Pike County Massacre: Trial date set for Billy Wagner

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WAVERLY, Ohio (WXIX)— A trial date is now set for the final suspect to go on trial in the 2016 Pike County massacre.

George “Billy” Wagner III is scheduled for trial on Jan. 11, 2027, more than a decade after eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families were killed.

He is being held without bond at the Pickaway County Jail on 22 charges, including eight counts of murder.

If he is convicted, Special Prosecutor Angela Canepa can still pursue the death penalty after the Ohio Supreme Court recently declined to hear his appeal.

The trial is set to begin at 8:30 a.m., but it remains unclear where it will be held, court officials confirmed Wednesday.

The visiting judge assigned to oversee the case by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy, Jonathan Hein, has not indicated if he has a new location or announced one.

Complete Coverage | Pike County Massacre

In a series of controversial decisions since taking over the case, Hein granted the defense’s request for a change of venue over objections from the victims’ families and the special prosecutor.

He also sentenced two of Wagner’s relatives over the special prosecutor’s objections before they testified against him for the state.

That was one of the conditions of their 2021 guilty plea agreements.

Ohio’s Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled in June that Hein sentenced Jake and Angela Wagner too early before they completed their cooperation with prosecutors.

The appeals court ordered new sentencing hearings for them once they complete those obligations.

The ruling did not toss out their guilty pleas.

They were transferred from state prison to county jails.

Jake Wagner is now being held at the Gallia County Jail, roughly two and a half hours east of Cincinnati.

Angela Wagner is being held at the Highland County Jail in Hillsboro.

The Wagner family members were all arrested in November 2018.

The fourth and final one charged with the murders, George Wagner IV, was already convicted and is serving eight consecutive life sentences without parole plus 121 years.

Like his father, George IV maintained his innocence.

Capepa convinced a Pike County jury during his trial in the fall of 2022 that even though he did not fire his gun once, he fully participated in the planning, execution and attempted cover-up of the murders.

Jake Wagner testified that his brother was present during most of the killings but hesitated to shoot.

George IV is now appealing his conviction.

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