April 22, 2016: 8 years since bodies discovered in Pike County Massacre

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - Monday marks the eight-year anniversary of when the bodies of eight Rhoden family members were found.

It was the morning of April 22, 2016, when law enforcement found the victims in the case that would soon earn the title of the Pike County Massacre.

The victims are Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; his older brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; his cousin, Gary Rhoden, 38; Chris Rhoden Sr.’s former wife, Dana Lynn Rhoden, 37, and their children: Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20, Hanna May Rhoden, 19, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Frankie’s fiancé, Hannah “Hazel” Gilley, 20.

The 2016 mass murder led to the arrest of four members of the Wagner family.

• Angela Wagner
• Edward “Jake” Wagner
• George Wagner IV
• George “Billy” Wagner III

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Prosecutors said the motive in the murders was the custody of the young daughter of Jake and one of the victims he confessed to shooting in the head twice, Hanna Rhoden.

Angela, Jake’s mother, also pleaded guilty in 2021 to her involvement in the 2016 murders.

George IV, Jake’s brother, was convicted on all 22 charges, including eight counts of aggravated murder, in November 2022 following a three-month trial. He was sentenced to eight life sentences for the murders and 121 years for the other charges.

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Billy is the lone Wagner whose case has not been completed. The patriarch of the Wagner family pleaded not guilty to 22 charges.

Originally, Billy’s trial was supposed to begin on May 6, 2024.

However, on March 7, Brown County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Alan Corbin announced that the new trial date is set for Jan. 6, 2025, at the earliest.

“[T]he victims’ family in this case has been dealing with this and wanting justice and closure since April of 2016, when they first learned of this tragedy,” Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa stated on March 7.

Billy remains locked up without a bond at the Butler County Jail.

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