WAVERLY, Ohio (WXIX) - The last member of the Wagner family to be sentenced in the Pike County Massacres of 2016 appeared in court Friday for his pre-trial hearing.

As family members of the Rhoden victims wait with anticipation for all the Wagners to be found guilty, their wait is no closer to being over.

George “Billy” Wagner III’s hearing went over a few housekeeping items before trial. Change of venue and severance of some of his charges were the most important items the court discussed.

Tampering with evidence, interception of communications and forgery counts are the charges the defense is looking into severing from Billy’s record.

“For example, the custody documents - four or three of those, you know, I believe at George’s trial [from] information found in the discovery, Angela, Jake, George and Rita were responsible for the conduct that constitutes that. So, for example, we would consider requesting the court sever that account from the trial,” the defense explained.

Billy previously pleaded not guilty to all 22 charges, including eight counts of aggravated murder, from the execution-style slayings of his son’s ex-girlfriend and seven of her family members in April 2016.

Nothing has been filed by the defense, but they do plan on filing a motion in two weeks or less.

State prosecutors inquired the court about a possible venue change.

“I wasn’t constrained by the prior judge’s decision, never was, never will be because the rules say on motion of the complainant, defendant or the court, the venue can be raised. I didn’t do anything wrong to raise the issue,” Judge Jonathan Hein said.

Hein continued by saying he is “hunting” for “where this goes.”

“Venue is on my mind in October and September,” the judge added.

Prosecutors say the Rhoden family has been waiting ever since the Wagners were first arrested in 2018 for the family to face justice.

Billy’s attorney says Wagner has waited that long as well and asked Judge Hein if he had any idea how long it would be.

”I don’t know. I totally don’t know. Like I’m - this is just me thinking out loud. We’re either in limbo or purgatory depending on whether or not you think we’re getting punished,” the judge said.

A decision on when the trial will be has not been made.

Prosecutors currently have two appeals pending: One against Judge Hein for dismissing the death specifications for Billy without a request by the state to do so, and the other for the change of venue, which says the trial should be held in Pike County. It still could be several months before the state Appeals Court issues its ruling.

Much has happened since the last time Billy was in court.

Three of the Wagner family members were sentenced at the beginning of the year.

Judge Hein sentenced Edward “Jake” Wagner to 32 years in prison with the possibility of parole; Angela Wagner was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole; and Rita Newcomb, Angela’s mother, was sentenced to five years of probation and a suspended sentence of 90 days of which she has already served seven.

The hearing left the courtroom in shock, specifically the outcome of Jake’s sentencing.

April 22, 2016, the day the murders took place, Jake shot and killed five of the victims, including the mother of his own child, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden.

Jake took a plea deal with prosecutors back in 2021.

He pleaded guilty to 23 charges, including eight counts of aggravated murder, and would serve eight life sentences in prison in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table.

During his sentencing, many expected Judge Hein to follow through with that deal, however, he told the courtroom that the deal was not binding.

“If everybody wants the last judge’s sentencing deal they should have sentenced him under the last judge,” Hein said in January.

Since Jake cooperated and acknowledged his part in the crime, he got 32 years and a chance for parole, the judge explained.

Angela also took a plea deal in September 2021, and received the sentencing she expected.

As part of Jake and Angela’s plea deals, they both testified for the state against, George Wagner IV, the eldest son, at his 2022 murder trial.

It is not clear if they will testify against Billy since they have already been sentenced, an issue Special Prosecutor Angie Canepa voiced to Judge Hein.

Complete Coverage | Pike County Massacre

Victims killed more than 8 years ago

The victims of the April 2016 massacre were 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.

Two infants and a toddler were spared by the killers and left behind at the murder scenes: a 5-day-old baby girl, a 6-month-old baby boy, and a 3-year-old boy.

Prosecutors have said the motive in the murders was the custody and control of the young daughter of Jake Wagner and one of the victims he confessed to shooting in the head twice, Hanna May Rhoden, 19.

The young couple began dating when she was 13 and he was 18. She became pregnant with their daughter at 15.

They broke up in 2015 after their daughter was born in 2013.

Jake Wagner testified during his brother’s trial he didn’t want the relationship to end.

Hanna Rhoden had a second child, a baby girl, with another man and was dating another man at the time of her murder.

Her baby was just five days old when the victims were found on the morning of April 22, 2016.

Jake Wagner testified during his brother’s trial that he shot most of the victims, including Hanna Rhoden as she was propped up in bed breastfeeding her new infant.

He said on the stand he positioned her body after he shot her so she could keep breastfeeding her newborn, whose life he spared.

He also testified he picked up the shell casings and cell phones and took them.

But, according to other testimony, he missed one shell casing that investigators found under the baby’s crib.

George Wagner IV, 33, was convicted of all counts including eight counts of murder even though the state and defense both agreed he never shot anyone and Jake Wagner also testified to that.

George Wagner IV is currently appealing his conviction and asking that his sentence be thrown out: eight life sentences and 121 years on 16 other charges.

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