their own home
on Bethel Hill Road to collect the insurance benefits. He
also testified that the Wagners torched multiple vehicles for the
same reason. Jake said they would steal everything from fuel,
to building materials to livestock, also that he learned to
(06:15):
pick a lock at a very young age. Here again
is long crime reporter an Jeannette Levy. She's followed by
forensic investigator Joseph Scott Morgan. They were taught these things
so that they could get away with crimes, and not
necessarily so they could be like good human beings. I mean,
they were raised to be criminals. It's quite sad when
(06:37):
you listen to them talk about how their dad would
sit them down with like a lock pick set when
they were seven, nine years old something like that, and
teach them how to pick locks and weird games about oh,
if you were out and about and you spot a cop,
you get a dollar. When you hear about the way
that Jake grew up, where he was essentially the discipled
(07:00):
into a life of crime, Billy described it as he
was teaching his boy survival skills, you know, how to
essentially steal a car or hot wire car in case
he ever got quote unquote kidnapped. And I'm thinking, you know,
I don't know of any parent out there that sits
around and thinks, well, let me tell my child how
(07:21):
to steal a car in case they ever get kidnapped.
I wonder, I wonder where all changes, entire rotations came in.
You know, did you at least talk about that first,
you know, And he's saying this, he's saying this from
the stand, and you're really getting a peek behind the
curtain at this life that they led. Jake told the
courtroom his relationship with Hannah may Rodin began when she
(07:45):
was just thirteen years old. He said he met Hannah
at the Pike County Fair where she was showing off
her pet rabbits. Despite being four years older than Hannah,
Jake asked her parents, Dana and Chris Rodin, if he
could date her. At times, their relationship was violent. Prosecutor
Angie Kinneppa asked Jake if he ever choked his young girlfriend,
(08:05):
as hannahme had once claimed, and he said, I never
choked her. And he was very like adamant about it,
and he said she was having a fit, and you know,
I held her up against the wall and I put
my arm on her collarbone, but I didn't choke her.
I just held her there until she calmed down. And
(08:26):
after he gave that answer, he kind of, like Angiekineppa,
kind of made a sighing noise. But it was just
like he was talking about this, like, oh, I didn't
choke her. I was just you know, holding her there.
It was like this minimization or justification or rationalization for
basically holding your ex girlfriend against a wall because she
(08:48):
was upset about something. And you know he's claiming he
didn't choke her. Well, hanname saying he choked her like
that his arm was on her throat. So some of
these things were pretty strange to me the way he
would describe them. By age fifteen, Hannah Mae Rodent was
pregnant and gave birth to her daughter she shared with
(09:09):
Jake Wagner. Her tumultuous relationship with Jake ended in February
of twenty fifteen, a little more than a year before
the murders. Jake Wagner described his family's motive and one
of the worst massacres in Ohio's history that led to
the death of eight members of the Rodan family. After
their relationship broke up, Jake testified that he and his mother,
(09:30):
Angela began to have concerns about the safety of his daughter,
who was living with the Rodents. This was true in
particular after Hannah May started dating Corey Holdron, who Jake
believed was dealing drugs. Jake said he was concerned his
daughter wouldn't be safe living with the Rodents, even going
as far as saying he was concerned would be molested,
since he said it happened in both his family and
(09:52):
Hannah's family, Jake testified that his mother, Angela Wagner, was
monitoring Hannah May's private Facebook conversations. Jake's concern for his
daughter only grew when he became aware of an online
conversation where Hannah said the only way she would give
up custody of their daughter is if the Wagners killed
(10:13):
her first. Wagner said that his father, Billy Wagner, first
mentioned a murder plot, but he would not let it happen.
Jake testified he told Hannah he was concerned that their
daughter could be molested, and he claims that Hannah was dismissive, saying, quote,
if that happens, we'll just have to deal with it.
That alleged response, Jake Wagner told the court was the
(10:36):
tipping point. Jake Wagner said, by the winter of twenty
fifteen and twenty sixteen, he was concerned that his daughter
with Hannah Rodin might be molested, so he decided his
only choice to protect his daughter was actually to kill Hannah.
The prosecution says basically that that was made up, this
(10:56):
fear that the little girl would be molested. The prosecution
basically says that was something they kind of whipped up
in their heads to justify what they wanted to do.
