Pike County Massacre: Billy Wagner to appeal court’s death penalty ruling

WAVERLY, Ohio (WXIX) - The last member of the Wagner family to be tried in the Pike County Massacre nearly a decade ago now plans to file an appeal with the hopes of eliminating a possible death penalty sentence.

The case against George “Billy” Wagner III is active again after an appeals court recently reversed a previous ruling that took the death penalty as a potential punishment off the table.

Wagner’s defense team said Monday they are going to appeal the court’s decision to the Ohio Supreme Court and filed a new motion asking Judge Jonathan Hein to once again take the death penalty away based on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s unofficial moratorum which has halted all state executions since 2020.

The prosecution claims that the governor’s moratorium looks at individual cases and is not a blanket policy.

Wagner’s attorneys disagree with that argument.

“We believe that the death penalty specifications are unconstitutional based on the reasons that we asked in our motion, your honor,” one of Wagner’s attorneys said. “So, we would ask the court to dismiss the death penalty specifications.”

Wagner has been locked up in jail since his November 2018 indictment.

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

Three of Wagner’s family members, his sons Jake and George IV, and his wife Angela, have taken a plea deal or have been convicted of the brutal 2016 murders.

They all faced the death penalty at one point and the prosecution claims Wagner should be no different.

“He was indicted with the death penalty just as his co-defendants were. There was no disparate application of this,” special prosecutor Angela Canepa argued.

Clashes between judge, special prosecutor

Wagner’s trial has faced multiple delays, mostly because Hein, a new visiting judge, took over the case and repeatedly clashed with Canepa who has been on the case from the start.

Over her vehement objections and to the horror of the victims’ relatives, Hein removed the possibility of Wagner facing the death penalty if convicted.

Hein, however, cited concerns about trial delays and litigation.

Canepa went over his head to the higher court, alleging “judicial malfeasance” and recently won.

The appeals court determined the judge abused his discretion and found that “no sound reasoning process” supported his decision.

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Where will trial be held?

Judge Hein has already ruled that Billy Wagner’s trial will not be held in Pike County due to the publicity around George Wagner IV’s trial in 2022 and the overall case.

The change of venue matter was discussed briefly Monday, but nothing definitive came out of it.

When will trial begin?

The other big question to be answered is when Wagner’s trial might begin.

It was supposed to start in January, but there have been many delays.

Wagner’s attorney says this case has been going on for far too long.

“It’s a traumatic experience for the victims’ family members and their relatives, as well as our client and his relatives, and his mother, specifically,” the attorney said.

The new trial date was discussed briefly Monday.

If the Ohio Supreme Court does not take up Wagner’s appeal, both sides agreed that the trial could start in October.