Pike County massacre: Relatives accused of murdering rival family attend victims' funerals
The Wagner family allegedly ambushed the Rhoden family in April 2016 in the dead of night
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Members of an Ohio family accused of executing eight members of a rival family in 2016 over a custody dispute of a little girl, were photographed attending one of their victim's funerals.
George Wagner IV, 30, is on trial in a Pike County courtroom for the gruesome killings that he allegedly carried out with his father, George "Billy" Wagner III, his brother, Edward "Jake" Wagner and his mother, Angela Wagner.
Cody Manley testified that he found his cousin, Frankie Rhoden and fiancé Hannah "Hazel" Gilley, both 20, dead in their room April 22, 2016.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The couple's six-month-old Ruger had been nursing when his mother was shot five times in the head and face.
‘PIKE COUNTY MASSACRE’ TRIAL: STAR WITNESS SAYS HE EXECUTED TWO NURSING MOTHERS
George 'Billy' Wagner, center, and his son's George Wagner IV, in back and Edward "Jake" Wagner, at right, attended the funeral of Gary Rhoden, 38, in Greenup, Kentucky, April 27, 2016. (Liz Dufour/The Enquirer)
"I just froze," he said. "I saw things I didn't want to see."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Less than a week later, he encountered the three Wagner men at the funeral of his slain 38-year-old cousin, Gary Rhoden.
Recently surfaced photos from the Cincinnati Enquirer showed the men entering the Greenup, Kentucky, funeral home April 27, 2016, looking somber and wearing plaid shirts and jeans – less than one week after the mass murder.
It was the first of eight funerals for the slain members of the Rhoden family. Manley said he also saw the Wagners at other victims' funerals.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On April 27, 2016, George 'Billy' Wagner, center, and his son's George Wagner IV, in back and Jake Wagner, at right, attended the funeral of Gary Rhoden, 38, in Greenup, Kentucky. (Liz Dufour/The Enquirer )
They were found shot to death, April 22, 2016, most of them killed in their sleep –- but the Wagner family was not implicated in the murders until 2018.
‘PIKE COUNTY MASSACRE': OHIO MAN ON TRIAL FOR ALLEGED MURDER OF 8 MEMBERS OF RIVAL FAMILY
Jake Wagner shared a child with his ex-girlfriend, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, and prosecutors say she was primary target. He shot her in the head to secure sole custody of their 3-year-old daughter, Sophia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner, and sons George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner were arrested Tuesday. (Ohio Attorney General)
He spared the life of the five-day-old infant she shared with another man. The baby was found splattered in her mother's blood and positioned near her breast.
Witnesses testified Friday that Jake Wagner was abusive toward Hanna May Rhoden calling her fat, locking her in a room for six months, and choking and beating her before she left him.
Victims of the Pike County Massacre. (Ohio State Attorney General's Office)
The Wagners' other alleged victims included Christopher Rhoden, Sr., 40, his ex-wife Dana Manley Rhoden, 37, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Kenneth Rhoden, 44.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last year to killing five of the victims and is expected to testify against his brother, who he says was present but did not pull the trigger.
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Angela Wagner, who helped plot the mass murder but did not participate in the killings, also pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate against her son. The Wagner father has pleaded not guilty.