And we had earlier in the trial seeing text messages
or Facebook messages where Hana Ma and Jake were talking
(11:16):
about their child, and it was just amazing to me
that in some points he would say things like I'll
take her even if I have to do it by force,
just some really eerie foreshadowing. So it just seemed to
me that they, for whatever reason, and everybody wants their
(11:38):
children to be with them, but this seems to be
some type of demand, like, no, this child is going
to be with me. Once he made up his mind
that Hannah Mae had to be killed, Jake testified that
the Wagner family began to plan and plot. His first
(12:00):
idea was to frame Hannah's boyfriend, Corey Holdron. Here's James Pilcher,
longtime investigative reporter in Cincinnati, now with Local twelve. He's
followed by Long Crimes and Jeanette Levy. Jake was convinced
that something needed to be done, that they were going
to kill Hannah and Corey and make it look like
(12:22):
a murder suicide, and Billy said, no, you can't do
that either, because they'll figure out it was us and
they'll come after us. I don't want somebody up up
there on the hill with a sniper rifle killing us.
Billy said, well, now, if you kill her, you're gonna
have to kill Chris and Frankie because they will know
who you did it and they will come after you.
So it was just this insane like, oh yeah, I
(12:45):
mean you're gonna kill well, we're going to kill her.
We got to kill everybody else too. We're going to
take a break. We'll be back in a moment. Jake
said the Wagner spent three months preparing, buying everything from
(13:06):
ammunition to shoes from Walmart to a device to jam
phone calls. Jake even ordered a Captain America Winter Soldier mask,
specifically for his brother George to wear. Jake Wagner said
that his brother George, who's on trial, was with him
when he bought a pickup truck and a false truck
bed cover for those killings. On the afternoon of April
(13:28):
twenty first, Billy Wagner told his sons this would be
the night. Four days earlier, Hannah Rodin had given birth
to her second child, so they knew she would be home.
Billy Wagner also believed the cloudy weather would prevent surveillance
satellites from tracking their movements. Wagner said he dyed his
hair a dark brown, like a character in the movie Boondocks.
(13:50):
Saints Wagner said before heading out, he watched a clip
of the movie to quote psych myself into what I
was about to do next. Jake Wagner described how he
walked barefoot to the truck to avoid tracking any dirt
from his home. Here again, forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan.
(14:11):
We have longed to hear about what happened that night,
what went into the planning. You know, I was particularly
interested in the care that Jake talked about with walking
barefoot when he went back to the vehicle. He wanted
to prevent any kind of prints being left behind. He
had enough sense about that, and he even knew about
(14:32):
soil types, which is fascinating to me, because you know,
there's an entire discipline. He's not a dummy. He was
aware of that. He had a sensitivity to it. I
think it's another kind of point along the continuum that
goes to kill, because that's a premeditative factor. Then Jake
described how they went from house to house, killing eight people.
(14:55):
Jake described how his father, Billy, as well as George
all took part in these murders. On that he went
into detail, describing that they modified the bet of their
truck in order to hide George and himself in the
back while his father drove them to the road and trailers.
Once at the Rodent's property on Union Hill Road, Billy
Wagner lured Chris Rodin outside. Jake said the plan was
(15:17):
to shoot Chris Senior as he and Billy walked back
towards the Rodents marijuana gross site, but the shot never came.
Prosecutors were asking if George was going to be involved
in the killings. Jake said yes. Jake testified that George
was actually supposed to kill Chris Roden SR. Jake testified
George was in a firing position. Jake said he told
him to shoot, but he didn't. After a few minutes outside,
(15:40):
Chris Senior and Billy Wagner went back into the trailer
where Chris's cousin, Gary Roden was. After a few minutes,
Billy was able to convince Chris to come to the
door one more time, and the killing spree began again.
Investigative reporters James Pilcher and an Jette Levy, Jake takes
(16:01):
the rifle from George and then when Chris shows up
in the doorway, he shoots him with the SCS and
he says he missed or couldn't get a shot. He
missed the first shot that went above him, and then
he'd lowered it close his eyes and just pulled off
a bunch of shots. And that's later corroborated by the
evidence where you see all of these other bullet holes
all around the door frame where he missed, but then
(16:24):
obviously in the line hit Chris in the shoulder and
the belly in the arm. I'll never forget seeing that
autopsy photo of the arm. What really stood out to
me was just the way he talked about killing people
like it was no big deal. You would think after
you maybe fired the first shot at somebody's head, you
(16:45):
might flinch, but it doesn't sound like there was any
flinching on Jake's part. Inside, Billy Wagner killed Gary Rodin
and fired several more shots into Chris Senior's body. Jake
Wagner said his father came running out of the house
in a quote nervous breakdown. Jake said that Billy came
out and was freaking out, and he was like, you
(17:06):
can't freak out now, it's too late. There's no turning back.
Jake went through Chris Roden Senior's pockets and grabbed the
keys to the marijuana shed so he could remove the
hard drive from the security system. When Jake returned to
the trailer, he said Chris and Gary Roden's bodies have
been moved into the back bedroom. Jake testified he threw
(17:27):
a blanket on top of them, but admitted to the
jury that he didn't know why. Throughout his testimony, Jake
appeared calm and responsive, and several times throughout it he
would even look at his brother George. However, I can
say that George would avert his gaze multiple times and
appeared to not even want to look at his brother. Next,
the Wagoners went to Frankie Rhoden's home. Jake said after
(17:48):
he crawled through a window, he let his brother and
father in through the front door. Frankie Roden's three year
old was lying on the couch. Jake said he walked
past the sleeping child to the back bedroom and shot
Frankie rod in his head as he slept. He further
testified that Frankie's fiance, Hannah Hazel Gilly, began to wake
and Jake said he shot her too. Then, for no
(18:11):
explained reason, Billy Wagner shot both Frankie and Hannah Hazel
Gilly in the head as well. Their six month old
son was sleeping between them. It was quite chilling in
a way, and I feel like that word is sometimes overused,
but just the matter of fact way in which he
(18:33):
described shooting people. It was just very nonchalant, according to Jake.
Then he his brother George and father Billy Wagner went
to Dana Roden's home. She had just arrived home from work.
The door was unlocked, and Jake said he just walked in.
He was surprised to see Dana awake in her bed.
(18:54):
Here again, investigative reporter an Jeannette Levy. He's literally standing
in the hallway, and he said he can see inside
Dana's bedroom from where he was standing, and then he
could also turn his head and see inside Handa Mae's bedroom.
He could see that Dana was on her cell phone.
He could see the light from her cell phone shining
on her face. And she made it. She looked at
(19:18):
him and made a gasp, and he said he took
a step and he shot her like I think twice,
and then he took and then he pivoted. He said
he was at a pivot point and he moved into
Hanna Mae's bedroom. She made a noise, she saw him,
and he shot her in the head. And then he
went back and he shot Dana again. There was no
hesitation on his part. It was just really disturbing. Before leaving,
(19:42):
Jake said he realized Hannah's fourty old newborn was in
the room and was concerned she might starve. He said,
you know, I know it doesn't really make sense, but
I didn't want to starve. I thought that if you know,
it took too long for them to find the bodies,
he might starve. So I moved Hannah so she could breastfeed.
I mean, it's a newborn baby. Newborn babies are helpless
(20:05):
as can be. And just that weird thought that you
thought a four or five day old baby is going
to nurse off her dead mother. It's just so crazy.
Jake Wagner then walked into Chris Roden Junior's bedroom and
shot him point blank. Jake said then that he, his
brother George, and father Billy drove to Kenneth Roden's home,
(20:29):
where his father Billy killed him. He was the final victim,
and he was murdered with one gunshot. According to Jake's testimony,
The Wagner's collected shellcasings, cell phones and returned to their
home on Peterson Road. Here's Jeff speaking with attorney and
legal analyst Mike Gallon on the impact of Jake Wagner's
chilling testimony. I'm just curious, like what your take on
(20:51):
those impactful moments are and how they kind of changed
the course of this trial moving forward. His testimony appeared
credible to me. It didn't sound like he was puffing
it up or exaggerating it to a great degree. And
I just think he was believable. And do you think
that level of gory detail, like Hannah Roden's last moments,
(21:13):
does that move the jury in a way that none
of the other stuff has probably up until this moment. Absolutely, absolutely.
I'm sure those jurors were riveted hearing that testimony, because,
I mean, you know, that's the guts of the whole thing. Again,
you know, that's why everyone is there, the judge, the jurors,
the prosecutor, the defense lawyer is because of what he did,
(21:36):
what Jake did at that time, and it's just a real,
real important part of the trial. In the aftermath of
Jake Wagner's first day of testimony, the media pol filed
emotion with Judge Randy Deering to allow cameras in the
courtroom for the rest of Jake's testimony. The media argued
that the public had a right to see and hear
(21:58):
all of the testimony in the most expense of murder
investigation in their state's history. Under Ohio law, witnesses can
object to being filmed or recorded. In early October, an
Ohio Court of Appeal sided with the media outlets who
challenged the law, striking down parts of it, but Judge
Deering continued to allow witnesses to opt out as is
(22:20):
his right. After Jake Wagner's first day of testimony, a
coalition of media groups hired a first Amendment rights lawyer
to visit the issue. Hearing was scheduled for the next day.
Here's James Pilcher. Another eventful day here in Waverley, as
Jake Wagner, the younger brother of defendant George Wagner, took
(22:40):
the stand for the second straight day to testify against
his brother. Inside the courtroom, prosecutor Angiecineppa asked Jake Wagner
to describe what he and his family did after arriving
at home immediately following the murders. Today's testimony were picked
up right where they left off Monday, where Jake, Billy,
and George had returned to home from the killings at
(23:01):
about four point thirty am on April twenty second. Now,
he says on that night they actually drove back to
their family barn and began burning their clothes to get
rid of any evidence on them. Jake also says he
took each of their guns and began cutting them in
half with power tools, and even went so far as
to try burning them with a torch. However, Jake said
(23:22):
he was unable to melt down the weapons, so instead
he burnt off the serial numbers and then hit them.
Then he admitted to burying pieces of the guns in
the barn underneath a support beam, which he dug up
with help from George. Once they were done cleaning up,
they went inside to change clothes. Jake said he saw
his mother, Angelo Agner in the kitchen, but did not
speak with her. Later in the morning, friend Andrew Carson
(23:46):
called Jake and asked if he'd heard what happened. Jake
said he had seen it on the news. Once news
of the rodent's death began to spread, Jake says he
refused to speak about it with his family while in private,
and even tried to forget about it completely out of guilt.
Let's stop here for another break Several weeks after the murderers,
(24:14):
Jake said BCI agents came to the Wagner's home. It
was after this visit that the Wagners began to worry
they were under surveillance. Billy Wagner decided they should dig
up the weapons and place them into a concrete bucket
and drop them into a lake on his parents' property.
The weapons remained underwater until the Wagners were arrested in
twenty eighteen. The best plea bargain in the state of Ohio,
(24:38):
it is how the defense described the deal that Jake
Wagner made to avoid the death penalty. On the third
day of Jake Wagner's testimony, the defense took over questioning immediately.
George Wagner's attorney, John Parker, tried to paint Jake as
a liar who turned on his own brother to avoid
the death penalty. Many of the jury were poisoned in
their seats as defense attorney John Parker said, you got
(24:59):
off the hook the death penalty for killing the Rodents,
yet your brother, who you admit did not kill any
of them, is still facing death. Parker quickly asked him
question after question to poke holes in Jake's account of
the massacre. The defense argued during its cross examination that
Jake Wagner murdered everyone and that George tried to stop
the murders. The defense read quotes from Jake's statements to
(25:22):
investigators that said, George didn't like the idea whatsoever. He
thought of Hannah as a sister. He said, he didn't
want to do it, don't trust Dad. He decided to
go because he was thinking Dad was trying to set
me up. Then the defense led Jake through each step
of the massacre as he smiled at the strangest times.
(25:43):
After the second day of Jake Wagner's testimony, I spoke
with Jeff and Stephanie. Something that really struck me from
Jake's first day of testimony was his attempt at interaction
with the Rodent family. Nothing I'm sorry, or trying to
make eye contact with George. Did you see any of
that and what was that like in person if you did. No,
there really wasn't any of that. Upon cross examination, I
(26:05):
believe the attorney mentioned it three or four times because
it was so pronounced. Was Jake's smiling slash smirking the
same thing that we all noticed and commented on when
he pled guilty, specifically when he was asked about killing
Hannah Rodin and he kind of smirked. And what Jake
(26:26):
did was acknowledge. He said, I know this is a
very serious matter. It's not funny. It's just something happened.
Anyone who knows me knows that I smile at the
worst moments, right like when they're watching the Booddock Saints
clip in court, He's smiling. At least that's what I
read the defense attorney. He had an interesting way of
(26:48):
getting Jake to say stuff, And what it appeared to
be was that the defense attorney was kind of doing
everything he could to get Jake to contradict himself, even
in small ways from what he has laid out. So
as an example, he said, oh, so you shot Hannah
rode In, the mother of your child, in the back
(27:08):
of the head. He said, no, I shot her in
the front of the head and was smiling. So is
he just a sociopath or just as horrible social skills?
I mean, what's your You obviously can't diagnose him, but
I hadn't realized the extent of just how long everything took.
For example, and here are a couple of things that
came to light today. They actually stopped, they being Billy, Jake,
(27:31):
and George. They made a stop on the way to
Chris Roden's house. What and Billy was driving. Jake was
under he had constructed in the back bed of the car.
He had constructed a wooden platform and put bales of
hay under it and was underneath that to hide so
(27:52):
he could lie and wait to then sniper under the car.
On the drive there, Billy pulled over and said, are
you sure you want to go through at this? You know,
now's the times turnaround if not, And the answer was
to just continue on. It's shocking. Later the courtroom was
shown some of the graphic crime scene photos. Jake admitted
(28:14):
that he had tried to block the gruesome images from
his mind. Can you imagine having to look at those
photos now with distance, knowing that you were the perpetrator.
But it's a different perspective you're seeing it in a photograph.
Has he seen crime photos yet? Yes? On cross examination,
the attorney was reminding Jake, he said, you have seen
(28:39):
pictures of Kenneth Roden, who was shot one time in
the eye. The similarity of just as Hannah Gilly was
shot straight through the eye, and Jake said, oh, when
I look at the photos, I try I don't want
to look at any of the wounds. I try not
to time. He said why, and he said, because I
don't want that to be in my memory. Attorney said, well,
(29:01):
that must be really nice. Hannah Mae Rodent's final moment
was him smiling at her. Can you imagine she's waking up,
maybe allegedly in her bed, nursing her child, and you
see your ex smiling at you. Those are her final moments.
(29:23):
At the end of Jake Wagner's testimony, George Wagner's defense
attorney John Parker once again asked Jake if he was
a stone cold killer. Jake said yes. Parker accused Jake
Wagner of selling his testimony to the state of Ohio
and implicating George to save his own life. Jake insisted
he had provided truthful testimony. Parker then said, while waving
(29:45):
his hand, dismissively take him away, Judge, no further questions here. Again.
Legal analyst Mike Allen on the impact of George Wagner's
three days of testimony, nobody was contending not the defense certainly,
and not the prosecution that George shot anyone. That was
never the case. I mean, the closest he got, according
(30:06):
to the testimony, was he was supposed to pull the
trigger on one of them, but he couldn't, and then
Jake had to do it. What the State of Ohio
had to show, and I watched this closely, they had
to show that George was a part of the preparation
for the murder murders, He was a part of the execution,
(30:29):
although somewhat a small part in the execution of the murders,
but he was a really big part in the aftermath
with respect to disposing of evidence and things like that,
and the state showed that. More on that next time.
For more information on the case and relevant photos, follow
(30:51):
us on Instagram at kat Underscore Studios. The Piketon Masker
is produced by Stephanie Leidecker, Jeff Shane, Connor Powell, Andrew Arnow,
Gabriel Castillo and me Courtney Armstrong. Editing and sound designed
by Jeff Ti Music by Jared Aston. The Pike Did
Maasacar is a production of iHeart Radio and Katie's Studios.
(31:14):
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Please welcome Markite County Dogwin Festival. Queen Lord, I just
thank you for bringing us all together as a community. Okay,
(31:38):
there's blood all over the house. Who could have killed
eight family members in one mite? I lost my best
friends and I will never be the same because of
that day. Four crime scenes, no DNA, no witnesses. The
killer left those children laying in their mother's blood. That
(32:00):
comes to mind is overkill. Who was the master mind,
I'm telling you, is a framer. I'm not sitting in prison.
One thing I learned, the smaller the town, the bigger
the sacreds. Be sure to watch our upcoming documentary, The
Pike County Murders of Family Massacre, premiering on NBC Universal's
(32:24):
Oxygen Network and also streaming on Peacock this Thanksgiving Day
weekend November twenty fourth and November twenty fifth. Please check
your local listings and our hearts are with the Rodents
and the Gilly families.
Hosts And Creators
Stephanie Lydecker
Courtney Armstrong
Jeff Shane
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